Mark Stoops Monday Press Conference
Kentucky Football
Pre-Alabama News Conference Quotes
Commonwealth Stadium – Lexington, Ky.
Sept. 26, 2016
Kentucky Head Coach Mark Stoops
Opening Statement …
“Again, it was a very good win. Great team victory. It was nice to see us really play well in all three phases. I was very proud of the effort. We needed to improve. I felt like we made some big gains and we need to continue to do that.
“Offensively, it was really good to see the one- two punch with Boom (Williams) and Benny (Snell). I think they complement each other very well. We did a very nice job of running the football. It is going to take those tough yards to win those tough games and sometimes you aren’t always going to be accurate throwing the football. But, it was great to see that one-two punch on defense.
“(Defensively) It was a group effort led by Denzil (Ware). I really felt like he played his best football of the year. We really needed him to step up and he did. I felt like we got some good pressure when we needed to with just rushing four and as you know we hadn’t done that a lot. So, it was good to see them step up and get that pressure. I felt like also it started with the defensive line playing more physical, being more accountable and precise in the execution of our pressures in getting them behind the chains. It was good to see improvements there along with the secondary. Secondary kept things in front of them and played smarter and made good plays on the football. I am very pleased about that.
“We are going to go back to work. Today will be a normal Monday. Get back out there fundamentally, keep on pushing this team, keep on getting better. We have a very tall task, as you know, playing an amazing football team and an amazing program. They’re the number one team in the country for a good reason. They are absolutely a quality team from top to bottom. It will be challenging but will be exciting. I am looking forward to the opportunity and we are going to get back to work and we are going to worry about ourselves today and with the start on Alabama, of course, and look forward to a great week of practice. I was proud of the team and proud of their focus and the way they executed this past week. You know, when the season doesn’t start the way you want it to, there is always going to be a lot of outside noise distraction. I was very proud of the team and the coaching staff for focusing on the task at hand and we know who we are and what we are capable of and putting our head down and going to work and I was proud of the effort and I was proud of the outcome.”
On Alabama …
“Top to bottom. You know they are led by arguably the best coach of all time in college football and it starts there. But what impresses you about them is their whole program. Top to bottom they do things right. They are extremely talented and they are very well coached. So, there is a lot to talk about on what they do right.”
On players saying they wanted to play well for Stoops specifically …
“I don’t really – they know that I love and respect those players as they do me. But, we know what goes on in our locker room and I told them to never worry about me. I am never going to flinch and they can’t either.”
On “don’t flinch” mentality and sidelines of games …
“It was. It was poised. It was exciting. They were energetic. But we knew what we had to do. It’s about getting out there and executing and playing. There’s a lot of things for us to clean up still. That is the good part. You can do that after a win and after you do some things good. But there are still several plays that we will get cleaned up and we will execute better.”
On getting under the team’s skin after a bad practice on Wednesday …
“I believe that they heard what I had to say on Wednesday and I want for them to hear that because it was true. They know that. That is our job to keep on pushing them and to get our attention by any means necessary and that is part of what we have to do daily.”
On difference in defense on Saturday …
“Obviously, it starts with technique and effort. I have never denied that. I said that every week. That football is a game that is going to be played by guys playing it the right way and fundamentally playing it the right way. I was not at all pleased at the way we had been playing fundamentally. We knew we had limitations but that is no excuse for not playing the game fundamentally the way you are supposed to do it and with the passion and energy that you are supposed to play with. We had to look at what we were doing to put them in a position to play that way, to play with technique and to play fast and to play harder. I think we have made strides in doing that. So, you put that all together and there is a lot of things. There is better technique. There is better effort. We executed our assignments much better and so we are going to get progress that way.”
On Alabama running back and Kentucky native Damien Harris…
“Damien looks very good, just like we knew recruiting him and watching him play right here in Kentucky. He’s just like you’d expect. He’s a very talented guy and he looks very explosive, the great vision, the great jump cuts that you see out of him, that’s what you see on film.”
On what you what you want to see from your team when facing an opponent like Alabama…
“I want to see us continue to worry about us, continue to progress and continue to improve in the areas we need to improve.”
On what he saw from quarterback Stephen Johnson in his first start…
“I saw a guy that made plays when he had to and really did what he had to do to manage the game and win the game. There were some throws that he could have forced that he didn’t. He made good decisions and got critical first downs with his legs. He took care of the football later on. There are still some things we know we need to clean up that I’m not happy about with turnovers and the ball on the ground but late in the game he did a better job with that.”
On Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts…
“(His game) is different (than former Alabama quarterbacks). I’ve played against (offensive coordinator) Lane (Kiffin) and some of his offenses for a long time and they are different in their approach but the same in a lot of ways in that it starts with being extremely physical. Big backs, big line. The quarterback is different and doing it different ways, out of the (shotgun) he adds a dimension of pulling the ball and running it with another big guy. That sets up big plays off it. They love play-actions and getting the ball down the field and he can certainly do it. That puts a lot of stress on you. That goes back to just a different way of running it, but it goes back to USC (Southern California) and Lane really having a great run game and then throwing off it. They put a lot of pressure on you and they’ve got very talented guys. They’re extremely physical, that’s the big thing. Their wideouts outside can go, so it’s stress across the board.”
On whether having faced an abundance of mobile quarterbacks so far this year helps in preparation…
“Yeah, but we haven’t faced anything like this where they’re so physical. Again, it starts with physicality up front with their line, their back and their tight ends. It starts with that run game and then everything off that.”
On creating consistency and building off the South Carolina performance…
“I’m confident we’ll continue to push forward. I think our players are growing and it is what it is as far as our experience and what we have, especially defensively. They learn every time they take the field and every time we practice and we’ll continue to do that.”
On defense playing more physical versus South Carolina…
“I do (think we played more physical). Definitely. When you have plays defended and have guys in the right spot you have to (finish the play). If you have the right play called and you’re in perfect situation and they’re supposed to be in 2nd-and-10 by the play they called and the play you called then it better be 2nd-and-10 and not 2nd-and-2 because then you’ve got no shot. There is enough pressure on you across the board, you have to make the plays you’re in position to. We’re getting better at that.”
On whether South Carolina did anything that surprised them…
“No. I felt like once they settled on their quarterback I thought they’d evolve off that and off him, what he can do and his strengths are, so we had a pretty good idea what that would look like.”
On the growth in running back Boom Williams…
“He’s really growing up and maturing. It’s great to see Boom…because this game is so mental, and he’s maturing. He’s always been a talented guy but he’s more detailed in his runs and his mentality is much better. It’s great to see him on the sidelines smacking Benny (Snell Jr.) on the head and giving him a high-five and cheering with that complement instead of just being about Boom. Boom is going to get his. He had, what, 18 rushes with an average of eight yards a carry? He’s doing a heck of a job and some good things with the physical runs. They’re a great complement to each other. You just see growth (in him) and you want to continue to see that.”
On how offensive tackle Landon Young and defensive tackle Adrian Middleton have played…
“Adrian Middleton has done a much better job. All of those guys up front (on defense) played much better last week. Landon is getting better and better. He got beat on a few plays but did some very good things. You’re on an island in the position he plays and it’s difficult at times but he’s getting better and better and we’re very pleased with him.”
On what he admires about Alabama coach Nick Saban…
“I admire a lot about Coach Saban. It’s hard to define all those things but anybody that’s in this business, this coaching profession is built on respect and it starts there. I have great respect for what he’s done, how disciplined he is and the work ethic he has, but I always think he does things right, does things with class and treats people the right way. How could you not admire that? That goes way back. He recruited me out of high school when he was the position coach and recruiting area coach that recruited me to Michigan State.”
On what he remembers about that recruitment…
“I was not a very good player, first of all. My (recruiting) visits were Iowa and Ohio State. My two brothers had played at Iowa so I knew if I wasn’t going to go to Ohio State I was going to Iowa because of the relationships I had with all those coaches, so I canceled my visit to Michigan State. That phone call didn’t go very well (laughter). I was really young and naïve and had no clue because I knew I wasn’t a great player or anything like that, but I couldn’t believe it because he made it very difficult for me. He was very persuasive and very good.
“I’ve always had great respect for Coach. He’ll tell the story better than me, and I always thought my uncle was exaggerating, but he and my Uncle Bob were at an establishment after recruiting one day in the spring, my uncle was the head coach at an inner-city school in Youngstown, and they were talking X’s and O’s and so wrapped up in them that they had no idea somebody had come in and robbed the place at gunpoint. I always thought my uncle was full of it, the crazy uncle, but I heard Coach Saban say it on one of his shows so he verified it. Uncle Bob was telling the truth. You never know what you’re going to get in Youngstown.”
