As praise ramps up, Mark Stoops wants Kentucky to stay hungry

Mark Stoops has pushed the Kentucky football program to unprecedented heights during his time in Lexington, highlighted by two 10-win seasons in four years, six consecutive bowl games, top recruiting classes and historic draft success.

Leading up to this point, the Wildcats have been knocking down those barriers as underdogs deserving respect. Now, though, Kentucky is seen as a contender in the SEC East led by a quarterback with buzz as a potential top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

On one end, Stoops appreciates that the work his team continues to put in is finally earning some national respect. On the other, he likes his team best when it plays with a chip on its shoulder.

“I do like (the praise), but we find any way to get a little chip on our shoulder, right?” Stoops told KSR on Friday. “It’s human nature when the players get patted on the back to start feeling good about themselves. I don’t like that, you know, we don’t play good in that situation.”

When players receive praise, they start to buy the hype and lose the edge they once played with. Stoops wants his team to find a happy medium of appreciating that the work they put in as a unit is being recognized while also fighting to knock down bigger barriers.

“Players start believing the press clips sometimes, you know?” said Stoops. “I just believe in keeping that edge and staying hungry. You know, the more mature your football team is, the more they understand that.”

It helps to have a player like Will Levis leading the charge, someone Stoops says continues to attack his training the right way despite the preseason accolades and draft hype.

“We have great leadership, starting with a guy like Will (Levis),” Stoops told KSR. “Will really always attacks every day like that, like he has something to prove. He’s constantly trying to get better, and that’s a great starting point for us as a program, just to be hungry.

“To be out there in this in this heat, the way they’re training, we’re building the foundation of our football team right now in the dog days of summer. When it’s hot out there and they’re out there training every day, all day, I’ve been very pleased with that.”

The praise and recognition should be expected, says Stoops. After all, you can only be wrong about a team so many times before the narrative starts to flip.

“As far as the national media goes and all that,” said Stoops, “I guess they have to eventually because they are wrong every year where they pick us, right?”