LIVE BLOG: Kentucky Football at 2025 SEC Media Days

Stoops and Drinkwitz are long lost friends

We’ve got an unknown coaching bromance to dig into. Remember when Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz randomly showed up on the same beach as Mark Stoops one summer? Well, turns out that these two seem to really like each other.

Kentucky’s guys have fancy backpacks

Josh Kattus, Jordan Lovett, and Alex Afari are making the rounds at SEC Media Days with fancy electronic backpacks.

Stoops: “We’re gonna swing this fall”

“This shit’s hard” feels like a great motto for Kentucky Football right now, but Stoops probably prefers the one he gave a little later in his speech. Stoops said Kentucky will swing for the fences this season. “Bring it on.”

“I love it, man, and you’re right. Reminded me of who I am. So I’m gonna go down, I’m gonna go out, and we’re gonna swing, you know? I mean, we’re gonna swing this fall. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We have an unbelievably challenging schedule, but hey, bring it on. Let’s embrace it. Let’s have fun with it, and let’s attack each and every day. That’s all we can do.”

Mark Stoops: “This shit’s hard”

Mark Stoops is determined not to make headlines, but he just gave us a pretty good one. When asked about entering his 13th season at Kentucky, he reflected on his time in Lexington and how far he’s taken the program and the challenges that he still faces. It was a very long answer, but was best summed up by this line: “This shit’s hard.”

“It’s a real challenge. When I got to Kentucky, I think, as I mentioned, I listened — I don’t. I might as well just stay away from that. I was going to say something, but I say things tongue in cheek, and it gets taken way out of control when you lose. You’ve got to watch what you say, but truthfully, when we got there, there was so much work to be done. I’m very proud of that run that we had. I mean, it’s the best run we’ve had. Maybe one other one with Bear Bryant going back to the ’50s there. But there’s an eight-year run there where we’ve been as consistent as anybody in the history of our school.

“In our local media [session], someone asked me this morning. And as each coach that stands up here, we go back a little bit, but we’re really concentrating on this year, right? Like, what’s ahead of us. But when you have a down year, you have to stand up here. You have to own it. You have to face it, talk about the things you’re doing to address it, and then move on.

“I’ve stood up here after two 10-win seasons. That’s only happened two times in the history of our school, you know. And I don’t really want to talk about that year. I want to talk about this year, you know. So there’s a fine balance there. So for me, it’s just exciting, but I’m really just excited about the opportunity, really diving into the challenge that lies ahead of us, and embracing that and having fun with it because this shit is hard, and you might as well go enjoy it and dive into it and and there’s a lot of people that can’t do it, and didn’t do it for 12 years and didn’t do it for 13 years, and not at Kentucky.

“You look at the history of what we’ve done, and there’s a lot of lot of great ones that didn’t make it very long, and so I’m proud of the run that we have, I want to use last year for us to learn from and to grow from, and to get better and to get back to who we want to be. And that’s something that our program deserves. That’s something our fanbase deserves and the great people in Kentucky, the administration, we’re all in, and we’re excited about this next season.”

Nick Roush asks Mark Stoops if he’s motivated

Nick Roush got the first question in the main room and made it count, asking Mark Stoops if he was motivated. Stoops said he’ll let the media “have their fun and take their shots” but he’s actually just grateful to be in his position, entering his 13th year at Kentucky.

“I think that’s a point that I think, Nick, you’re pretty dialed into. I think it’s interesting, as I talk a lot in the offseason. I love how people grab certain aspects of things that I say, and it’s no different than I’ve ever been. Zero change.

“I think one thing that I think that’s been a pleasant change for me, is being consumed with certain aspects of this work that we have to do for the years, you know, leading up to this in particular, I think all of us have touched on, I want to move past it, but the fundraising aspect of our job kind of gets a little bit of something that consumes us, and I think I want to get back to the coaching, and that makes me very happy.

