Stoops Shares Insight on Kentucky Transfer Portal Positional Needs: "Nobody panic, we're gonna have a better football team"

There were a lot of layers to peel back in Mark Stoops’ Signing Day press conference. He’s already lost a wide receivers coach and some players to the portal, all while signing 20 more. The questions flew fast and furiously, then abruptly came to a halt.

Surprised by the stoppage, the Kentucky head coach shared one more line for Big Blue Nation.

“Nobody panic, we’re gonna have a better football team, alright?”

Well, I wasn’t panicking, but now that you mention it, maybe I should be?

Significant roster turnover is underway. The Kentucky coaching staff has a good feel on who will stay and who will go, although the situation remains fluid.

“There’s going to be a lot of questions right now guys and there’s so many moving pieces that I really will keep that short, but I will just say this: I’m very optimistic, very excited about the core, building this team from the core of guys that we have here. And then obviously, adding these (high school) players, and then hitting the portal as well,” Stoops said.

“But it starts with the great players that we have in our program. There will be some names on there that we don’t want to lose. I told you I anticipated that. That’s part of it. I don’t think there’s a team in college football that’s not going to lose a few guys that they want on their team, but there’s going to be so many players in the portal. It’s going to be interesting.”

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What Positions Kentucky Needs in the Transfer Portal

Quarterback — Mark Stoops gave Cutter Boley a verbal commitment following the Louisville game, and they signed Stone Saunders and Brennen Ward, who will arrive in the spring. Even so, that’s three players with a freshman next to their name at the position. “I think we need to go get one just for stability.”

Running Back — The highest-ranked player in this recruiting class, Marquise Davis, decommitted days before Signing Day, leaving a void at the position. Stoops is high on Jason Patterson and he believes Jamarion Wilcox has a bright future at Kentucky. The head coach also shared for the first time that Chip Trayanum wants to be back at Kentucky next year after the Ohio State transfer spent most of the season sidelined by injuries.

Offensive Line — This wasn’t new news today, but we’re all well aware that Kentucky will pursue a center and two offensive tackles this offseason.

Tight End — The Cats need a few more bodies after Tanner Lemaster and Khamari Anderson announced they will be entering the portal today. Vince Marrow understands Anderson’s decision. He likes the new high school addition, Mikkel Skinner, paired alongside Willie Rodriguez and Josh Kattus. Marrow believes Kattus will be back, even though his brother flipped to Clemson at the eleventh hour.

“That’s totally two different situations. That was like a dream school he wanted to go to.”

Marrow continued, “Let’s be honest, I don’t hide nothing, our season wasn’t that great, so it allowed people to come in at the last minute. For us to sign this many guys and keep these guys signed with how the season went, I think was very impressive.”