Mark Stoops sticks to 'need to do better' script to avoid getting 'annihilated'

Mark Stoops asked fans to put Kentucky’s embarrassing loss to Florida on him, not the players. He said the Wildcats needed to play better and make fewer mistakes, but the blame was on his shoulders for the team’s 3-4 start and its most recent no-show in Gainesville.

“We really worked hard this week. I know the product didn’t show out there today, but I cannot fault the players. I can’t — again, put it on me, but I felt like we really worked hard,” Stoops said. “I felt like their minds were good, coming on the road in a challenging environment. I’m not down that way. You know what I mean?

“Obviously, I’m concerned — like you would be, fans would be. There are things we’ve got to do a lot better, but I think there are a lot of guys playing as hard as they can.”

Fair to expect from a coach making $9 million this season, good for ninth-most in college football and fifth in the SEC. Then things got weird Monday, starting with his game week press conference where he talked about folks crying on the yacht — where have we heard that one before? — staying hands off with play-calling unless asked and not wanting to elaborate on things because ‘I’ll get annihilated.’

“I like working with you all. I think we have a good understanding,” he told the media. “We’ve been here for a long time going through this, but when I elaborate, somebody grabs something, and next thing you know I’m ‘complaining.’ I can’t be ‘Fun Mark’ today. You guys are professionals, and just some people don’t listen to the whole conversation. They just grab a piece and next thing it’s online, so I’m gonna make that very clear.”

Fun Mark out, Feisty Mark in. And that theme stuck during his call-in radio show Monday evening where he really made it clear he didn’t want to elaborate on much of anything knowing his words would be taken out of context and make fans angry no matter what he said.

Stoops started with the ‘annihilated’ line in his conversation with Tom Leach.

“There are a lot of areas we can control. We need to improve and we will. I mean, that’s it. I can’t say anything else Tom, you know what I mean? Anything I say gets picked apart, I’ll get annihilated,” he said. “Let’s just say I need to do a better job and leave it at that, and that’s because everything will get twisted and misconstrued. We just need to do better. We can do better. I like our team’s effort and their prep. I challenged them hard last week and felt like they did. We didn’t play good enough to win. Florida did.”

When a fan asked Stoops on social media why Chip Trayanum — Kentucky’s bruiser in the backfield at 5-11, 227 pounds — wasn’t used in short-yardage situations, the head coach got snippy with a matter-of-fact rebuttal.

In short, the veteran back coming back from injury wasn’t physically ready for the wear and tear.

“Well, he had two surgeries on his hand. So I think the question would be if I used him there and he fumbled, it would be, ‘Why are you so stupid to use him in a situation like that?’ You know what I mean?” Stoops said. “It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. We are trying to get him comfortable. That’s a fair question, and I’d love to have him at full strength. But he did have two surgeries where he does have to hold the football. We’re trying to just make sure he’s ready for that type of physicality and that type of contact.”

Speaking of running backs, how about shoe-gate with Jamarion Wilcox, who was the topic of conversation all week after Stoops revealed the redshirt freshman doesn’t lace up his cleats during games? “Here’s a simple thing, tie your shoes,” the Kentucky head coach said last week.

He brought those comments back up as an example of his words being taken out of context and the media making a bigger deal about things than necessary.

“I broke my rule tonight even commenting on Jamarion because people will twist anything I say. Jamarion is a great young man, we have no issues — like, zero. We laugh and joke all the time. I mean, it’s simple about finding a way to keep his shoes on. Don’t make nothing else out of it, nothing. That’s where we are as a team. We get in those modes where we put our blinders on and shut everybody out.

“Because right now, the one thing I understand, Tom — I’ve been with you for 12 years, whenever I lose, they’re gonna find something. You know what I mean? I just can’t say anything. Bottom line, I just can’t say anything.”

Tough to do during an hour-long call-in radio show, but I applaud the effort.

To avoid being accused of taking his quotes out of context, here is every word of Stoops’ response when asked what his message will be to the team this week with Auburn coming to town on Saturday:

“We’ve played at a very high level. We gotta do our job. It starts there — very simple, right? But it’s very true, do your job and that starts with all of us. We’re all in this together. As a team, we’re not going to point any fingers. It’s just, everybody has to do their job. This past week there were issues at the first level and second level and the third level, so everybody’s got to get some things corrected. To play at a really high level, it takes those guys being on the same page, playing extremely hard, playing fundamentally sound, and making competitive plays all the time. That’s what we have to do. We’ve done it, we’ve shown that. We’re in a stage where we’re physically — it’s taken its toll on us, so we gotta continue to really get our rest. We’re going to end up playing four 8 o’clock games in a row. It takes its toll on our bodies. These guys got to get our rest. We’ve got to get them recuperated very, very quickly and get back on practice field, have good practices to put ourselves in position to win games. We’ve got a lot to do.”

Oh, and his closing thoughts on his players and staff taking their cue from him and wanting to see him not panic:

“That’s not going to happen. I was asked today in my press conference. People are like — I don’t know what’s going on outside of my bubble. You know what I mean? There isn’t anything that is gonna affect me. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been through a lot worse than this, that’s for damn sure. Where I was raised and where I came from and what I’ve done. You think that’s going to make me flinch? Come on. You know what I mean? It’s back to work for me as soon as I leave here.”

Plenty of work, indeed.

UK HealthCare Mark Stoops Show https://t.co/3TdbGlc5Ke

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) October 21, 2024