As we get ready for a great summer weekend (albeit one that could have a lot of rain), I just want to give a
huge shout out to the Mark Stoops/Kentucky football staff for the unbelievable recruiting momentum that has taken place over the last few weeks. Many of you have seen the statistics, but all add up to one obvious truth: Mark Stoops and his staff are the best recruiters UK football has ever seen. They have taken a dynamic that I thought was stagnant and impossible to change...the notion that Kentucky football would never be able to compete on the recruiting trail with the big dogs, and completely turned it upside down. This week was the latest culmination, with five 2014 players committing (including one late tonight) and a 2016 local star deciding to make an early call for the Big Blue. Why is it happening? Because Stoops has put together a staff like no other at Kentucky.
From Vince Marrow (who grew up with Stoops), to Tommy Mainord (the originator of #Yahtzee) to Chad Scott (doing an underrated good job) to the Coordinators who sell the guys on their system (especially Neal Brown and his high powered offense),
Stoops has a recruiting Murderer's Row in Lexington and they are doing things we have never seen. Kentucky is right now ranked #3 in one recruiting service ranking and has risen to top 7 status in all of them. While they will almost certainly go down as the top players commit late, they are still set up to have a top 12 class, something that is absolutely unheard of in Lexington. Remember that last year's class, the one that Stoops came in late and filled, was ranked #29 and was the highest ranked class in school history. And what has Stoops done? He has matched that class and improved upon it.
Can this continue? Well there is no reason to to think it can't. But regardless of how the season goes (and I do think there will be struggles), one truth is abundantly clear.
The new attitude and new era of Kentucky football is here and we haven't seen anything like it here in a long, long time.
And with that, Happy Flag Day!
As we get ready for a great summer weekend (albeit one that could have a lot of rain), I just want to give a huge shout out to the Mark Stoops/Kentucky football staff for the unbelievable recruiting momentum that has taken place over the last few weeks. Many of you have seen the statistics, but all add up to one obvious truth: Mark Stoops and his staff are the best recruiters UK football has ever seen. They have taken a dynamic that I thought was stagnant and impossible to change...the notion that Kentucky football would never be able to compete on the recruiting trail with the big dogs, and completely turned it upside down. This week was the latest culmination, with five 2014 players committing (including one late tonight) and a 2016 local star deciding to make an early call for the Big Blue. Why is it happening? Because Stoops has put together a staff like no other at Kentucky.
From Vince Marrow (who grew up with Stoops), to Tommy Mainord (the originator of #Yahtzee) to Chad Scott (doing an underrated good job) to the Coordinators who sell the guys on their system (especially Neal Brown and his high powered offense), Stoops has a recruiting Murderer's Row in Lexington and they are doing things we have never seen. Kentucky is right now ranked #3 in one recruiting service ranking and has risen to top 7 status in all of them. While they will almost certainly go down as the top players commit late, they are still set up to have a top 12 class, something that is absolutely unheard of in Lexington. Remember that last year's class, the one that Stoops came in late and filled, was ranked #29 and was the highest ranked class in school history. And what has Stoops done? He has matched that class and improved upon it.
Can this continue? Well there is no reason to to think it can't. But regardless of how the season goes (and I do think there will be struggles), one truth is abundantly clear. The new attitude and new era of Kentucky football is here and we haven't seen anything like it here in a long, long time.
And with that, Happy Flag Day!
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard