Mark Stoops says Kentucky must do better with 'free agency' to compete: "That's what it takes, period."

Kentucky has not gotten what it’s paid for in free agency, unfortunately. Part of it has been a lack of return on investment for high-dollar portal additions and returnees, some not making the jumps expected (and needed) as long-term potential pieces. Elsewhere, you’ve had poor evaluation on some crucial plug-and-play roles or injury issues crushing depth.

Mark Stoops has had his fair share of hits, sure, but the recent misses are stacking up and he’ll be the first to tell you the program as a whole just has to get better in that area. They have to continue to recruit and develop high school talent — what made Stoops a special coach in Lexington to begin with — but to get the train back on the track, it starts with the portal.

The Kentucky head coach used some of the national powerhouses as an example, namely the Nos. 1 and 3 teams in college football — latter being the Wildcats’ upcoming opponent in Austin on Saturday. He starts with Oregon, though, who has mastered the art of doing both under Dan Lanning.

“How we address that is by recruiting and developing the young players we have on our roster that we feel are getting better and better and are working really hard,” Stoops said during his call-in radio show Monday evening when specifically asked about getting more from the offensive line in the future. “We have the portal now. You have free agency to plug in a guy here or there. … I didn’t follow up with this, I don’t even have any social media, so I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I know at one point in time, Oregon had 14 portal guys starting for ’em.

“The reason I say that is they recruit like crazy out of high school. They have a damn good coach, they have great recruiting, they have great support with Uncle Phil (Knight) there, all that, but the No. 1 team in the country has 14 portal players on it. That kind of stunned me when I — somebody showed me a clip of an article a week ago or two ago. I don’t know if it’s still true or if that’s still the case, so don’t hold me to it, but I’m pretty sure that’s it.”

Then there is Texas, who Kentucky will see up close and personal in the coming days. They’ve hit big in the portal while also developing young pieces conveniently in a hotbed of talent inside the state.

“When you got teams like that — I look at Texas, their two top receivers both just transferred in,” Stoops continued. “That’s a team that recruits at a crazy high level and has so much talent in their own state, so much tradition in Texas. But yet, their two top guys — and they have more. They have a couple that they recruited, they have one incredible young freshman that’s really going to be dynamic, but two big-time players are portal players for them. They had some D-linemen last year that were drafted into the NFL, then replaced them with some portal guys, you know?”

The balance just isn’t where it needs to be for Stoops and the Kentucky football program. That’s how we get a let-down season of this magnitude coming off a disappointing campaign a year ago, no matter the sky-high optimism coming in.

For this thing to get turned around, Stoops is starting there. And yes, that means more money to help build it.

“It’s just part of college football. Now, we’ve got to continue to build it with a foundation of high school recruiting and recruiting and developing those guys, but you’ve got to supplement it with the transfer portal. That’s something that — that’s the area where I have to and we have to do a better job,” he said. “I don’t want to get into it, I don’t want to whine about it, don’t want to cry, but I’ve been busting my tail trying to raise money, you know?

“Again, I don’t want to cry. It’s just — that’s what it takes, period. The end. Like, you’ve got to have it.”

Stoops talked about the high school vs. portal dynamic last week ahead of the Murray State win, doubling down on the program’s recruit and develop approach while acknowledging the fall we’ve seen this year could lead to a major NIL upswing to help try again with the portal. That’s the hope, at least.

“I hope it sparks (fundraising). I’ve seen it at other SEC institutions spark it, and I really want to stay away from that because I really get tired of it,” Stoops said. “I don’t want it to be like I’m whining or I’m crying or I need — you know it is reality, I hope we all understand that right?  It is true reality, like you have to, you have to have dollars.”

Is it time to pony up?