First Down Kentucky: The Mark Stoops Call-In Show Bucks Nationwide Trends
Every Monday night, Mark Stoops hears a familiar refrain. “I got two questions for you, Coach.” Whether they are questions or simply categorized as “things,” Madison always contributes to the Mark Stoops Show.
The Kentucky head coach’s call-in show is among the last of its kind. While almost every athletic program has some form of a “coaches show,” very rarely do any of them still take calls from fans. When Dabo Swinney quit taking them from Clemson fans following the infamous Tyler from Spartanburg interaction, it made one AP reporter ask the question, “How many coaches still take calls?”
The answer: not many. Of the 80 schools surveyed by the Associated Press, only ten college football coaches still take live calls from fans. Four of them are in the SEC: Mark Stoops, Shane Beamer, Josh Heupel, and Kalen DeBoer.
“I’ve been on both sides of it,” Stoops said on this week’s SEC teleconference. “There’s obviously some moments that are uncomfortable. It’s not predictable but it goes with the territory.”
One of those uncomfortable moments happened just a few months ago. Fans did not like it when he told one caller to “pony up” after the loss to Georgia. Despite the blowback, Stoops enjoys interacting with Kentucky football fans each week. Hopefully, this Monday he’s discussing a victory over South Carolina ahead of an enormous matchup with No. 1 Georgia.
No Trash Talk ahead of Kentucky South Carolina
Former Kentucky Wildcat Randall Cobb kept it cordial with South Carolina grad Alyssa Lang on Wednesday night’s Out of Pocket. He did not share how much he enjoyed catching the game-winning touchdown pass to cap off a comeback victory over the top-ten Gamecocks back in 2010, although that would have been a delightfully passive-aggressive move. People forget that the clutch play was made on a fourth down with less than 90 seconds left in the game. What a moment.
Kentucky Asks Students to Wear White
The University of Kentucky is not good with color-coated themes. It isn’t stopping them from asking students to wear white to Saturday’s game against South Carolina. Why they waited until 48 hours before kickoff to share this information, I do not know. Why they want students to wear white when South Carolina will surely wear white jerseys, I do not know. I’m just here to pass along the information.
See You at the Cat Walk
In week one, Big Blue Nation was ready to give the Kentucky football team an enormous ovation as they arrived at Kroger Field. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Now it’s time to double down and really bring it for the South Carolina game. The Cats are expected to arrive at approximately 1:30 pm EST, about 90 minutes after SEC Nation wraps in the Orange Lot. We’ll see you at the Cat Walk.
Week 2 College Football Picks
Luckett’s Locks on KSR+ got off to a great start with an 8-2 record in week one. If you don’t subscribe to them, Bill Connelly’s projected SP+ scores may help you handicap Saturday’s contests.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard