Mark Stoops "excited about the future" to solve NIL fundraising issues

At this juncture in the Kentucky football season, you’ll rarely hear Mark Stoops speak without a mention of NIL or the transfer portal. When you’re 4-6, there’s a natural tendency to look further into the future to see how the program is preparing to dig out of this hole.

Reporters from around the SEC had a few questions about Saturday’s game against Texas, but another was more interested in how Stoops’ program-building might relate to how other coaches function. Georgia reporter Mike Griffith asked the Kentucky head coach how he delegates time to roster management.

Before answering the question, Stoops noted that he was in the room with Eddie Gran, his general manager. The two were leaving this conference call to meet with Mitch Barnhart and associate AD Marc Hill.

“That tells you roster management, the plan, all that, it’s a real challenge. It certainly is. I think — without whining or crying or any sour grapes — I think some institutions are built different than others if you don’t have to fundraise, you know what I mean, if the resources are there,” said Stoops.

“I think the only thing that really has been new, or extremely challenging, has been for myself of raising all the money for NIL, relatively by myself and with Eddie Gran doing that. And that’s really not something I signed up for, being a fundraiser. I’d like to spend my time with my players and developing them and being around them and having strong relationships with them. I think that’s just the one area.

“But again, I don’t want to make too much of that because it is what it is, and we’re figuring it out. And I’m completely excited about the future and getting these problems solved.”

This is not the first time we’ve heard Stoops share his frustrations with fundraising, but it might be the first time we’ve heard him say that he’s excited about the direction the program is taking to mitigate that problem.

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