“But motivated is something that I’m quite sure I’ve mentioned each and every year I’ve ever been a head football coach, and will continue to always do that. I’d like to use the word grateful. I think I’m very grateful to be here and happy. I had a hell of a year. I had to get an ankle replacement surgery. So last year was a bear on me physically, and I got that fixed, and I feel great, and so that pain is gone from on the field. So I’m very grateful and looking forward to this 13th year, but it’s business as usual for us. It’s business as usual for myself.

“I think I’ll play along and let the media have their fun and take their shots, and that’s cool with me, and I’m ready to just move forward.”

Stoops now on the main stage

Stoops is speaking now on the main stage. You can watch it live on the SEC Network. He started by acknowledging Kentucky’s disappointing 2024 season and said he’s spent the offseason reflecting and revamping things in hopes of getting the program back on track.

“When you do that and have a bad year like that, I had to take a good step back and analyze each and everything in our program, along with our staff and our players. And there’s a lot of work to be done, but we didn’t want to just move past it, you know. We really wanted to make sure we made the adjustments necessary, any weakness that we had, we want to try to make a strength, and just attack it each and every day.

“There’s a lot of good from us as a coaching staff to be able to do that, but we looked at everything, from our culture to our schemes, the way we teach, the way we connect, the way we lead, all of it needs to be revitalized and make the necessary adjustments. For us, we will continue to anchor with the core values of our program, and that’s an attitude, toughness, discipline, and we need to do that with the consistency that’s necessary to make sure that you’re going to get the growth that’s needed. And during a difficult year, those attributes don’t just go away. There’s something that we’ve got to lean back into and make sure we’re doing a lot of things well, but make sure we do those things at a very high level.”

Mark Stoops on Mark Pope vs. John Calipari

The SEC Media Days tradition of reporters asking Mark Stoops about Kentucky Basketball continues. On SiriusXM, Stoops was asked about the changing of the guard on the hardwood and how Mark Pope compares to John Calipari, whom Stoops publicly butted heads with a few years back.

Stoops on Pope: “Mark Pope is absolutely wonderful. What you see and how he interacts, you’re like, ‘Is this real?” It’s real, man. He’s the best.

Stoops on Calipari: “Great guy. Great person, great leader, and coach. All of us are like that. It’s been like that. There are always different personalities. You know the family I grew up in. We’re going to have a few spats. I think some of that was maybe warranted for a small amount of time, but like anything, I’m the type of person, I’m gonna get it off my chest. We’re going to have a confrontation, and it’s going to be over. It’s just like that — it’s over. It’s how I grew up.”

“I think some of that was overblown or whatever, but right now I think there’s a great feeling on campus. I’m going into the 13th season with the same president and the same athletic director. That’s very rare.”

Josh Kattus talks to the SEC Network

Stoops takes the main stage at 10:50 a.m. ET, but Josh Kattus is making the rounds, speaking to Dari Nowkhah about last year’s big win at Ole Miss, his love for the city of Lexington, and goals for this season. Here’s his answer when asked if he’s sensed a different energy from Mark Stoops this offseason

“Of course, things are amplified, but I would argue that he has been motivated every year. Maybe a little bit more this year, after last year, but he’s super motivated this year to do the best we can, and that’s all we’re focused on.”

All of Stoops’ Comments with the Local Media

Tight Ends Learning Lessons from New Coach

Kentucky wasted no time finding Vince Marrow’s successor. Derek Shay was an easy, in-house promotion for Mark Stoops. Shay previously spent time with Bush Hamdan at Missouri, and cut his teeth coaching tight ends as a grad assistant at LSU.

Positive Early Reports on Seth McGowan

Kentucky’s biggest addition in the transfer portal this spring was running back Seth McGowan. He started his career at Oklahoma before getting into some trouble. He bounced around before ultimately landing at New Mexico State and tallying 823 yards (5.4 ypc.) and three touchdowns last season. Stoops typically is reserved in his comments about specific players at this event, but he really likes what McGowan is bringing to Lexington.

