Mark Stoops Press Conference
Mark Stoops News Conference
Post-Tennessee/open date, pre-Murray State
November 11, 2024
Opening Statement …
“Good to get back after the bye week. I think it was really beneficial for our team mentally, physically, just an opportunity to get better, take a good look at ourselves. obviously in the areas we need to improve. We still have a quarter of the season left, so it is up to us on how we decide to finish. Trust our team, I believe in our team, we will be excited to get back on the field today and start our prep for Murray.
“With that, I’d also like to acknowledge Veterans Day and thank you for your service and what you do for our country. It is hard to put into words and thank you enough. I would like to acknowledge that as well.”
On what to say to friends and family of Lonny Demaree and Oscar Woodall, media members and military veterans who passed away recently …
“They were and I acknowledge that when that happened, I don’t think you were here John. But just two guys I really respect and I thank for their service. I miss them being in here and covering us. They always brought a lot to the room and worked with them for a long time, again, my condolences to their family.”
On what to share about Brock Vandagriff and Barion Brown, who were injured at Tennessee …
“Not right now, just not right now. We will update you later in the week. I always try to be as forthcoming as I can, it’s just there is a lot going on. And for me to get in all the little nuances of that doesn’t make sense right now. So, we will see how the week goes. We will be better, certainly some guys will be better than they’ve been and some others will still be evaluated.”
On giving underclassmen reps with so many players injured…
“I think that is very key for them, just for our coaches to get out there and work with them a lot of one-on-one time. A lot of guys just getting elevated reps like you said, number one or number two reps but getting coached and getting pushed and seeing all of our schemes, it was very good.”
On the mood of the team…
“I’ll see (looks at watch), I’ll see them about 1:45 (laughter). They needed the bye, they needed the weekend. I saw a couple of them up in the hallway today and they were bouncing around and smiling and having fun and enjoyed their weekend. We will see them today and I’m sure they will be moving around good.”
On Maxwell Hairston being back and how other cornerbacks have grown in his absence…
“I think Terhyon (Nichols) is a guy that’s getting better, better and better with every rep. He’s young, a true freshman, and went out there and held his own, and played really hard and played really well. JQ (Hardaway) is another one that’s doing some good things, and you know DJ (Waller) as well, we need all of them to be at 100 percent. That’s been a while since we had the whole group even close to 100 percent. It will be good to try to get some depth.”
On recruiting while going through this tough period…
“The recruits have been really steady. For us, I think there’s got to be a good balance. After going through a year like this, you know we’re not used to this. We’ve gone to a bowl game for eight straight years. I know we want more than that, just going to a bowl game, but to think that’s just simple to do – we could be down to two in the SEC that have done that after this year. If we don’t finish very strong, and take it one game at a time, and win this one, and try to finish as strong as we can. It’s not as easy as it appears, just take a good look at the great programs in this conference. To have a year off, here or there, it happens, so we want to stay away from that. I think that’s where the balance comes in with high school recruiting and we’re off to a terrific start. We have some really good players that I believe some of them can come in and contribute and help, but as you know the portal will be key as well. Look at some of the teams and the transformation they’ve made from the portal.”
On if recruiting is easier while the team struggles…
“I think it’s evidenced by, again, look at history in this league. Look at some teams that maybe haven’t gone to a bowl game and the way they’ve bounced back and done some very good things. I think opportunity is important to players, and I just got to make sure I continue to get out and continue to fundraise and raise some money to put a roster together.”
On balancing transfer portal players with the young players who are here and getting experience this season…
“Absolutely, some of those players will be participating next year. A lot of them helped this year in certain ways. As I mentioned, I am not ready to anoint any one player. I think we need to stay away from that because everybody gets talking in this world, and it doesn’t need to happen. I love the group, in general, I really do. I think we have a good young team, we’ve consistently said that. I’ve said that since this summer, and I still feel that way. They’ve contributed, they have great attitudes, they continue to work, and they will help us. Everybody needs to stay away from the notion of like, people want to spin it: coach is saying he needs to go get a portal (player) and he doesn’t have a good enough — that’s not true. Ask any player on our team if they want better players with them. All good players want other good players. That makes everything better, everybody better. Competition is good, it’s healthy. Our players want good players. So, I love our roster, I love our young kids, but to think that you don’t need to supplement it is just stupid. You obviously need to supplement it.”
