Mark Stoops Press Conference
Coach Mark Stoops
News conference, post-Tennessee, pre-Vanderbilt
November 8, 2021
Opening statement:
“Obviously, again, like I said after the game, very difficult loss. After viewing the film, much like I talked about Saturday night, so many good things. In particular, offensively, did some extremely good things. There’s still moments in critical situations in the game that we have to do better, that would have given us a chance to win. But overall, very good things. We have to do better. The game gave us an opportunity to win but overall very good things.
“Defensively, very frustrating because there was a lot of guys playing extremely hard. As I mentioned with the style they play, the way they spread you out, if you lose a one-on-one situation the defense suffers, the whole defense suffers, and the whole team suffers, and we did that too many times. I want to say there was 10 plays. I forget the exact number. Don’t quote me on it but an obscene amount of yards, gave up way too many yards with 10 plays. I forget the exact number, but 10 explosives which are way too many explosives but when you’re playing a team like Tennessee you know there’s going to be some explosive plays. You have to overcome it. We almost did. Ten is still too many but some individual guys giving up missed tackles, missed plays, it’s not winning football. We have to get that addressed and get that fixed as we move forward.
“As far as team morale and where we’re at, things of that nature, I’m very optimistic. I know our team, I know our leaders, I’ve seen a lot of them, I’ve talked to a lot of them after the game. They’re highly motivated to finish the season so we got to get back on track. We go on the road again this week to Vanderbilt, a team that you can see is showing a lot of spurts of playing some very good football, very inspired football, very disciplined in a lot of ways. (VU has) Played two quarterbacks this year, both may be ready against us. We have to be ready for couple different styles but once again no matter who were playing it’s about us, the situation that we’re in, how we react to what happened to us Saturday and the way we played and that will determine the outcome of this week — just how we handle it, how we prepare, how we get ready, but I can promise you there’s a lot of guys in that building that are just motivated to move on and try to go get the next victory.”
On looking at the defensive film between the last two games, were there any commonalities out there…
“I don’t disagree with that observation. I can’t argue with that. I think there were times when … I’m not going to call out my team’s effort but there were times when maybe the energy and our position on the football, and as I mentioned two weeks ago, our cleats in the ground, some technique things, different in this situation in many ways. To answer your question, common ground, I think just missing tackles, maybe some common themes but both teams put you in space where it’s one-and-one and you have to be in great position to make that tackle and you have to be athletic enough to make that tackle.”
On his background as a secondary coach and taking the struggles on pass defense personally…
“I do. It bothers me. You know, it does. The only thing we can control is how we practice, how we improve. I will say after watching the film, the corners I felt like two games ago at times were maybe not competing at the level that I expect out of them and I did see that Saturday. I did see improvement. You may not because you’re like, ‘What the heck you gave up some many yards,’ but watching specific guys and seeing specific matchups and them winning. They won more than I thought just by watching the game live. Again, there were some obvious situations that I don’t need to call out any one specific player or anything like that, but there were some missed tackles at the safety and on the perimeter, that we got to leverage the ball, it’s as simple as leveraging the football. How many times have I talked about that? I can’t talk about it any more. We got to get it taught — football 101, leverage the damn ball. First play of the game we don’t leverage the ball.”
On the cornerback position specifically, losing guys to transfer and how it affects the team …
“It’s hard to say. I don’t want to call out any specific guys. I recommended those young men do what they did. So, we need to again play better. Again, I’m not trying to put this on any one person, but the corners actually played really good. We played poorly inside, inside out, the safeties.”
On which opponent looks the most like Vanderbilt…
“I really don’t know. I don’t put any thought in trying to compare, I don’t even think about that, quite honestly. Everybody is so different and new. To do that, I’m not prepared for that. I spend no time trying to match them up. We know our system, what we do, how we play certain plays, how we play certain systems. They are multiple right now because of the two styles of quarterbacks they have, so you have to be ready for both.”