“I’m very excited about him. He brings a lot of juice, a lot of energy off the field and with the way he runs, with the way he plays. I think he’s a complete back. He’s an NFL back and we’re happy to have him on our team.”

Kentucky is Healthy

Sometimes, you get a surprise at SEC Media Days. There are none on the injury front for Kentucky. The Wildcats are relatively healthy without any major injuries to report.

Mark Stoops Wasn’t Intentionally Laying Low

The Kentucky head coach often prefaced comments by saying, “I don’t want to make a headline.” Adam Luckett directly asked him why that was the case, and he said that he wasn’t trying to duck the public eye. He thought people would appreciate that he’s putting his head down and going to work.

“I didn’t do anything different this offseason with y’all. I don’t think. People have tried to insinuate that I’ve been laying low on purpose, but I think people would appreciate the fact that we’re just working, and we’re trying to get better, and we’re trying to assemble a quality football team, and we have a lot of work to do. I think you understand that, and I think everybody understands that. So I think the people of Kentucky, and everybody just in general, would appreciate me putting my head down, going to work, and building a better football team. But it wasn’t intentional.”

Vince Responds

Once again, everybody is playing too nice. It’s okay to say you want to kick your rival’s ass. That’s college football.

Hall of Fame Setup

In a shocking twist, Tim Couch’s jersey didn’t enter the shadowbox at the College Football Hall of Fame. As a member of this year’s class, it has a stationary display that will be exhibited for viewing until the next class is enshrined. Instead, Josh-Hines Allen’s jersey was on display, along with All-American tight end James Whalen. There’s also a helmet signed by Wuerffel Award Winner Courtney Love.

Today’s SEC Media Day Fits

Love Afari’s suede shoes. Kattus has a nice shade of blue too.

The Players Were Too Nice to Vince Marrow

Vince Marrow left for Louisville. I understand you need to play nice to an extent, but come on — HE WENT TO FREAKING LOUISVILLE.

“Obviously, it was a surprise, but I wish him the best,” is what Josh Kattus had to say.

Stoops on Vince Marrow leaving

This is the first time the media has spoken to Mark Stoops since Vince Marrow left for Louisville. Here was his answer when asked about it this morning at the local media scrum.

“I think anybody that’s making a decision to leave the program, I don’t think there’s any, like, perfect way to do that, you know. So I don’t hold any animosity towards that at all, or towards Vince. I greatly appreciate our friendship and what he’s done to help us build this program for 12 years. And, you know, he was instrumental in a lot of ways. But with that, I say the same thing about myself, about everybody in our program. I mean, it’s about the program, it’s about so many individuals and so many people that I think that’s what the focus is on. And this program and these student athletes and everybody, we’re resilient, you know, you just got to pick up and move on quickly. And so I greatly appreciate him was, you know, still think the world of him, but we moved on quickly.”

One of the perceived reasons Marrow left was position coaches taking some of his control in recruiting. Stoops shot that down.

“Nothing was structurally different. Nothing at all. I think you can understand the landscape has changed in the last three or four years, in the last two, three, you know, and so recruiting is definitely much different. It’s imperative that we don’t miss on guys. When I was a position coach, and, you know, I think I’ve told you this story many times, but I could go back to some places I’ve been where there was some pressure on you to sign guys, and my position group, I was so critical, because the last thing on Earth I wanted to do was bring somebody into a program that couldn’t play to the standard that we want.

“I think, you know, so has it changed? Not at all, but we have to be very detailed, very precise on who we’re bringing in. And so position coaches and area coaches have always been involved, always, and sometimes that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but those coaches don’t care. You know, they just do their jobs. And so nothing really drastically, structurally, has changed. I think it’s fair to say the landscape changes year to year, and also the number of players that we take out of high school, with the portal being so important.”

It’s Go Time

BBN, Let’s Ride!