Mark Stoops makes first public appearance since 4-8 finish on SportsCenter: "There is so much to do."

Mark Stoops has not spoken publicly since National Signing Day on December 4, just four days after Kentucky lost to Louisville in the season finale 41-14 to finish 4-8 on the season — the program’s worst since 2013 in the head coach’s first year in Lexington.

To his credit, there hasn’t been a lot to say — nothing the fanbase wants to hear, anyway. This isn’t a hole you can dig your way out of with words, only actions. That’s why he put his head down and went to work rebuilding the roster through the transfer portal while cutting the fat with some necessary attrition to go with a top-30 high school signing class.

Stoops finally broke his silence over two months later — 69 days, to be exact — in a SportsCenter interview with the ESPN crew touring campus ahead of Kentucky basketball’s matchup vs. No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday.

“It’s fitting that we’re in the weight room,” Stoops joked with SportsCenter host Matt Barrie. “Our team needs to get bigger, needs to get stronger, mentally tougher. It starts right here. So they’re in here, grinding.”

The 57-year-old enters the 2025 season as the longest-tenured coach in the SEC with 12 years under his belt, going on 13. His 2024 campaign was his second-worst in terms of total wins, but inarguably the most disappointing when considering expectations. There was hope Kentucky could catch lightning in a bottle with a former five-star quarterback leading the offense and future draft picks lining the roster, maybe sneaking in as a potential playoff team. They’d end up winning four games and just one in the SEC.

Stoops won’t argue with you that considering the talent, last year just wasn’t good enough.

“Feels like dog years,” he said. “You know how tough it is to coach and survive in this league. I’ve been very proud of the growth and the progress we’ve made. This last year, we hit a little hiccup and I’m not very proud of that. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get us back on track.”

How do you overcome those hiccups and bounce back in 2025? Stoops believes it comes down to getting back to what last year’s group was missing, losing the identity that made this program’s culture so special at times during his time in Lexington.

“I think the big thing is stick to who you are. That, for us, is always having an attitude of toughness and discipline,” Stoops said. “I wasn’t always proud of that last year. Those are things we gotta get back to, the foundation, the roots of who we are. Be tough, be physical, be accountable to each other. I think it starts there.”

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, certainly not with the schedule just as difficult, if not harder next fall.

“When you look at it big picture, it can be overwhelming,” he continued. “I think we play six of the top 13 teams in the country. I’m not sure anybody else in college football will have that type of a schedule, but you can’t look at it that way. It has to be day-to-day. Look at the process, like right now, we’re talking about the weight room. Our guys have been in here all morning. We get with our guys early.

“It starts with just attacking every day and truly staying with them. Because it gets overwhelming when you look at it as a whole.”

As tough as 2024 was, the turnaround to 2025 is fortunately very quick. Workouts are here now, followed by spring football, then summer sessions. Before you know it, we’ll be kicking off in the fall to open a make-or-break season for Stoops at Kentucky.

He understands that urgency and the challenge ahead in year 13.

“Going into my 13th year, what you do realize is the urgency that you know what needs to be done today. There is so much to do. We’re attacking it with our players, there’s weightlifting, there’s the mental toughness, there’s the fourth quarter drills coming up. But also, with our coaches, like, what are we doing right? How can we continue to build on that? Where do we fall short? How do we get that corrected? There’s just a lot to do.”

Check out Coach Mark Stoops live with @MattBarrie on @SportsCenter. pic.twitter.com/MTR1xqodqh

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) February 11, 2025