On Vanderbilt having a “blackout” game and other incentives to win …
“I can’t control any of that. I never spend any time wondering or worrying about what other teams are doing. I had no idea, you brought that to my attention, I didn’t know any of that. I’m in my cave over there working. I worry about getting our team right, and getting my team back on. We get very excited, very motivated. We’re not very happy, but we also have an opportunity. This is where you have to lead and work hard and get our guys right. How we respond will determine the outcome.”
On the evenness of the Vanderbilt series …
“Our players know that. We fear no one and respect everything, everybody. We’re beyond that, we know at that point we respect the game. Do we always play our best? No, I can’t sit here and say that. We don’t. You know and I know, watching football, watch pros, watch college, it’s not like that. I try to tell you that early in the year, it’s not like, ‘That’s a win, that’s a loss, that’s a win, that’s a loss,’ that’s not how it works. These are young men that go through a lot. It is our job and our challenge, we have to get them ready every week. Physically they go through things, and we’re going through a lot. We’re down three starting defensive linemen, but again, nobody cares, it’s not an excuse. It is what it is. Other teams are down players, too. We’re beat up a little bit. When you’re inexperienced in the secondary and have three starting defensive linemen down, it’s really not a good combination. I’d like to have our best players and our best pass rushers out there, but they are not. So, it is what it is.”
On the offensive line vs. Tennessee…
“I thought they did some good things at times, I really did. When you have as many yards as we did, and you look at the total output, you’re obviously pleased. We improved. When you go back and look at the big picture, you want us to progress that way. There’s still some one-on-one situations where we got whooped up front. We can’t have that happen. We lost some one-one-one battles that put us at 2nd-and-11, do some certain things that didn’t help. We run the ball on first down, lose a yard, and throw a pick for a touchdown on second down. It would’ve been nice to gain five yards there, it might’ve changed the play call or the situation. Again, not calling out any one person, or one group or anything, there’s enough blame to go around for all of us. We’re a team and they’re doing some good things, I think we can play better. There is an update there. (Offensive guard) Eli Cox will more than likely be out for the season as well.”
On the boost of confidence the team needs going into this game…
“We just need to have a great week of preparation, it’s how we respond. Nobody likes being in this situation. How much does it bother you to make a difference, to make a change? How we react will return the outcome.”
On options to fill in for the missing guard position…
“Austin (Dotson) will step in and start at that position. Of course, Quintin (Wilson) will play and back up both spots, bring Jager (Burton) along, have three games (available to play and maintain a redshirt), I believe, with Jager.”
On relating to Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and building a program …
“I can relate to it. It is difficult. He will do a great job. Seems like he knows what he is doing, and seems like a good guy, I don’t know him very well, but they’re fundamentally very well coached. You can see they’re playing inspired and that’s a sign of a well-coached team. Results will ultimately come if they continue to do what they are doing. You can see it, the product on the field, the way they’re coached, the way they play tough, the way they play fundamentally. So, I have a lot of respect for what they’re doing. I know it’s very difficult.”
On how Kentucky played offensively on first downs vs. Tennessee…
“At times we were efficient, and at times we weren’t. I thought Chris Rodriguez really played a good game. It was noticeable when I spoke to you after the game. But, even more so after you watch the film. He really made some tough runs. It went back to Chris being healthy, as I mentioned last week. He was focused, he was dialed in all week. He was able to have that discipline in practice all week and it carried over to the games. It was a lot like – and I’m not comparing but I’m going back, that’s who Chris is, that’s kind of how Benny (Snell) was. When he’s making those runs, when you see a four-yard run on the stat sheet but you watch it and it was an incredible four-yard run, where he was hit at the line of scrimmage, nothing there, and created four yards and made some of those type of runs that were really tough, good, inspiring runs, and so really appreciate that. And, Kavosiey (Smoke) was extremely effective early as well. He got tweaked up a little bit with an injury, and that unfortunately slowed him down. We wish he would’ve stayed as healthy as he was when he started. I think that one-two punch was really good, and then JuTahn (McClain), you saw him come in and give us another gear as well, something a little different, so we need that type of presence from the backs.”
