I'm linking this as an article everyone here should read. It's a story of a long road to success at a school that has taken nearly as many historical missteps as Vandy. Mark Stoops was hired one year before Derek Mason was, and he has slowly but steadily built Kentucky into a force in the SEC East. Stoops has helped the program work its way through the inherent disadvantages it faces and is now the all-time winningest coach at UK, surpassing even the sainted Bear. You sometimes hear fans say that Mason's "smashmouth" approach to offense was destined never to work in the SEC, but with patience and good recruiting over time, Stoops has made that approach work pretty well at UK.
ESPN.com: Mark Stoops has brought winning -- and fun -- back to Kentucky football (by Alex Scarborough and Ryan McGee)
https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... y-football
ESPN.com: Mark Stoops has brought winning -- and fun -- back to Kentucky football
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FayetteDore
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Re: ESPN.com: Mark Stoops has brought winning -- and fun -- back to Kentucky football
Excerpt from the article:
"I don't get into the history of it all like you do, other than knowing that we have been able to accomplish some things that haven't been done here in a long time, if ever," Stoops said. "The key to our success has been hard work, but also finding a new way to think about these big games. For too long it's been about hoping to compete. Now it has to be about knowing you will compete in those games and then expecting to win those games."
The 54-year-old's tone is resolute. It's not coachspeak. It's belief. And there's nary a what-if or almost to be found.
Echoes of CCL there? Changing the culture? Team 1?
Great article and thanks for posting. Stoops has clearly built something exciting in the Bluegrass. But at 54 and in his 9th year - and with Georgia so dominant atop the East that it's going to be hard for UK to reach the SEC championship game - one wonders how long he'll stay.
"I don't get into the history of it all like you do, other than knowing that we have been able to accomplish some things that haven't been done here in a long time, if ever," Stoops said. "The key to our success has been hard work, but also finding a new way to think about these big games. For too long it's been about hoping to compete. Now it has to be about knowing you will compete in those games and then expecting to win those games."
The 54-year-old's tone is resolute. It's not coachspeak. It's belief. And there's nary a what-if or almost to be found.
Echoes of CCL there? Changing the culture? Team 1?
Great article and thanks for posting. Stoops has clearly built something exciting in the Bluegrass. But at 54 and in his 9th year - and with Georgia so dominant atop the East that it's going to be hard for UK to reach the SEC championship game - one wonders how long he'll stay.
Can't scamper or slither...but I used to swim.
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TnValleyDore
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Re: ESPN.com: Mark Stoops has brought winning -- and fun -- back to Kentucky football
I for one was shocked FSU went after Norvell over M Stoops, especially considering Stoops used to coach there when they had success.
Re: ESPN.com: Mark Stoops has brought winning -- and fun -- back to Kentucky football
Memo to CLL: Stoops has done it with liberal use of transfers.