On if it was definitely the Xs and Os that distracted them …
“Yeah, they were talking and drawing plays on a napkin is how my uncle described it and I heard Coach (Saban) verify it. They were writing Xs and Os and the police came in and asked them what had happened and he says, ‘What do you mean what happened?’ He said, ‘Did you see anything?’ And he said, ‘No, I didn’t see anything.’ They were working on football.”
On going head-to-head with Alabama in some recruiting battles …
“Well, it’s a challenge and always makes you do the very best you can, whether you are playing them or recruiting or anything. They have great success, but we are going to do our very best. There is a difference. Again, we respect everything that they do but we are going to go try to get ours too.”
On if he has to do anything different with former UK assistant Derrick Ansley now at Alabama …
“No, the signals are different. They are already changed. He knows what we do and our basic philosophies and adjustments and things. But we know a lot of what they do. They are very good at what they do and are all about execution. They are very well coached and execute at a high level all the time with dynamic players.”
On if Matt Elam had a half sack but wasn’t credited it in the box score …
“Yeah. Yeah, Tony (Neely – UK media relations) give him a sack. We will get him that credit. He definitely got around that quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. He really played some good football Saturday. Matt played the best he has played. He really had good effort and was disruptive in some of that stuff that goes unnoticed. He played more physical.”
On drawing on the experience they gained playing in a hostile environment in Gainesville …
“Yeah, I think you do have to learn from it. It is about playing each play, that is it. You cannot worry about the back end of anything, that is just too much. You have to just control what you can and that starts today. They are a fabulous football team, but we are going to go out there to play every play the very best we can and execute the very best we can and compete at a high level on every play.”
On if he and Coach Saban have ever talked about when Saban recruited him …
“No, we really haven’t. I have never played golf with Coach Saban, no. He usually comes into those meetings, comes in and goes out of those meetings in Destin. I do enjoy getting to know him a little bit off the field. No, we haven’t talked about that experience. I am sure he has recruited a few more talented football players since then.”
On Chris Westry’s play when a South Carolina player tried to hurdle him late in the game …
“Yeah, I thought it was good. I certainly wouldn’t want to see a highlight of someone jumping over one of our guys, so I like seeing the highlight the other way.”
On Matt Elam putting too much pressure on himself this week …
“I don’t. I think he needs to build on some of the good things he did this past week and push forward.”
On Kash Daniel getting more reps on Saturday …
“We wanted to get him a few more than we did, but as you know, the game was always so close and it was always so tight and every possession was so important that we didn’t get him quite as many reps as we had planned on. But he did play a couple of series and is doing some better things and we need to continue to get him on the field.”
On Grant McKinniss’ continued progress in punting …
“Yeah, he did. We got a little fortunate on a few of them. The end result was pretty good on our net, but some of that was some punts that weren’t so good that got some good roll. But he did boom one or two – one in particular – and our guys have really been covering well. So we were fortunate on a bounce or two, but he will continue to get better.”
On what he has seen from Alabama on special teams …
“The same thing I see on their offense and defense. A bunch of war daddies playing hard.”
On his thoughts on the firing of Les Miles …
“I was sorry to hear that. Obviously, news travels very fast on social media I hear, so I was in there working on the gameplan and somebody said that and I was very disappointed to hear that. I just like Les personally. He has obviously been extremely successful. I have got to know his family a little bit and I love his wife and his kids, he has an awesome family. I was just sad to hear it. Coach (Miles) has had a great run and I am sure he will coach again somewhere else if he chooses and when he chooses.”
On Les Miles and Mark Richt getting fired and what that says about the state of college football …
“What can you say about that, I mean, it is what it is. We all know that. Within coaching, it is a fraternity. There are people and relationships and respect that people have within that fraternity. I understand it very clearly. Like I said, I am sure that nobody wants to go through that and it is not fun, but Les will be right back on his feet and in another place right when he wants to. It goes with the territory that we all know.”
On if he expected Benny Snell to make this kind of contribution this quickly …
“He is what we had hoped. He is an extremely disciplined guy, very physical, tough yards and the mentality helps our team and helps our running backs room and our offense. Just the mentality that he has. That is what we thought we had when we recruited him and it is great to see that come true.”
On how close he felt he was to getting Damien Harris to come to Kentucky over Alabama …
“I thought we were very close. I am not going to tell you – he and I had some conversations – and I will keep that between he and I. It was good. I caught up with Damien recently, in the summer. I had lunch with Damien and I will keep that between he and I.”
