Mark Stoops is out "big game huntin" on the recruiting trail

While his name continues to swirl around the head coaching rumor mill, Mark Stoops is out hitting the recruiting trail for the job he says he plans on keeping.

The Kentucky head football coach just closed out another nine-win regular season for the Wildcats, the second in four years for the program. Since 2018, he’s posted an overall record of 32-17 with three straight bowl wins and the opportunity for a fourth on the way. His incoming recruiting class is top 15 in the nation with a slew of high-caliber players already on the roster expected to return. He intends to hit the transfer portal extra hard, too.

Mere hours after his name began to pop up in conversations for head coaching jobs such as Oklahoma and LSU, Stoops sent a message to the Big Blue Nation with one simple tweet: I’m still working on building the Kentucky program.

Big game huntin #FORTHETEAM pic.twitter.com/3b066fIS4P

— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) November 29, 2021

According to KSR’s Matt Jones, Stoops’ upcoming schedule sure doesn’t make it sound like he’s looking elsewhere. The UK head coach will make three recruiting stops today to Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Detroit. Jones also adds that Stoops’ schedule will be similarly busy every day for the rest of the week.

Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Detroit are all very important stops for Stoops when we break down who the staff is there to see. KSR can report that Kentucky will be in today to see class of 2022 commit Tyreese Fearbry (EDGE, Pittsburgh) along with class of 2022 uncommitted players Davison Igbinosun (CB, New Jersey) and Deone Walker (DL, Detroit).

Now let’s talk about this trio of four-stars real quick, starting with the player already on board.

Tyreese Fearbry, 4-star EDGE: 6-5, 210-pounds [COMMITTED]

The biggest surprise to commit to Kentucky from the 2022 class, Tyreese Fearbry is also one of the most coveted prospects the staff has ever scooped up. He’s a top 150 player in the nation and top 15 at his position with a college-ready body. With that in mind, Stoops isn’t taking any chances when it comes to keeping Fearbry locked up. Stopping by to see him on day one says Stoops is serious about the kid’s talent.

The Perry Traditional Academy (PA) product chose the ‘Cats in the middle of September, just a couple of months after he decommitted from nearby Penn State. Fearbry’s lead recruiter throughout his process has been UK defensive coordinator Brad White, who you might have noticed is deboarding the plane a step behind Stoops in the tweet above.

Davison Igbinosun, 4-star S: 6-2, 170-pounds

Also a recent decommit from a nearby program, Davison Igbinosun is a Union, NJ product who was committed to Rutgers for about three months before reopening his options. He announced his decision to leave the Scarlet Knights on Oct. 5 and picked up an offer from Kentucky a couple of weeks later on Oct. 22.

Igbinosun is a hot commodity right now, though. He’s taken visits to Tennessee and Ole Miss while Rutgers is also reportedly still in the mix. Kentucky would surely like to get him to Lexington before a decision is made, so today’s meeting could go a long way in making that happen.

had a great in-home visit with @UKCoachStoops @CoachWhiteFB @CoachWoody7 pic.twitter.com/bYBpBrSe05

— Davison Igbinosun (@DaveIgbinosun) November 29, 2021

Deone Walker, 4-star DL: 6-6, 355-pounds

A name that has been discussed many times before on this site is Deone Walker, who plays for Cass Technical up in Detroit, MI. He told KSR in early October that Kentucky and Michigan were the two schools recruiting him the most and that still appears to be the case.

Walker was in Lexington for UK’s monster win over Florida and has previously said he intends to take an official visit to come back to campus the weekend of Dec. 11. He was up in Michigan over the weekend to watch the Wolverines upset Ohio State. Georgia is also making a push for Walker’s services.