On if back-and-forth games like Saturday night have to be managed differently than others, specifically citing being aggressive on fourth down…
“Yeah, you do. I think that’s a fair question or criticism. I mean, heck, I’m going to get the criticism when I don’t go for it or if I do, right? Let’s get that clear (laughter). But it doesn’t influence me. Outside forces don’t influence me. I do what I think needs to be done at the time. If you ask me in hindsight if they didn’t work, I sure would do it differently. I think it would be the middle one I went for (early in the fourth quarter) that we got the sack, that hurt. I didn’t anticipate getting a sack. We have to do a better job there, and that I can control. Liam (Coen) can control that—what we do—because going backwards is not a good option. They did the same thing, and it helped us. I helped them by doing that as well and give them credit, they got the sack, we got the sack. But when you get the sack in that situation it really magnifies it.”
On if he felt the need to ‘hold serve’ by continuing to score…
“Well, I definitely felt like I had to be aggressive and take some shots to win the game. Maybe that one in particular I think I would rethink.”
On how to deal with high-scoring games and do you anticipate being in more of them with how offenses are now in college football, including UK’s new offense …
“Well, I definitely had confidence in coming back. If we’re in those situations more, I think to your question, ‘how do you respond to it, what do you do differently next time,’ you have to rethink that and think about those situations going into it. I’ve got to have confidence that the defense can make a stop, and will, I always have. There are certain times when I don’t dive heavily into the analytics, but there are times when the analytics are going off in your head, kind what you’re talking about and what my gut tells me to do. It’s worked at times this year and it hasn’t.”
On if he was expecting Will Levis to bounce back after the Mississippi State game…
“I was. I think you all can tell when I’m in here that when I say I’m not overly concerned, we’re never happy when someone has a poor performance. But we really feel like, with certain guys, we know they’re going to bounce back. They just have had resiliency and he has that. He has the confidence, he’s resilient, he’s talented, and he’s getting better. He’s very determined and I think you’re seeing guys start to step up around him and that’s contagious. So, that’s good to see.”
On if there is anything he can do ahead of time to prevent setbacks…
“Well, I think any time — just like Liam (Coen) when he addresses you and I try to be as well —just honest. When you can do things over, when you can do things better, that’s just the truth. There are very few coaches that are perfect. And I think in those situations sometimes, you know play calling, certain times we self-admitted last week, ‘Maybe we could help them a little bit in certain situations,’ and I think we’re always learning from that. But you can always ‘What if?’ It’s easy to “What if?’ But it’s hard to live in that world. As coaches, you have to learn with every opportunity, and make sure you put yourself in a better situation. Being a playcaller in this league is not easy on either side of the ball. So, there’s a lot of things afterwards, when watching the film, that if it doesn’t work, certainly we can go back and say, ‘Wish we would’ve called this and that.’ (media member: “And also learn what he’s (Will Levis) most comfortable with…”) Exactly. And getting the ball out of his hand, what he likes, what we can do, and how we can execute it. Things of that nature.”
On getting a penalty called against him to make a point, similar to Coach John Calipari taking a technical foul in basketball…
“I think it’s different in his sport (basketball) and in mine and in baseball and in mine. I can’t do that. In football, we can’t do that. And, I know that. I’ve been pretty good for nine years. I was labeled as a hot head when I was young. I’m very cool, calm, and collected now (laughter). But, you know, there’s no excuse for me to do that. I know the rules. I could let him know how I feel, I just needed to wait until I get to the sideline.”
