WATCH: Mark Stoops previews Week 1 in his first Monday press conference

On the first Monday of the college football season, Mark Stoops spent 25 minutes recapping fall training camp and previewing Kentucky‘s opening weekend game against Southern Miss. Stoops spent part of the conversation explaining UK’s new depth chart released before Monday’s press conference, answering questions about several of the two-deep position battles and special teams starters. There was even a question about the team’s long snapper and how that job was won in camp.

Stoops also addressed the team’s health heading into the first game, including the absence of veteran offensive lineman Courtland Ford, who we now know will miss significant time to start the year. “We’re not perfect and still a work in progress, but I think we’re getting better,” Stoops said of the offensive line on Monday.

Other topics include running back and cornerback depth, redshirt options, game day routine, and more about the new technology in college football in 2024. Hear it all in KSR’s video of Stoops’ first Monday afternoon press conference of the season.

Mark Stoops’ Monday Press Conference | Southern Miss Week

Mark Stoops Transcript

Opening statement…

“It’s good to see everybody, it’s great to be back in this room. It’s been a while since we’ve had a press conference here in this room, usually I’m standing in the hallway there after practice dealing with a lot of noise. So it’s good to see everybody and I think it’s fair to say that it’s nice walking into the office on Monday morning and it officially being a game week. I get asked 2,000 times in the offseason if I’m ready for the season, and I’m absolutely not ready (laughter) until we get to this point. Now, it feels really good, we know there’s still a lot of work to do. Yes, we got ahead on Southern Miss and were able to work on them a bit last week, but it’s also the beginning of a week to officially get ready. We have quite a few newcomers in our program that need to find that routine and that rhythm that I have and try to have throughout the year so that the players can anticipate and know what to expect on Monday through Friday of game week.

“Offensively, probably for the most part, that’s where there is a lot of change. If you look at five, six guys that are very important roles that hadn’t gone through this routine. Defensively, not as many. Maybe Pop (Jamon Dumas-Johnson) and DJ (Waller), depending how many reps he gets. Offense, we’ve got to make sure everyone’s comfortable, including our offensive coordinator (Bush Hamdan). Again, just going through our process and what we do throughout the week, and really just the routine and rhythm that I try to have throughout the week with them. So, it’s a first for some new guys, and we’ll get through it and looking forward to playing our first game here at home.

“Obviously a night game, welcoming Southern Miss, and that’s a team that you saw very many signs and flashes, beaten some good teams last year and they have a lot of newcomers. Like most teams when we look at the transfer portal, look at the change they have with their OC and DC, and I want to say probably as many as 10 impact offensive transfers, you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get so you have to be prepared for quite a few things heading into the opener. We’ve done that, we worked on things throughout camp, so we just have to handle things in stride, nothing ever goes as smooth as you want it to, we have to be able to adapt, make adjustments, and nobody panic here in game one. Make the adjustments throughout the game and go execute and play good football.”

On what the new light system and ribbon boards at Kroger Field do for recruiting…

“Well, I don’t think all the lights and banners were completely done at that point, but we shall see you know how that effects recruiting, the environment, and everything. I think it was very hard to replicate it exactly on that Tuesday. We did put them on at times so they wouldn’t see it for the first time in game, but the lights are new as well. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to get over there. We have some players that are new, I think just playing in the stadium is different, the wind blows differently as far as our punt return, kick returns, just playing in the open field in the stadium, it’s important to do that, playing at night, practicing at night, and also just getting our body acclimated — coming in, having meeting, having breaks, very similar to what we do in game week. Right now, because school started just today, we’ve been on one routine. I think that just coming in having things like we do on game night (is beneficial). There’s always a long break (during the day on a night game). I’ve talked to other coaches, I’ve talked to other people to see if there’s things that they do differently with the breaks that you have in the afternoon, looked at anything we can do. As you know we’ve played some very good games at night … I don’t remember any, but I’m sure we probably played some bad ones (laughter).  I’m sure it goes both ways, so we’ll see.”

On if Courland Ford is available…

“No, he is not.”

On if he is in the group of extended absences…

“Yes.”

On getting into an offensive flow with your fourth straight offensive coordinator change …

“Yeah, I think we’ve really tried to head off all of those issues. If we run into problems, we do have timeouts for a reason. Obviously, we want to save them for two-minute situations at the end of half and end of games if you should need them. Also, we want to make sure we don’t waste plays. We have worked on the communication, the new communication, over and over, all the way through spring, all the way through camp. We’ve practiced it, we’ve got some live (practice) in the stadium. We try to anticipate those things and head them on before they happen. Nothing is ever perfect. We are going to strive to be but we will see. We are going to go out there with a confidence that we are going to be able to operate smoothly. I love the way he (Coach Hamdan) operates, I like the way he thinks. I like the way he anticipates his calls. He is in the box, so he can write down notes and have his thoughts and his ideas handy, and at his fingertips. It also helps with the communication to be able to see the defense, see the big picture and possibly adjust at times as well.”

On how you hope to see Brock Vandagriff adapt to the environment in his first start at Kentucky…

“I think a big thing that we talk a lot about is making the routine, routine. With him, you just continue to operate smoothly, continue to make good decisions, and continue to make the simple look simple, and the routine look routine. If a guy is open, hit him, and catch and run, protect the football, and do the basics. If we continue to do a lot of little things, big things will happen.  I think that is an important message with our entire team early because I mentioned it before, you guys have listened to me for 12 years, and for 12 years I’ve probably talked about it leading into it – guys want to do too much, too early. They immediately want the score to be whatever. They immediately want to have their production. They immediately want it all to happen right now. Why? Because they’ve worked very hard. They’ve lifted weights, they’ve ran all summer, they’ve done these things, they’ve had all these practices, so they all want, you know, they want it all right now. And that’s not going to happen unless they fall back on the things that they were taught and do the little things. If you continue to pile on, and do the little things right, you make routine look routine, and big things will eventually happen. That’s hard to preach because guys want it all very quickly.”

On the running backs on the depth chart, Jason Patterson at No. 2 and Demi Sumo-Karngbaye at No. 1…

“Production, just the way that they played, and Jamarion (Wilcox) will be a very close second with Jason, so he will play quite a bit as well.”

On changes in the game flow with the two-minute timeout…

“That’s something that we were just talking about. I anticipate it being that way, but it’s a full timeout, so again, it’s a long stoppage at the end of a game. That could benefit you, or it could be something you want the clock to go. So again, it’s part of the new environment, and we’ll adapt to it, and make sure we try to make the correct decisions.”

On how much your team worked with the tablets in fall camp…

“Absolutely have. I’ve talked about that. I’ve mentioned it because it very much is new. Some of our coaches used it in the bowl game, but it’s a different system. So, it did take some getting used to, and we have practiced it. We actually, because, if you look at it like this, in scrimmages, one (first team) offense is up against one (first team) defense, and it’s usually twos versus twos, so those coaches are coaching immediately. So, we have actually taken the breaks to sit down, for the new people, sit where they’re going to sit for the games, and actually go through the device, make sure they know how to operate the device, how it functions, what it looks like. And we liked it during the bowl game, the defensive coaches used it. Again, different system, similar in some ways and different on the input side, for our tech people it’s different, but using it operationally, very similar. We have practiced that, and you know I think it’s important with certain positions, you look at offensive line and give Coach Wolf (Eric Wolford) time to just sit and see what that looks like, and make those adjustments with the players. For Coach Hamdan, sit and help in the booth, he’s able to watch every series. It’s kind of handy for him, if you’re sitting at a table up in the press box, it can be very useful. So, we’ve practiced, it’ll be the same advantage for everybody, so we’ll try to make the most of it. “

On the offensive line going into week one…

“I like that group. I feel like we’re improving. Everybody always wants to continue to build the depth that we’re looking for. We have to continue to bring some young guys along that we feel like can help and will be needed to help at some point this season. I think the additions, with (Gerald) Mincey and (Jalen) Farmer, have really helped us. I feel that presence, I feel the physicality out there, not perfect and still a work in progress, but I think we’re getting better.”

