By Keith Taylor
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops, now the dean of all coaches in the Southeastern Conference, doesn’t want to get complacent.
“We’re not interested in just existing,” Stoops said. “I’m not here, I’m not coaching, I’m not back for the 12 years just to exist. We want to find a way to improve, use these rules, whatever it is, to make changes, to make that jump to get to the next level. It’s extremely challenging. I don’t have to tell you all that.”
Under Stoops, the Wildcats have reached the postseason an unprecedented eight consecutive seasons and have won 10 or more games twice in the past six years. Since 2018, only three schools in the conference have compiled more victories than the Wildcats.
“That’s not nothing — we want more, but the consistency that you have to have in this league, it’s difficult,” Stoops said. “There’s some great schools, some great programs that have been up and down, and we’ve been relatively stable. Again, that’s not good enough.”
Stoops admitted a 38-35 setback to Clemson in the Gator Bowl last year and a shutout loss to Iowa in the Music City Bowl weren’t the way he wanted his past two teams to end the season.
“We had an opportunity last year or two to wrap up the season with two ranked wins, and we let one slip away in the bowl game against Clemson,” he said. “No more ifs and buts — we lost. They made the plays and we didn’t. That’s the motivation to go find the ways to do that.”
Stoops credits his longevity at Kentucky to the administration, led by Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and coaches who have “come and gone” and “worked tirelessly to put us in this position.
“I feel very fortunate, very blessed,” he said. “I want to continue to succeed.”
Kentucky players credit Stoops for his ability to adapt to the changing and challenging times and like Stoops’ ability to be honest on and off the field.
“He is like the uncle you always wished for,” Kentucky defensive lineman Deone Walker said. “He is a great coach and a great person. He is a big loyalty guy. I’m a big loyalty guy. He is not going to lie to you. He is going to tell you the truth no matter if it’s happy, sad, going to make you mad, if it’s mean because he knows -- everybody knows that he is saying it from a point of I want you to be the best version of yourself.”
OFFENSE
Stoops knows what he wants from new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, who comes to Kentucky from high-scoring Boise State.
“We are looking for that balance and you are going to be able to create explosive plays if you are able to run the ball better,” the Kentucky coach said. “That’s just the nature of the beast. I like what Bush is doing. I like the way he mixes it up. He does a very good job of window dressing. He does a very good job of cutting off the defense with deception and with motions.”
Hamdan will be Kentucky’s sixth offensive coordinator in Stoops’ 12 years as coach of the Wildcats. Last year Kentucky’s offense ran 714 plays, ranking last in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Wildcats struggled with numerous delay of game penalties, which limited Kentucky’s ability to gain rhythm and tempo within the team’s offense.
“We have to be more physical, we have to be able to get tough yards. You know, we were at our best or doing some really good things when the entire stadium knew we were going to run the ball and we still ran the ball for some success,” Stoops said.
While Hamdan plans to install a no-huddle scheme, it doesn’t mean Stoops will be seeking a style similar to Josh Heupel at Tennessee and Lane Kiffin at Mississippi.
“That is a different style and it’s very difficult to defend and they do it very well,” Stoops said. “That’s just ‑‑we can’t be that overnight and I just don’t want to staff it with two and three and four seconds on the play clock as well. I like to see more snaps. There needs to be a balance there. We are not trying to be in a complete hurry. We are just trying to be more efficient, get in a rhythm, and get some more plays.’
Hamdan agrees with Stoops and is seeking more consistency.
“We always want to be somewhere in the middle, and what that means is, have the flexibility depending on how the game is going to do whatever it takes to win the football game,” said Hamdan. “I know everybody wants to play fast. It always comes back to execution with us. I think the thing that we want you guys to know is we are going to have the ability to play fast and keep people on their feet.”
DEFENSE
Stoops is counting on his team’s experienced defense, with 10 starters returning from last year. But despite that solid nucleus of returnees, Stoops wants the Wildcats to improve in a variety of areas and spend less time on the field.
“We want to continue to get off the field,” said Stoops. “We did a decent job at times, but we have to get better at third down and executing, and get some more three and outs. Get off the field.
“I’d like to see the offense have more possession more plays,” Stoops added. “We’ve talked about that with the tempo and the offense, but that goes hand‑in‑hand. The defense needs to play well and get off the field. When we have opportunities get off the field, we have to do that.”
Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White also wants his unit to fare better on third-down situations than they did last season.
“When you look back and you self‑scout yourself, look at what you need to do better, that’s obviously third‑down defense.,” said White. “And specifically, third-and-long situations, especially extra-long, was an area that, historically, if you look we have been really good, and we were not. Not anywhere close to the standard that we need to be at and it cost us. When you give up third‑downs, you extend drives and extended drives leads to points, it leads to less opportunities for the offense. So obviously, that is going to be a primary focus. Again, the year before – 2022 – that was our best year ever in third‑down defense, and there is a correlation to how well we played as a defense. We need to get back there.”
CHANGES
Things have changed along the conference landscape during Stoops’ tenure in Lexington. The league added Texas A&M and Missouri in 2015, and Texas and Oklahoma will make their conference debut this season.
“With Oklahoma and Texas joining our great conference, just makes it that much stronger,” Stoops said. “It’s kind of interesting for me because, as I go to the SEC meetings and we’re down in Destin spending some time, you run into so many good friends, so many good people. I’m so familiar with both Texas and Oklahoma. We welcome Oklahoma and Texas and hope that makes us that much stronger. It’s difficult, but we embrace that.”
Stoops hopes to keep building on the foundation he’s produced during the past 12 years.
“I’ve been grinding at Kentucky for a long time, and very proud of that and want to continue to do that,” Stoops said. “Again, we want more, but that’s not nothing. The SEC has been around a long time with a lot of very good football coaches.”
