Can SEC Media Days in Atlanta be Another Turning Point in the Mark Stoops Era?

SEC Media Days is not an event for everybody. While some may stay glued to the SEC Network for 10 hours a day, other SEC football fans might not even know or care that it’s happening. What Mark Stoops says on the stage on Thursday might not change the minds of disgruntled Kentucky football fans, but history tells us it will set the stage for another career-defining season for the head coach.

While making the drive to Atlanta as the sun rose on Monday morning, it dawned on me that this location has served as the scene for Mark Stoops’ two most memorable moments at SEC Media Days. The seasons that followed changed the way Kentucky fans felt about their head coach. .

2018: The Benny Snell Show

Kentucky rattled off back-to-back seven-win seasons and got some good news when Mike Edwards and Josh Allen announced their return for the 2018 campaign, but the Wildcats were not considered real players around the league. They were a plucky underdog at best, picked by media members from around the league to finish fifth out of seven teams in the SEC East.

The Wildcats heard that message, but they weren’t having it.

Benny Snell walked defiantly into the College Football Hall of Fame. The reporters didn’t believe in him or his team. He was there to inform them that he was the best running back in the SEC. The crowd was stunned by his confidence.

Benny Snell, are you the best running back in the SEC? pic.twitter.com/jeQesAumBz

— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) July 16, 2018

Snell backed up those words. He broke the Kentucky all-time rushing record in the Wildcats’ 10th win of the season. Josh Allen followed up his Media Days performance by having the most dominant defensive season in Kentucky football history, sweeping every National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Even the most optimistic members of Big Blue Nation were treated to a season they didn’t know was possible.

2022: Stoops and Beamer Clash

The 2018 season wasn’t a one-off. Wan’Dale Robinson broke Air Raid records while catching passes from Will Levis in another 10-win campaign in 2021. Kentucky was no longer a plucky underdog. They had arrived and were preparing to take the next step with a charismatic, future NFL quarterback under center.

Levis was one of the stars of SEC Media Days. The Big Js loved to ask about bananas and mayonnaise, while pondering if he could take Kentucky to places the Wildcats had never been. Kentucky was picked to finish second in the SEC East, a new high for the program, as a dark horse College Football Playoff contender.

While Levis soaked up the spotlight in Atlanta, the biggest headline from the event didn’t come to light until a month later. Marty and McGee had a one-on-one with the Kentucky head coach and asked him to examine how he built a consistent winner.

“It’s easy to change the climate, you just change a uniform, talk a little game, dance around, put on some stupid sunglasses, you can change a climate,” Stoops said. “But to change a culture is at the core, and I’m quite certain we’ve changed our culture. Just who we are and how we’re perceived. Walk around with some of the greatest coaches and that respect you get, and the respect our players carry with them.”

The “stupid sunglasses” Stoops referenced were Shane Beamer’s. If you know anything about the South Carolina coach, it’s that he hears everything. Even though Stoops tried to patch things up behind closed doors, Beamer used it to fuel his team on a road trip to Lexington.

Fresh off a last-second defeat as a Top 10 team at Ole Miss, Levis was sidelined with an injury against South Carolina. The Gamecocks handled the Cats, and Beamer celebrated his first signature victory, a Top 25 win on the road, by wearing sunglasses in the locker room.

Respect is earned, not given.@UKCoachStoops has changed the culture of @UKFootball. pic.twitter.com/AlvT5KROut

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 16, 2022

The Sunglass Bowl wasn’t just a loss. It served as the beginning of a spiral for the Wildcats, who turned a potential 11-win season into a sad appearance in the Music City Bowl. Even though Mitch Barnhart described last year’s 4-8 campaign as a one-year blip, nothing has truly been the same since that underwhelming 2022 season.

Stoops is at a Pivotal Turning Point

For three straight years, Kentucky has failed to meet expectations. It was lowered them to a place we have not seen in a decade.

As Mark Stoops arrives in Atlanta, Kentucky is arguably the team with the least amount of buzz in the building. Nobody is talking about Stoops’ team, and he likes it that way. His teams are typically at their best when they are the underdog.

Many people think Mark Stoops’ days are numbered at Kentucky. That was also the case in 2016, and it started one of the greatest runs in program history. It’s clear he’s at a crossroads at Kentucky. Will the downward spiral turn into an unstoppable snowball, or is this ground zero for another surprising turnaround in Lexington?

If history tells us anything, SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta will serve as another major swing in the history of Mark Stoops’ Kentucky tenure.