Everyone is talking about Mark Stoops' NIL comments, even Shane Beamer

Who could have predicted that the story of the week would come from Mark Stoops’ call-in show? As you’ve surely heard by now, last night, Stoops got defensive when a caller asked why Kentucky couldn’t “get over the hump” and beat the Georgias and Alabamas of the world, responding that if fans want better, they need to “pony up” on their NIL contributions to help Kentucky keep up with elite programs.

While the sentiment of that message is true — Kentucky does need NIL help to compete with Georgia and Alabama in recruiting — the timing could not have been worse. Asking fans to shell out more money in the wake of an embarrassing 55-13 loss to the Bulldogs is a bad look and one that I’m sure Stoops now regrets. As Matt Jones and the rest of the KSR radio crew said this morning, Stoops made an excuse right after he said he refused to make excuses for Kentucky’s poor performance in Athens.

If you missed the show this morning, catch up on their remarks below.

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While it feels like this story has already dragged on for too long, the national media took notice this morning and it is now part of the news cycle. Most talking heads took up for Stoops, opining that he was simply pointing out the reality of college football in the NIL era.

“It’s true,” Greg McElroy said on his radio show with Cole Cubelic. “The deeper your pockets, the more likely the better your players. It’s not like it’s some mystery on how you improve the quality of your roster. Georgia’s NIL collective is really good. Lot of money.”

“I was surprised by the amount of people that were either taken aback by this, mad about this, frustrated with this, upset about this,” Cubelic responded. “Just because maybe you haven’t heard as many coaches come out and say it in plain view the way that Mark Stoops did, doesn’t mean that it’s not happening and doesn’t mean they don’t feel the exact same way. I think a lot of them are on the exact same page.”

Other media members chimed in on Twitter:

This doesn’t sound like Stoops complaining. It sounds like him saying “This is how the system works now, and if you’d like to win like they win, this would help.”

100 years of NCAA propaganda are hard to unwire.

Good players are worth a lot. Nothing morally wrong with that. https://t.co/RXMclnNnVv

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) October 10, 2023

Good for him! This just in, you’re in the SEC which is already way ahead in NIL revenue at most of its schools. He’s discussing reality and that’s not an excuse. Not in todays climate 👏👍Look, @GeorgiaFootball kicked their butts, but @UKFootball could finish 2nd in the East. 🏈 https://t.co/xCQCiuPqVV

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) October 10, 2023

I think timing is playing a part in that with Stoops. When you get smoked and a few days later it's "well, if you want to be better, give us more money," doesn't come off well from the $9 million coach.

— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) October 10, 2023

On3’s JD PicKell had one of the best responses I’ve seen, agreeing with Stoops’ message, but questioning the timing of it.

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Shane Beamer weighs in on Stoops’ comments

Stoops’ comments even made it to Columbia, South Carolina, where Shane Beamer used a question about them to promote the Gamecocks’ collective, The Garnet Trust.

“I did see that comment last night from coach Stoops,” Beamer said. “I can’t speak for his program. I can’t speak for the Georgia program, but NIL is certainly a major factor, not just in college football, but all across college athletics right now in every sport.”

“…Whether you agree with NIL, don’t agree with NIL, if you want to win at the highest level and you want to win championships like we do here at Carolina, we’re going to have to be very active from an NIL standpoint, a collective standpoint, and that is the Garnet Trust for us. We’ve got some people that have done some great things for our student-athletes. Thankful for them. Frankly, we need more of them as well, so absolutely I hear Coach Stoops and what he’s saying, and I’m grateful for our fans and every amount of money that they give to this university, to this football program, paying money to come to games at Williams-Brice Stadium.”

Time to move on and beat Missouri.

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