TRANSCRIPT: Mark Stoops joins KSR to discuss new hires, Spring ball

Mark Stoops is ready for spring football after hiring two new offensive assistants in recent weeks. The biggest? Rich Scangarello, who will be Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator, replacing Liam Coen. Zach Yenser is the other, replacing Eric Wolford as the program’s offensive line coach.

To talk about his new hires and spring practice getting started, Stoops joined Kentucky Sports Radio on Wednesday, answering all of the important questions. How did Coen end up with the Los Angeles Rams? What kind of coach is Scangarello? How did the hiring process take place? What was Wolford’s departure like in Lexington? How did Stoops find Yenser?

Miss the interview? No worries, KSR has you covered. Check out the complete transcript with audio clips below:

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It felt like the L.A. Rams was the only job Liam Coen would leave Kentucky for. What was that process like and how did he play a part in helping the transition?

Yeah, absolutely. It’s all true. You know, we’ve talked through the process. (Coen) showed extreme loyalty to us and, you know, just didn’t feel right leaving for other opportunities. He turned down college jobs without even thinking twice about it, not even considering it. He even turned down an NFL coordinating gig prior to the Rams, and that really showed a lot to me, that he cared about this place, cared about the people. You know, he wanted to see it through, did not feel comfortable leaving. So we talked about it and it was a situation that he wasn’t overly thrilled about anyway as far as personnel, so he turned it down.

We knew in the back of our minds that the Rams could happen, but he really had no idea through the process that it was even an opportunity. But we knew in the back of our minds if that popped open and he had the opportunity to go back there, that was a hard one to turn down. That’s kind of a no-brainer being that he just came from there. They’re the world champs, Sean McVay is one heck of a dude to work for. I think all those things considered, it was something that he absolutely was going to do if he was offered that opportunity.

As for the new offensive coordinator, Rich Scangarello, I don’t think you would be upset with me saying (publicly) you told me ‘I never would have thought we could have gotten this guy. Is that right?”

Yeah, I was pleased. Very excited when I heard that (Scangarello) was interested in this opportunity. I was very pleased to say the least. Consulting with Liam and talking with Liam about it, we were both on the phone talking late at night. When this opportunity popped, he was like, ‘Man, that would be incredible.’ He was genuinely excited for us. I think you know anybody that has loyalty at all — I mean, he wants success for us. He wants success for Will Levis and our offense, all of us. He cares about these people in the program and was genuinely excited that Rich had interest in the job as well.

For people who don’t follow the NFL or don’t know coordinators, tell the fans what they’re getting in Scangarello.

You’re getting one heck of a football coach. It’s one of those interviews that I go through that’s almost like, ‘Are you kidding me? This guy has forgotten more football than most people will ever know.’ These last five years he’s been either a quarterback coach or a play-caller, a significant role in an NFL offense. He goes back to, I want to say ’15 with (Kyle) Shanahan and Atlanta, so he’s familiar with this offense. He’s run it in college, versions of it himself as a play-caller. And then having five years in the NFL and quite a few years under Shanahan, who I have ultimate respect for. Both Shanahan and McVay, they’re two of the best in the world at what they do.

Getting Rich out of that (coaching) tree, in particular (with) quarterback play, it was really important for me. To hire somebody and keep the continuity, continue to build on all the good things we did this past year, but also have the ability to take Will to the next level. And with that, our offense will follow, our team will follow. We went out and hired arguably the best person we possibly can hire for this position.

How involved was Will Levis in the process? Was it important for him to play a role in picking a coordinator?

He was and I just simply asked him, told him early in the process as we were going through some interviews and some in person, some on Zoom. I just had him sitting in there listening and I wanted to — he understands, you know what I mean? He’s got it, he’s got a great feel for it. He is so driven and wants to get better. Yeah, I wanted him a part of that process. As I mentioned in my press conference yesterday, a year ago I wanted off the radar. People were constantly throwing names out there and doing things, but I just went off-site and I didn’t really want any input. It was an important decision, it was going to be sink or swim with the coordinator hire that I made a year ago.