On Malachi Wood, Cutter Boley and Aba Selm and some of the other freshmen…

“That’s one of the guys I was just talking about with the offensive line that we’re going to need to help. You look at Malachi as a redshirt freshman, getting better and really working hard, we’re going to need him. But, Aba is a guy that’s one of those freshmen that takes things very seriously, works very hard, very conscientious, trying to get better each day. You know, when you get close to the ball like that at guard, things happen very fast, it’s very difficult to play at a young age. But he’s got an opportunity, hopefully we can continue to get him reps as the year goes on, get his feet wet. Cutter has been very consistent, we’ve been very pleased with Gavin (Wimsatt) and Cutter. Both can bring some very good attributes to the game, to the field, and can do some special things. So, we’ll see where it goes.”

On how the wide receiver group is connecting with Brock Vandagriff…

“Very good. I think Brock is certainly a guy that’s in there all the time, always working at it. If you look at the way we do things now, the turnover of roster I don’t think maybe it’s as big of a situation as it was, five years ago if you will, because you’re teaching a lot of new guys anyway. And I also think what helps is (being) able to spend more time (with the players). I hope that pays dividends, I’ve said that before and I hope it’s true. I think we’ve spent a lot of time. Our coaches have worked with our players a lot; they’ve had a lot of meetings, they’ve had a lot of time, they’ve sacrificed a lot of their time in the summer to spend with our players, preparing them, and hopefully that will correlate to a smoother transition. I like the way Bush teaches, I feel like the players can pick that up very well. Not only with Barion (Brown) and Dane (Key), but you add Ja’Mori (Maclin) and you add Fred (Farrier), two guys that are very important and very good players that constantly show up in practice. It’s a pretty good statement. You mix in AB (Anthony Brown-Stephens), and Brandon White has had a minor injury for a week or so, and hopefully we’ll get him back to full tilt as well because he brings another dynamic that’s pretty good, so we’ve got to get them all on the same page.”

On how you feel about the overall kicking game…

“I feel good, obviously. with Alex (Raynor), he’s a guy that’s been very consistent and has a very strong leg, but you look at (Jacob) Kauwe being behind him and, man he has an extremely strong leg.  We have a lot of confidence in Alex, and I don’t know what the (yard line) number will be, but if I know Jacob has hit – we tried the 60 (yarder) three times and he hit them all three times, with full units, offense against defense (on the field).  So, we have that as well and you know we’ve constantly talked about it, just to be more consistent with the punting game. I think Wilson (Berry) and Aidan (Laros), bringing in Aidan, he has an opportunity as well. Aidan is also very strong with kickoffs along with Jacob, between Aidan and Jacob our kickoffs should be pretty deep and we should have high kicks and be able to cover, and not run into some of the problems that we did late last year.”

On if you use the loss to Southern Miss in 2016 as a learning example with your team…

“We always use anything just to bring to their attention, You know how we constantly talk about one year to the next, whether it’s bad streaks or good streaks, you know it really goes out the window, year to year, you have to be able to play well in this game. I think it’s important for us to do the things we’re talking about and constantly do the little things and just not try to get ahead of ourselves, is the big thing that I’ll try to preach, but I mean it will be brought up and certainly the players know. They’re not oblivious to all that and they understand that we have to go play well, there’s a lot of teams that could beat us and we could beat a lot of teams.”

On long snappers …

“It’s been very close with Alex (McLaughlin) and Walker (Himebauch), Walker snapped for us all last year as a freshman, did a heck of a job, but both of them have been good.”

On what kinks you hope to work out in week one…

“I think just the things that I mentioned, number one, control what we can control, do the little things, take care of our primary responsibility. Guys want to have big vision all the time and sometimes you have to zero in on your key, your job to execute and take care of your primary responsibility, and then go play ball. I think those are the things I’m looking for.  Obviously, the operation, how smooth we are, we want to play clean, you have to protect the football, we want to win the turnover battle, but also I think just doing the little things.”

On the “ors” in the secondary on the depth chart…

“Just out of confidence in either/or, those guys can play. The safeties, those three guys are starters and so we feel very good there and in the back-up role at corner and even opposite Maxwell (Hairston), we have to continue to evaluate that position. DJ’s not quite been 100 this week as well this past week or so.”

On Southern Miss…

“Very good team, very well coached. (Head Coach) Will Hall, I don’t know him very well, but he has a good, solid background … They have 10 new guys, new quarterback, we will see; it’s hard to access that until you put it all together and get out there and play. I think most teams will tell you, them and us, we need to worry about ourselves — how you execute and how you play and how clean you operate and all that.  I know a year ago (they had) a really good running back, Frank Gore Jr. I happened to be at Miami when his father played at the ‘U’. Frank Gore Jr. was one heck of a player in his own right.”

On how having a co-defensive coordinator affects the game operation…

“Not too much, I think (adding) eyes and vision. We want to make sure the coordinators have the opportunity to do what they need to do. And in between series there will be a lot more communication, a lot of I-pads and a lot of eyes to see what’s going on and try to educate our players.”

On how your team handles the excitement around the upcoming season…

“I think it helps immensely. We feel that passion and energy, we certainly feel it in the stadium. We have eight home games and we want to go deliver. You have heard me say that man times. I feel a deep obligation to put a team out there that they are proud of. They are excited about it and want to come watch us. That is a good first step. Now we have to go play well and we want to do that, it is important to us. To go out there and coaches coach and players play and do the very best we can. We are excited about it, we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. That is the big thing. everyone wants to talk about the schedule, let’s go worry about Southern Miss. To your point, a few years back (2016) they took care of us. There were some lessons in that game that I carry with me, you’ve heard me talk about scars, calls and plays and things that happened. I remember exactly what happened at the end of that half, I remember exactly the call we made, I remember exactly the mistakes I made. You’re thinking they’re running out the clock, I let a call go, I should have called timeout and regrouped. That’s on me, but that was a long time ago but I don’t forget.”

On the depth on defense line…

“That’s a deep group with Tre’vonn (Rybka) and Ox (Octavious Oxendine) and Deone (Walker) and all of them have played very well. Kahlil (Sanders) is a guy we have a ton of confidence in, Keeshawn (Silver) has played very well. We have to get a guy like Kendrick Gilbert to continue to grow and continue to get better, bigger, stronger and be able to handle the SEC reps that are coming down the stretch. I think it’s always a work in progress developing guys and you’ve heard us talk about it before, we have a unit on defense where there is a ton of experience and then we have some youngsters we have to bring along.”

On the uncertainty of player stability, decisions on redshirting players, and how the younger players can help on special teams…

“Absolutely it does.  If they can help us, they are going to help us. If they can play some special teams, there is a lot more accountability there that even they understand. The way we practice and the way we go into meetings, the intensity that Coach (Jay) Boulware and how he goes about special teams. I mean that is some serious business and we let nothing slide, so those players understand it, and I think the media covering it and the fans. If they can help us, they’re going to help us. There are a lot of young athletes that can run and we need them to continue to grow up and play. That is the first step with them is being accountable and helping us on special teams. If they can’t do little things, they can’t do big things. We talk about that all the time. A little thing might be backside on a kickoff return or finishing a block or doing things that nobody sees but if you execute it and you do your job big things may happen. We will continue to harp on that and continue to bring those guys on.”

On your assessment of the tight end room…

“It’s a good group, there is some experience in there. (Josh) Kattus is a guy, you just want him healthy and I think that is something we have to protect him a little bit and just make sure he is ready to go. Jordan (Dingle) is a guy we have a lot of confidence in, Khamari (Anderson), you want to see growth out of him. The other one that showed up in camp that we think can contribute was Willie Rodriguez, a guy that has shown us and done some good things.”

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