A Re-Energized Mark Stoops talks Accountability, Roster-Build Ahead of Spring Practice

The last time we heard from Mark Stoops, the Kentucky head coach told Big Blue Nation not to panic. Two months later, the tone felt different.

Stoops is well aware of his recent shortcomings and is ready to take full responsibility for them. However, he doesn’t want to linger too much on what went wrong. Stoops just wants Kentucky football fans to know that 100% of his concentration is on solving those problems.

“We just need to get it fixed. I can go back. I take responsibility, but it’s like, let’s get it fixed and move forward,” Stoops said. “We have some bodies in there now. We have some really good size and have some quality people.”

That statement was specifically regarding the offensive line. He said some version of “that’s on me” or “I take responsibility” more than a handful of times, and it applied to the program’s lack of leadership, physicality, and errors in roster-building. Another example:

“I didn’t do a good enough job of teaching, and bringing out the leadership that I needed to a year ago. So we’re not going to miss in that area anymore.”

The job has changed since he took over ahead of the 2013 Kentucky football season. All of those changes were admittedly overwhelming at times. He’s adapted and created a plan to focus less on the big picture, but on the steps he and his program must take on an everyday basis to reach that ultimate big-picture goal.

When asked if he still enjoys this job, Stoops responded, “I enjoy it right now as much as I ever have.

“Maybe, I shouldn’t say it was good. It is what it is. Last year was no what I wanted. It was not what anybody wanted. That falls squarely on me. I know people get tired of seeing it. There’s a lot of things that you have to adapt to in one way or another, it ties directly back to me. But it is a big organization, it’s a big department, and there’s a lot of areas that we have to all adapt to and do it at a high level.

“With that being said, with the situation the way it was, I could not be more energized and focused and determined to get this thing back and to keep rolling the program like we once did, as good as anybody with the sustained success that we had for a long period of time. That is hard to do in our league. We’re highly motivated to get it back on track, to get going, and I think there’s great energy and great juice in our building. I like the focus and the energy of our staff. I think we had to be very strategic in defining exactly what we wanted to do and teaching that to the players, and I like the way they’ve accepted that, the way they’ve accepted the coaching. They understand very clearly what’s expected of them. They’re working very hard and it feels very good. Nobody likes the year that we had, but I like where we’re at right now. We’re aiming to push forward, aiming for the future. It’s fun coming in early in the spring and attacking the day, getting around these players, and getting them better.”

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.