On that point, the last hire kind of — your success was gonna depend on who you picked and what offense you wanted. But now after this year, you got something to build on. Is that the way you looked at it?

100% the way I looked at it. I just didn’t want outside influences in my head about the hire pushing me one way or the other. A lot of coaches, people — you know, everybody’s got an agenda. Not that it’s wrong or not that it’s not for the program, but everybody has ideas and guys (in mind). Ultimately that fell on my shoulders. I had to hire somebody that I was comfortable with that took us to another level. (Someone) that was gonna give us the opportunity to continue to build on that and take us to where we want to go, and that’s to Atlanta.

That was on me and I was very pleased. I think it’s fair to say I went out on a limb with that hire and it was rather unconventional with the experience that he had and where it was coming from. And I believe it was the best for us. This year with all that success and with Will Levis, with him leading the offense and our players, I thought it was important for our coaches and Will to be involved and give me some input. And that’s what we did. We went through another in-depth process with a lot of people. But when Rich came about late in the process and late one evening, he and I had a long conversation, to be honest with you, in my mind, I knew this was kind of a no-brainer from that point on.

Then, we obviously got on an interview with him and Will sat in on that one and some others. I think it did not take long. It’s one of those interviews where it’s almost like, ‘Don’t insult his intelligence when you dive into the X’s and O’s part,’ because this guy was off the charts.

You hired a new offensive line coach, and obviously there was at least a little frustration with how the last coach ended. But you also have a lot of turnover. How do you feel about what the new guy is gonna do and the cultural fit in the locker room? How do you keep that culture going?

Well, that part is easy. The culture of the room, it’s bigger than the room. They kind of set the tone and I love the culture of that room, but you know, that’s been in the works since day one, since the day I arrived. Coach (John) Schlarman had so much to do with that in building that culture and building that foundation. We’ve been doing that since day one. That’s not going anywhere. Last year, yeah, we were fortunate with Darian (Kinnard) coming back, Luke (Fortner) coming back, getting Dare (Rosenthal). I mean, you’ve got three guys exiting our program that are NFL players. So obviously I don’t want to say that job is easy, but there are a lot of people that can coach that line.

And then coming back, let’s not forget the development piece. You know what I mean? It’s what I always talk about, recruit and develop. Yeah, we’re talking about X’s and O’s, scheme, new coordinator and that’s important. But ultimately, developing our players is where you’re going to see that come through again.

Everything happens for a reason. We got very fortunate in this situation because I’m not sure we would get Rich if Zach (Yenser) wasn’t the O-line coach. When the O-line job came open, the first thing Liam did was open the book and look at all the 49er guys. That’s what we did, then we dive into it and we see Zach’s background and the fact that he GA’d under John and was a part of that, it was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is too good to be true.’

Because we love the 49ers, we love the way they run the ball, how multiple they are. Zach knows that stuff inside and out, he spent the last three years there with him. And oh, by the way, he’s a guy that is a lot like John. He reminds you so much of John, just his personality, just who he is. I mean, it just could not be a better fit.

And I believe that’s part of it for Rich. He can tell you that, but the fact that Zach was here, I know it helps us a great deal because they’re on the same page. You have to with an offensive coordinator and an O-line guy, especially a guy that got hired late in the process. We’re about to start spring ball. The fact that they come from the same background and an offense that I have so much respect for — Kyle Shanahan is absolutely off the charts good. The things they do are so good with the players they have. We have to be a lot like that.

What are you looking to see in spring practice?

Well, I think growth with the offense. I would say continuity, but I think that’s going to be so easily met. I think you’re going to see us take it to another level. You know, we spent last year trying to learn the system and the terminology and the formations and all that. Now we’re going to put the details on it. Now we’re going to take it to another level. And I think that’s super important for us.