With Texas A&M rumors behind him, Mark Stoops focused on keeping Kentucky’s best players
To hear Mark Stoops tell the story, the Saturday reports that Kentucky’s football coaching wins leader was close to leaving Lexington for Texas A&M were significantly overblown.
“Sometimes people pursue you,” Stoops said on his final weekly radio show of the season Monday. “My concentration was on the Louisville game, as evidenced by the way we played. It was extremely important to end that way. Simply agreed to a conversation that night.
“Yeah, I was pursued by another opportunity. I am right where I want to be with a great team, a bunch of players, an administration and a bunch of people that are aligned to do the right things and to win. I’m very happy.”
Stoops said he spent Saturday night celebrating the Louisville win with friends and several Kentucky assistant coaches, refuting speculation he had flown to College Station.
Later in the show when a caller thanked Stoops for staying at UK and said he hoped no Kentucky fans had given Stoops any flack for considering the Texas A&M job, Stoops said the statement he tweeted shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday was designed to end any public speculation.
“Just the wrong information out there that so many people were sending me, calling me, texting me and then sending my friends,” Stoops said. “I’m not even looking at the social media, so they were sending me what was on there.
“I was like, ‘That’s 100% not accurate. I have to address this.’ I didn’t want my team thinking about it like that or anything. That’s why I sent it out at that point.”
Stoops’ version of events runs contrary to multiple reports from College Station that he was on the verge of becoming the Aggies’ next coach. Stoops’ tweet came after hours of negative reaction to the potential hire from a vocal portion of the Texas A&M fan base on social media.
Texas A&M eventually hired Duke coach Mike Elko to replace Jimbo Fisher.
Regardless of how close Stoops actually was to leaving Kentucky, he now has shifted his focus to building a roster for the 2024 season. The first dominoes to fall came Monday with safety Jalen Geiger entering the transfer portal and running back Ray Davis declaring for the NFL draft.
Most of Stoops’ radio show was dedicated to looking toward the future. Here are three takeaways from Stoops’ comments.
More departures expected
“The other thing people have to understand is we actually have to have some leave,” Stoops said of outgoing transfers from his roster. “I don’t even have room for what we have committed and what we have and what we need in the portal. We have to clear out some.”
Stoops began having exit interviews with players Monday. He confirmed more outgoing transfers will be announced in the next week with the portal officially opening on Dec. 4.
The good news for Kentucky is Stoops said his initial conversations with Kentucky’s star underclassmen were positive, but he did acknowledge unexpected departures are possible.
“The retention is the most important thing,” Stoops said. “Retaining and keeping the best players we have on our roster. I’m just telling you what happens in the real world is they poach them, they’re going to pay them. The great ones on our team, they pay them. Let’s call it the way it is. They get to a third person, they call them and they say we’re going to offer you X amount of money and they pay them. That’s why the (name, image and likeness) collective is important.
“Again, I don’t want anybody throwing any darts at me. It’s a reality. It’s the world we live in. That’s just point blank. That’s it. Our players are sitting there saying, what is my market? What is my value? Listen, that’s why I said I’m so jacked up. I had great meetings today. Our players love it here. They’re staying here. They want to be here. I want to take care of them because they’re loyal to us too. That’s why it’s important.”
Portal positions of need
Stoops and his staff will hit the road to wrap up the 2024 high school class on Dec. 1, but it sounds like the transfer portal is the focus for further additions.
“We have a great class right now intact for our high school recruiting,” Stoops said. “We’d love to keep all of them. I think we have to hit the road. We have to hit the pavement as soon as we can and keep those guys. We’d like to add a few additions from the portal. The nice thing, it doesn’t have to be wholesale.”
Asked about specific positions that might need portal reinforcements, Stoops pointed to offensive line and wide receiver but acknowledged the priorities could change in the event of unexpected departures.
Stoops did not mention quarterback as a position Kentucky will pursue in the transfer portal, but that will almost certainly be a priority with Devin Leary leaving. Four-star LCA quarterback Cutter Boley is expected to enroll in January, but Kentucky needs a veteran quarterback so it is not forced to play Boley if he is not ready. Current backups Kaiya Sheron and Destin Wade are among the players it would not be a surprise to see explore transfer options in search of more playing time.
Trevin Wallace, Andru Phillips have NFL draft decisions to make
Ten players Kentucky listed as seniors on the 2023 roster have remaining eligibility thanks to the extra year awarded all players in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that group, five have already gone through senior day.
Participating in senior day is not necessarily an indication a player is leaving — five Wildcats went through senior day in 2022 then came back in 2023 — but that group is probably at least considering departing. The offensive line is particularly in flux with those decisions. Guard Kenneth Horsey and tackle Jeremy Flax have exhausted their eligibility. Left tackle Marcus Cox could apply for a medical waiver to return for another year, but is probably the best draft prospect of the group. Center Eli Cox participated in senior day but has another year of eligibility.
There are at least two defenders considering an early jump to the NFL, according to Stoops: linebacker Trevin Wallace and cornerback Andru Phillips.
If he leaves, Wallace would probably be the first Wildcat drafted this year, but UK coaches will surely pitch him on the idea that he might be able to improve his stock as a senior like former UK linebacker Jamin Davis did before earning a first-round pick. While Wallace was known to be considering the draft, Phillips was more of a surprise.
“He could go to the Senior Bowl because he’s graduated,” Stoops said. “He’s technically a senior. He could come back, but he’s another one that’s had a really good year and could definitely go to the NFL. So, we’ve got to see about that as well.”
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