"No hard feelings" between Stoops and House

Not long after we learned the defensive coordinator Matt House will depart Kentucky to coach linebackers for the Kansas City Chiefs, Mark Stoops joined Matt Jones on Kentucky Sports Radio. "This is what everybody needs to know. Matt and I are great friends.  We've been friends throughout this process," Stoops said.  "We're great friends, we always will be and ultimately things worked out.  I'm happy for him and his family and what he wants to do and the lifestyle he chooses.  Matt's a great coach and he busted his tail here for the three years he was here and I greatly appreciate him." Stoops did not get into the details of how the deal went down, but he shared a little insight as to why House wanted to make the move from the college ranks to the NFL. "You're going to see more of this.  It's coming down to lifestyle.  You can never blame somebody for wanting more (free) time.  This job will absolutely consume people.  We have no downtime." Recruiting and player development eats up more time for college coaches than their NFL counterparts and it's "not even close."  Stoops understands House's decision and is prepared to move forward to find a new defensive coordinator. "It's not like we wanted Matt to go," said Stoops, "but as I told the players today, when we lose players through graduation, normal attrition, grad transfer or for whatever reason, you better be darn sure we're trying to replace them with better players.  When coaches leave, we're trying to replace him with better coaches." Kentucky's head coach will look at all options, inside and outside of the staff.  Stoops does not have a set timetable to make the next hire. [mobile_ad]