This is widely considered a turning point year for Kentucky as the Wildcats enter the fourth year under Mark Stoops with a 12-24 record overall and 4-20 mark in the SEC. In a December interview with the Associated Press, Stoops admitted as much, saying it was time to “move the needle.”

“It’s fair to say that it’s important in Year 4 to see the needle move,” Stoops told The AP. “I expect to see progress each and every year and you’re not always going to see that in wins and losses. But we all know how important that is, we all know it’s a bottom-line business and I feel good about the work we’ve put in these three years to get that needle to move and turn the corner.”

Stoops is looking to end Kentucky’s five-year bowl drought and here are five reasons he will:

Schedule

On the surface, Kentucky’s schedule looks tougher in 2016, but the Wildcats get a Mississippi State team without Dak Prescott in Lexington, along with a home game against Vanderbilt and South Carolina, which UK has a two-game winning streak.

What’s more, Kentucky travels to Louisville. During the modern Governor’s Cup series, Kentucky has a better record at Louisville(4-5) than in Lexington (4-9).

Drew Barker

There’s a reason Patrick Towles and Reese Phillips transferred. And that reason is Drew Barker, who showed flashes last season of living up to his recruiting profile. While Barker will need to beat JUCO transfer Stephen Johnson, who needs to add some weight, he will start the spring as the No. 1 QB.

As such, he’ll get the vast majority of reps to gain confidence and momentum entering the fall.

One Lexington Herald-Leader columnist recalled a 1997 quote from then-coach Hal Mumme, coaching Tim Couch, who said, “If you split reps, you will not win with our offense. That is a known fact.”

Assistant coaching changes

Three new faces will be on the sideline for Kentucky in 2016 — all from the University of Cincinnati — after Stoops hired Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw to coach the offense and quarterbacks, and Steve Clinkscale as the defensive backs coach. Stoops also promoted Andy Buh, who coached outside linebackers, to special teams coordinator. Gran and Hinshaw each have SEC coaching experience.

This reportedly was the third overture Stoops made to hire Gran as his third offensive coordinator at Kentucky.

“This year after I made the change, I pursued him and I wasn’t going to let him tell me no,” Stoops told the Courier-Journal.

The new coaches are familiar with Barker from briefly recruiting him. They’ll adjust the passing game to incorporate more passes to the tight end.

“We think there’s going to be some tight ends that we’re going to be able to use,” Hinshaw told the paper. “We feel like the receivers have lots of depth. As far as quarterbacks go, that’s what I take a passion in: Being able to develop quarterbacks, get them in position to play.”

Special teams was an area of concern. Kentucky ranked eighth or worse in the SEC in punt distance, kickoff distance, punt return or kickoff return.

After he made the first two hires in Gran and Hinshaw, Stoops said he was rejuvenated following the disappointing end to last season.

“But, after some time off, after getting these new hires, after being able to retain some of the quality coaches that I have here, I’m extremely excited, extremely optimistic as we move forward,” he said. “I really feel rejuvenated.”

Recruiting

Following the disappointing end to the 2015 recruiting cycle, Kentucky appears to have regained momentum thanks to a host of coveted in-state players who chose to stay home.

Kentucky had the 12th-best recruiting class in 2016 in the SEC, according to 247Sports. That followed a No. 13 spot in 2015 and No. 10 in 2014. Nationally, though, the Wildcats were No. 34 in 2016, No. 38 in 2015 and No. 22 in 2014.

Beyond the rankings, Kentucky’s badge of honor in 2016 was that it kept a class together of better-than-usual recruits that had interest from higher profile schools. It also helped that seven were early enrollees.

“Obviously, the vision that we’ve talked about over the years — they can no longer sell that vision. Now, you have to sell results. And things didn’t go that great (in 2015). And they didn’t go that great down the stretch (in 2014),” Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “And I think the difference this year is what the staff learned from last year. Staying on top of kids, keeping them focused on where they’re headed. Things like that are extremely important when you’re a team that’s on the cusp of going to a bowl game, but you’re struggling down the stretch. Just keep pointing toward the positives, and sometimes it’ll work out.

Facilities

The $120 million upgrade to Commonwealth Stadium coupled with the $50 million new football training and practice facility should begin to translate to a return on investment in recruiting.

Now that the renovations are settled in, the idea is the upgrades will translate to a better on-campus experience, which Recruiting Coordinator Vince Marrow said on National Signing Day is a game-changer. Especially after a flurry of decommits from the 2015 class.

“Our belief is we got kids on campus more than two times, three times, pretty much they committed,” Marrow told the Courier-Journal. “Part of the guys that decommitted (in 2015), they were only here once or twice.”