Cutter Boley doubles down on support for Stoops: 'Every guy on this roster wants to play for him'

In the hours after Kentucky’s win over Florida — the Cats’ biggest vs. the Gators since 1950 — Cutter Boley made it clear that he and his teammates stand behind Mark Stoops. During an appearance on “SEC This Morning” on Monday, he did the same as uncertainty about Stoops’ future in Lexington remains.

“A tremendous amount,” Boley said when Peter Burns asked what Stoops means to him. “He means a tremendous amount to this program and to these players and to everybody around here. He’s a true player’s coach, and every guy on this roster wants to play for him.”

Kentucky’s struggles earlier this season are no secret. The Cats did not win a game in October, putting Stoops firmly on the hot seat. Instead of throwing in the towel, the Cats won back-to-back games to start the month of November, which Boley said is proof of how much they love their head coach.

“I think that just kind of going through adversity and being able to overcome it like we have, I think that just shows a true testament of who he is and who we are as a team. And he’s the same guy in the locker room every single Monday, after every single win, loss, whatever it may be, he is the same exact guy, and I think the players really respect and appreciate that, and every dude in this locker room wants to play for him and win for him.”

Stoops’ future could be determined in Kentucky’s final three games of the season. Now 4-5 (2-5 in SEC play), bowl eligibility is within reach. The Cats host Tennessee Tech this weekend before hitting the road for games vs. Vanderbilt and Louisville. The Golden Eagles are undefeated and present a much tougher challenge than a typical FCS foe. When Burns asked about the matchup vs. Vanderbilt on Nov. 22, Boley made sure to pivot back to Tennessee Tech.

“Vandy is a really good team, and they’re really exciting to watch,” Boley said. “They do a lot of good things, but I’m really excited for this matchup [vs. Tennessee Tech]. I feel like we’ve been preparing, and we’ve kind of got some juice and a heartbeat going right now.

“And I really believe in our guys and this team, and Coach Stoops, and Coach Hampton, Coach White, all across the board. I really believe in everybody here, and I think we’re doing some really good things, so I’m super excited for the next few weeks.”

We’ve heard Stoops and the players talk about the “1-0” motto in recent weeks, the importance of staying focused on the present and not letting the past affect them. Boley said that practicing that motto even in the darkest moments has only brought them closer together.

“I don’t think there’s really a specific moment,” Boley said of when the season turned around. “I think it’s been just throughout the whole year, we’ve kind of stayed believing in ourselves and believing in this team, believing in the coaching staff, everyone’s really stuck together, and we’ve kind of bonded through all the adversity, and it’s kind of made us a lot better.”

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Boley on representing Kentucky, life after football

Directing Kentucky’s turnaround has to be especially cool for Boley, a native of Hodgenville, Ky. It’s even cooler to hear him talk about it on the SEC Network.

“Baby,” Boley said when asked how old he was when he attended his first Kentucky Football game. “A baby. Like, I don’t even know, probably a little over a year or two old. Like, really, really young. I’ve been going to UK football games since I could remember. But yeah, that was kind of always the big thing every weekend. Coming up to Lexington was the big trip for me when I was growing up, coming to watch the Cats play. So, it’s definitely super cool.”

Those memories and his love for the state are further reasons why Boley leaves it all on the field each Saturday — and hopefully, why he’ll choose to stay here if and when other schools come calling this offseason.

“I think it’s awesome to be able to represent my hometown, and kind of just the whole state of Kentucky. Being from here and growing up a UK fan, to know what it feels like to be a UK fan, I think that just kind of makes me go that extra mile and take that extra step in whatever I’m doing, practice or working out, whatever it is, it really kind of just gives me that extra juice to just go that extra length because I know I’m representing the state and the people of Kentucky.”

On his UK Athletics bio, Boley said his dream job outside of the NFL is construction management; when Chris Doering and Burns asked him about it, he explained that it’s in his blood.

“I think just the area I kind of grew up in makes me want to work in construction. It makes me want to work with my hands. A lot of my buddies growing up now are linemen, they do HVAC, roofers. I have a lot of buddies who do a lot of different things back in my hometown, but that’s just something I kind of grew up around. It’s in my family. It’s all around me while I was growing up. So I’m not 100% sure what I want to do, but kind of something in that area for sure.”

That’s about as Kentucky as you can get. Be sure to check out Boley’s complete interview on SEC This Morning, which also includes him breaking down some of Saturday’s highlights vs. Florida.