Each summer, Mark Stoops goes home to Youngstown, Ohio to spend time with his family and return to his roots. This July, Kyle Tucker from the Louisville Courier-Journal was there with him for part of the time to find out who, where and what made Stoops who he is today.The result is this story that was posted in Sunday’s paper. It explores Stoops’ roots in detail, from his relationship with his brothers – also now coaches – to his time as a player at Iowa to his relationship with his late father. It’s a long read, but well worth your time.Here’s an excerpt:

All the Stoops boys wanted to do back then was shadow their dad. Especially Mark, who constantly picked his dad’s brain about strategy.“He was a tag-along,” Dee Stoops said. “He lived in the locker room. ‘What’s so special about a locker room?’ I’d say to them.”Like his father, Mark was good at just about all sports. He was a standout in football and baseball at Mooney, bonding with his dad most over the latter because Ron Sr. was the school’s baseball coach. But Mark went on to play football at Iowa, following in Bob’s and Mike’s footsteps.“He’s one of the all-time great people that I’ve ever had the honor to coach,” said Hayden Fry, the Hawkeyes’ Hall of Fame former coach. “Very intelligent, great personality, a leader on the football team. He wasn’t real large — probably 170 pounds then — and yet he played like he weighed 200. All those Stoops boys were that way. It was in their bloodline.“Frankly, I never thought he’d be anything but a football coach.”

The C-J also produced the following video to go with the story. Take a look:Link: Courier-Journal goes back to Stoops’ roots