Mark Stoops: "Regardless of what anybody is saying about my future, I am busting my ass."

Rumors surrounding the job status of Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops have continued to swirl as the Wildcats near the end of the season, currently sitting on a 4-6 record (1-6 SEC). Those rumors grew so large that, during his Monday morning press conference 10 days, he was asked about the possibility of leaving his post in the offseason, which he immediately shot down.

“Zero. Zero percent chance I do that,” Stoops stated. “Next question.”

But that hasn’t exactly quieted the situation. Reports of defensive coordinator Brad White and associate head coach Vince Marrow being linked to other coaching jobs since then haven’t helped. But regardless of how that all plays out in the coming weeks and months, there are still more important games left on the schedule. Up first is a date with No. 3 Texas on the road this Saturday.

Stoops is friendly with Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian (and says he nearly joined Sarkisian’s staff at Washington at one point when he was the head coach of the Huskies from 2009-13). Sarkisian even called Saturday’s matchup the “biggest game of the season” for his squad. When asked about that line from Sarkisian during his Thursday press conference, Stoops responded that the Texas coach was more so trying to keep his players from diving head-first into the rat poison.

But Stoops also used his response to once again shoot down any idea that he might be looking elsewhere once this season comes to a close. While acknowledging that this season hasn’t gone as planned, he says there is also a major emphasis on the future.

“There’s mutual respect,” Stoops said of Sarkisian. “He knows our team can play at a very high level. I think most people know that. We haven’t had the consistency, I admit that. I don’t like that about the year, the ups and downs, I’d like to be more consistent. I’m working hard on that. Regardless of what anybody is saying about my future, I am busting my ass trying to win out and really play down the stretch. It gives me a lot of juice and a lot of energy just working on the pieces for the future as well, just because you kinda have to do that.”

Stoops went on to talk about how he’s looking at the big picture and still preparing for his future at Kentucky, which is why having so many of the young players receive reps last week against Murray State was so important.

“Things happen so fast right now with the end of the year, with the portal, and with Signing Day that if you’re not prepared, you’re in big trouble,” he continued. “So you have to balance those things and that makes it exciting. Again, nobody take that as we’re not putting everything into this game. It’s just you have to. Let’s be honest, you have to worry about big picture when you’re sitting in my chair. And that excites me and motivates me, to be honest with you. No time to whine or worry, it’s more like, let’s get some shit done.”

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