Mark Stoops is such a players' coach he let Lynn Bowden use his parking spot

On Monday, Mark Stoops talked about his reputation as a players’ coach on the “Pin It Deep” podcast with Max Duffy and Miles Butler. When he heard Duffy on Kentucky Sports Radio this morning, Stoops called in to chat with his former player, who revealed another secret. Duffy said Stoops loves his players so much he let Lynn Bowden park in his spot at the football training center.

“You score a lot of touchdowns, it means you get to park in my spot,” Stoops said laughing. “If you averaged over 50 [yards per punt], I was pretty good to you that week too.”

Stoops said he’s always put an emphasis on building relationships with his players, even when that wasn’t the trend among college football coaches.

“I’ve always been that way because I feel like, first of all, that’s just me. I want a relationship with the people I’m around. The players, the coaches — I’ve never felt like a dictator. Believe me, I don’t struggle to demand what I want, as you know, but I don’t want to come to work miserable every day.

“We work around the clock, seven days a week and you players sacrifice so much and give so much for the fanbase, for yourselves, for your family. People don’t realize what our players go through and I genuinely respect them and care for them. It’s hard. What we do is hard.”

Lessons from Stoops Sr.

Stoops said he inherited his coaching philosophy from his father, Ron, a longtime defensive coordinator and head baseball coach at Cardinal Mooney High School.

“When did somebody say you’re not allowed to have fun playing this sport and working and doing things? It’s just the way I feel and I’ve always felt that way and I love my relationship with the players. My father was much like that. Very demanding but the players loved him. He was always very disciplined, but I think that’s a lot of who my dad was and I enjoy being that way.”

Now that players have more freedom to choose where they play, relationships are more important than ever. Kentucky’s success this season is due in large part to the transfer portal. Stoops’ coaching style makes Lexington an even more appealing destination.

“Now that’s the en vogue thing to be, but I’ve been that for 35 years,” Stoops said on Pin It Deep. “It wasn’t cool to be like that. Now, all of a sudden because of the transfer portal, you want to be a players’ coach but I’ve never apologized for that my whole life.

“I just feel like you get way more out of people if they know you care about them and you’re authentic. Then now I can pull the truth out of you because it’s like a bank. If I invest in you, there’s gonna be times where I gotta pull that out. If they don’t love, if they don’t believe you, and they know you’re fake you’re not getting that.”