Mike Stoops excited to help brother Mark "take last step" at Kentucky

Mike Stoops has seen what it takes to make a football program a National Title contender. He experienced it firsthand over a decade at Oklahoma and in two seasons at Alabama. Now he’s teaming up with his brother, Mark, to help Kentucky get over the last and most difficult hurdle.

Monday night the new UK linebackers coach took a break from the recruiting trail with Brad White and Chris Collins to talk about his new job on BBN Radio. He’s watched “Coach Mark” turn around the Kentucky football program and now he believes it’s close to reaching the next level in college football’s hierarchy.

“I think Coach Mark has done a great job making this team more complete: The ability to throw the football and have balance in your offense and then to be multiple in your defense. You can come at people in a lot of different ways. I believe the coordinators have done an outstanding job building,” said Mike Stoops.

“Taking that last step for a program like Kentucky is always the hardest one. We developed programs — whether we were together at Arizona or at Oklahoma when we developed that one — it takes great chemistry, great work ethic and great players. We feel like we’re on the verge of something special, but you have to stay at it 365 days a year. Certainly the players are the biggest component.”

He’s wasted no time trying to get the best players possible in Lexington since the move to UK became official in early January. Mike almost joined Mark’s staff a few years ago, but the timing wasn’t right. Now he’s excited that the stars have aligned to reunite the brothers.

“You want to serve the best you can on the staff, but there’s no one you really trust more than your family. You know how tight our family has been, so this was a unique opportunity. We looked at it a couple years ago and it just wasn’t the right time for either one of us,” said the elder Stoops.

“Mark has really established himself in his field and defensively we’ve really established ourselves here under Coach White. It’s just a better timing for all parties involved. We’ll see if we can get this thing to continue to grow.”

Mike Stoops remains on the road recruiting this week. He’s expected to be formally introduced to the BBN with a press conference next week. Until then, enjoy his brief radio interview with the UK Sports Network.