Mark Stoops on his pregame honor, postgame celebration with family, friends

Last week, Mark Stoops cemented his legacy by passing Bear Bryant to become the all-time winningest coach in Kentucky Football history. Even though it was a special moment for Stoops — and especially sweet since it happened at Florida — the real celebration was planned for this week vs. Youngstown State.

Stoops’ entire family, including his mother, Evelyn; brothers Bob and Ron; and sisters Reenie and Kathy came to Lexington to be with him today. A few hundred more friends and family members from Youngstown also made the trip. Kentucky got the party started early by inviting the Stoopses to midfield before kickoff, where he was presented with a ceremonial game ball.

After his team’s 31-0 shutout, Stoops reflected on the pregame moment.

“To be honest with you, at that point and really getting ready for the game, I really appreciate that and the administration doing that acknowledgment and having my mother there and my brother Bob, all my sisters, brothers, everybody. It was really nice, and my boys. It was fun. I’m glad it’s all behind us now and I can really concentrate and move on to the next games. Great weekend. Great day. That was fun.”

“Half of Youngstown will be here this weekend”

During the offseason, Stoops said he wanted his mother in the stands when he broke Bear Bryant’s record. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible, which makes this weekend even more special.

“Just being on the road, there’s no getting around it, it’s just so hard,” Stoops said on Wednesday. “My mother is failing just a touch in her health and she’s getting up there in age and on the road is extremely difficult, especially when we get done about midnight. That not a lot of time to spend with family when you’re on the road. So, the plan all along was to come in this week versus Youngstown State and again, such a big game for my community, for us being from Youngstown.

“And we play a noon game so we’ll be able to spend some time with my mother, Bob and my brother Ron and sisters Reenie and Kathy. Everybody’s coming. So half of Youngstown will be here this weekend which will be will be a lot of fun.”

Word on the street is a large party is planned for the Youngstown crew tonight. Stoops played coy with reporters after the game, but I would imagine some Wm. Tarr bourbon and cigars will be savored tonight in Lexington.

“I don’t know about a full-out celebration but I’ve got a lot of family and friends here and we’ll enjoy the evening and spend some time with my family and have some fun.”

SEC Nation feature on Stoops, Youngstown

Earlier this week, Marty Smith came to Lexington to interview Stoops, his brothers Bob and Mike. The feature aired this morning on SEC Nation and is a great look into his upbringing in Youngstown.

"The Stoops' coaching roots run deep. It is the family business. And those roots dig into the dirt in Youngstown, Ohio."@MartySmithESPN has more on the Stoops' family story: pic.twitter.com/YPtaxc1bCO

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 17, 2022

If you haven’t yet, I suggest you read Nick Roush’s feature on Stoops’ Youngstown roots and how they shaped him into the man he is today. It should be a heck of a celebration in downtown Lexington tonight.