Stoops Holds Calzada Accountable, Defends Players Against Trolls

1 - Stoops with Calzada _MG_5226 — Mark Stoops with Zach Calzada, via Jeff Drummond, Cats Illustrated

“Get you some money, Garrett,” transformed from an embarrassing viral video by Zach Calzada into a galvanizing moment for the Kentucky football team.

When the video of the backup quarterback counting his money initially hit the internet, Big Blue Nation was reviled by the flex. Not only was it a bad look for Calzada, it was a bad look for the program to invest money in a player who wasn’t playing.

Calzada issued a public apology, and Mark Stoops said it was addressed in the locker room.

“We’re always going to be a program built on development and accountability. Always have been and always will,” the Kentucky head coach said on Monday.

“Mistakes are going to happen, and those become coaching moments, for all of us. Zach made a mistake, he acknowledged it, and he’s apologized for it. We’ve addressed it, and we’re going to try to move on.”

Before Saturday’s game, the aforementioned Garrett called into Kentucky Sports Radio to share his side of the story. He made it clear that he was trolling the Kentucky quarterback. Garrett sent multiple messages to Calzada throughout the year, before one — “You suck at football” — pushed Calzada over the edge, and inspired him to make the viral video.

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Garrett calls into @KSRTHESHOW to break down Zach Calzada’s money flex 👀 pic.twitter.com/V6TscvAKLd
— Mario A Maitland (@MarioMaitland_3) November 7, 2025

Obviously, Calzada’s response was immature. As Mark Stoops said, mistakes happen. However, the Kentucky head coach went out of his way to defend his players against criticism from trolls.

“You look at what happened in the NFL, and mental health, and what goes on with kids, and the challenges; it’s hard, man. It’s hard,” Stoops added.

“That’s one thing, I’ll say it, I’ll stick up for our team. We’re going to be accountable, and we’ve acknowledged that, he’s acknowledged that, we will continue to do that, and there’s no excuse. But there’s also no place to reward these people that call themselves trolls. There’s no place for that, for young people.”

Not only did Stoops stick up for his team, but the players seemed to embrace it. Cutter Boley celebrated a touchdown with a money celebration, one of many during Saturday’s blowout victory over the Gators. A little hating has gone a long way for this Kentucky football team, which is two wins away from returning to postseason play.