On if the possibility of overcoaching from the sideline on defense…
“From the sideline? No, those guys can’t even hear us. If they’re on our sideline maybe some guys can, but that didn’t happen Saturday. As I mentioned in some previous games, Tennessee has scored a few touchdowns by people talking and the ball is gone. That didn’t happen to us, but I don’t know, maybe. I’m not saying never. I don’t know, maybe. If we ask our players they might say, ‘Yeah, Coach Stoops needs to shut up.’ (laughter)”
On if he had conversations with and about Izayah Cummings moving to tight end when they were recruiting him…
“When we recruited him, no. We just felt like he’d be a big wideout. Then when we had an injury or two in camp, he actually – I want to say he initiated the conversation with Vince (tight ends coach Vince Marrow), but he held it extremely well and you could tell he’s a difference-maker there. What you’re seeing is, you’re looking at him right now and saying ‘Wow, that’s a very athletic guy’ because of the position he’s playing. If he was outside you might not be saying ‘That’s an athletic guy’. I’m not saying he’s not a good player, but not overly athletic for his position (wide receiver). Right now, the way he is and the way he’s making catches and progressing, you’re seeing an athletic tight end that could present some match-up problems. He’s also getting more physical, he’s not afraid to block, he wants to become a complete tight end, he works hard at it, and we’ll continue to bring him along that way where we’re using him at a prototypical tight end and not just a mismatch guy, because that can get picked up on pretty quickly as well.”
On how Stoops feels about the depth in the tight end position…
“Yeah, we’re getting some options there. Guys like Izayah, Brendan (Bates), we feel really good about him, and Tre’von (Morgan) is playing well, so we have some good players.”
On whether Stoops wants to use the transfer portal to get guys on defense similar to how he’s wanted to get good receivers from the transfer portal…
“Yes. You’re available to do that now and we must do that now in certain positions. As you were talking about, whoever gave me the question about the program building — it is a nice thing now, I’m not patting myself on the back, but it’s a lot different to rebuild a program right now than it was nine years ago, but the nice thing is that you can bring in some plug-and-play guys now and have them eligible, which you’re seeing now on our roster this year, which has helped us and yes we need to continue to do that and look at options defensively as well.”
On how Justice Dingle looks in practice…
“He’s getting better, he’s developing, and we’re trying to find the right spot where he can help us a little bit.”
On how much the success of Will (Levis), Wan’Dale (Robinson) and Jacquez (Jones), has helped Stoops with the transfer portal…
“Yes, and as well as Dare (Rosenthal), I think it does help us. I think guys see that they’ve come in here and helped us. We’re playing some good football and (they) come in here and help us out in certain spots, I think it does help.”
On is it easier to have four-year transfers come in and play…
“To get back to your question, I think there still needs to be a mix. Of course, we still need to build this program in the future with great high school players and that’s what we want to do. Our culture is, you can say it, recruit and develop. So, that’s what we want to do. We want to recruit the right players that fit this culture and then really work hard to develop them. You know that. That’s what we need to do. Also, what I like about where we’re at and we need to keep it this way, as we bring guys into the program, you got to make sure they’re the right fit for the guys you (already) have. There’s not going to be any dissension in the locker room. Every player that we’ve brought in here right now, that I’ve brought in from the transfer portal, I love them. They’ve done a great job of adapting to our culture and being a strong presence in our locker room and becoming leaders in our locker room. In particular, a guy like Will (Levis), a guy like Wan’Dale (Robinson). Guys like that are really difference makers. Jacquez (Jones).”
On how the difference in bringing in players from the transfer portal and junior college…
“It’s different because a lot of times you can see the players that they’ve played against (at four-year schools). You get a better feel for what they can do.”
On Kenneth Horsey possibly playing tackle next year…
“He can, he absolutely can, with his physical stature as well. Maybe not the length but the athleticism. He’s very versatile. He’s played a lot of positions and also it may help him a bit because maybe his girth sometimes may hurt him a little bit inside where a tackle does not expose you quite as much. He’s athletic enough. Not too many guys are versatile or athletic enough to do that, but he’s been really good. He can play darn near any position.”
On how Darian Kinnard is…
“Hopefully he will be fine.”
On the difference of the offensive line between the Mississippi State and Tennessee games …
“Again, I think overall you saw the O-line respond and play a much better game, more complete game. Anytime you have that many snaps, how many times have we been in here talking about not having enough snaps and then we set a school record for snaps if I’m not mistaken. When you have 99 snaps, you are not going to be perfect. A lot of those guys played a lot of snaps.”
