Vince Marrow talks postgame Kool-Aid, Wan'Dale, the SEC, and more to KSR

Kentucky’s coaching staff got the party started soon after senior DeAndre Square’s Citrus Bowl-clinching interception. As Vince Marrow tells it, they had some “Kool-Aid” in the locker room after the game.

Marrow called into the KSR Postgame Show on the way to the airport from the stadium. Beside him on the bus was offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who Marrow credits for a boost in Kentucky Football.

“Having that dude here just really took our program to another level,” Marrow told Matt Jones. “We’re enjoying it right now.”

Marrow called the scene after the game “pandemonium” and “a big, big, big celebration.”

More from that bus ride to MCO airport:

The best transfer in college football

Wan’Dale Robinson was the game’s MVP for his 10 catches and 170 yards. When it was over, Marrow told KSR Postgame Show listeners his thoughts on Kentucky’s transfer wide receiver.

“I’m just very proud of Wan’dale,” Marrow said. “When he left and went to Nebraska at the last minute, he took a lot of heat but I actually tweeted out that I wish him the best. His dad never forgot that, so when it was time to come back, they knew exactly where they wanted to go. I’m just so happy for him.”

Marrow should be happy; after all, Robinson led Kentucky’s receiver room with over 1,000 yards and an All-SEC selection. It’s Coen’s offense that drew Robinson back home to Kentucky, Marrow told KSR, and the move paid off.

“When we hired Liam (Coen), the offense he was very excited about what he was going to see. He just took that receiver position to another level. He has to be the best transfer in college football, to me, for the impact he made on our team.”

Humble beginnings

Only Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow remain from Stoops’ first Kentucky coaching staff, back when times were tough for Kentucky Football.

“You know when we first came here how it was, there was no talent,” Marrow said. “No talent at all. We took a lot of flack, but we were building when we started recruiting Ohio and then once Kentucky Football got good, we started locking down top kids here.

“To see where it’s going, I really do believe we can do a lot of great things here.”

S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!

Not one to hold back, Vince Marrow was upfront about how Kentucky’s locker room was handling the outside chatter ahead of kickoff.

“I think our guys were a little pissed off about what they were reading and seeing about the SEC was 0-4,” Marrow told KSR, “talking about we were down.”

“I was like, this stuff’s about to change real quick. It kicked off last night and we carried it on.”

A further endorsement for the Southeastern Conference, Marrow said, “It’s a grown man’s league. It’s always going to be a grown man’s league.”

He continued: “That’s what I told the boys up north. Who wins the national championship year in and year out? The SEC. We’re playing top of the echelon Big Ten schools and you see the results. It was a joke last night with Georgia.

“We recruit a lot up north and it sends the message that, if we were in the Big Ten, we’d do pretty damn well.”

Marrow unfiltered

For more from Marrow’s very candid conversation with Matt Jones, some of which was motivated by those after-game Kool-Aids, tune in below on the podcast. Marrow appears around the 35:00 mark. Speaking of Mark, Stoops called in too.