On the SEC announcement of 85 football scholarships for next year…
“I don’t know if the word is surprised, I don’t like that headline, just continue to take the information that’s given to us and adjust and make the best decisions we can. There was nothing ever set in stone, so were we looking at options, working on different numbers? Yes, of course.”
On the opportunity for the team to get refreshed if it can win this week…
“We don’t ever assume anything, I think you know our team, we need to go play. We’ve shown that we can play with anybody but we can also lose to anybody, and there’s a lot of teams like that. We always respect our opponents, but anybody will tell you, it is truly about us and our mentality and how we prepare and how we play, and all those things that go into it, turnovers and just different things. (Murray State Coach) Jody Wright is one heck of a football coach. I know he’s not having the year that he wants, it’s his first year there, he has work to do, but he’s been in player personnel at some of the best places in the country, he’s coached with some great coaches, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good football coach and he will build that program the right way. I’m sure it’s been hard for him like it’s been hard for us, been a tough year, but all we’re concerned about is today’s practice and this week and trying to get a victory the best way we can. I’ve been saying it, and we haven’t done it in the last four weeks, but we need to walk off the field with a victory, yes, definitely.”
On possibly lesser importance on pre-bowl practices given the increase in roster turnover in recent seasons…
“Yes and no, it’s a hard question, to say that, if I said that then it’s not true because it is maybe to certain players, but to the overall, to the big picture, things change quickly, and again, you know that’s – they’re both equally as important, I think building the right roster is extremely important, but the continuing to develop your young players is always important.”
On the progression of Malachi Wood…
“Just confidence and reps, he still will have a play that’ll stick out that maybe, you wish you could do it over, but again he’s playing some very good players. He’s playing good guys that give a lot of people problems, so he’s getting very valuable experience and understanding what it takes. He has the right mindset, he has the right mentality and that’s what you like and he has the ability, so you just got to continue to bring him along.”
On fundraising for the football program…
“I hope it sparks, I’ve seen it at other SEC institutions spark it, and I really want to stay away from that because I really get tired, I don’t want to be like I’m whining or I’m crying or I need — you know it is reality, I hope we all understand that right? It is true reality, like you have to, you have to have dollars.”
On how Maxwell Hairston being back will positively change the team…
“He’s been working his way into it, obviously non-contact and off the side and last week was working his way in with no contact. He’s a guy with so many snaps under his belt and he has been working and running, conditioning, footwork. He’s been doing that and last week doing football drills, so hopefully he can be near or close to 100%.”
On Ole Miss beating Georgia, do you remind your team how you beat Ole Miss…
“I think they pretty much know that, but I don’t need it for motivation but as we talk today, again it will be part of the choice we make, how we finish this season.”
On if he’s been part of a game where trash is thrown on the field…
“I don’t think so.”
On thoughts about trash thrown on the field…
“I think any coach, any player, anybody participating, does not want to see that. I don’t want to point out any school; I really don’t know who you’re talking about from this past weekend, I didn’t see every game or anything. I think anybody will tell you they don’t want any part of that. Back when I was an athletic director (at Nordonia High School), I did work once in a while at the (Cleveland) Browns games on Sunday, that was in the old stadium when they had the Dog Pound, and they threw some crazy stuff (laughter). So that was the last time I saw that. They used to throw batteries and snowballs, and crazy stuff.”
On saying he does not want to talk about kicker Jacob Kauwe…
“Yeah, but they see him anyway. They watch him in warmups. So yeah, it’s reality, we’ve all got to protect our players as best we can. We’ve been fortunate, you know what I mean? We lose guys, but we’ve been relatively fortunate. It’s not to say we’ve lost guys that have chosen to go and try to get reps right away (rather) than stay and maybe play a year or two later. I think that development part of it cost us a bit this year. There were some guys that I thought, just if I asked them point blank ‘Are you ready to play?’ they’d say, ‘absolutely not,’ but they’re going to go somewhere else. Well then stay here and work and get better and continue to grind. I think definitely that part of it may hurt you; it has hurt us. But, we’ve been able to keep normally our tier one guys, for the most part, and hopefully, we’ll continue to do that.”
On how he feels about Gavin Wimsatt and Cutter Boley if Brock is out…
“We have confidence in both of those guys. But we’ll see how the week progresses.”
On if Stoops watched any games this weekend…
“Yeah, I definitely watched a few games. There were some games that were hard not to watch, right? There were some pretty good games and I had an opportunity to watch some of it.”
On what games stood out to him this past weekend …
“There was a lot of my friends playing so I’ll just keep it tight to the vest. There was some good football and what does stand out in our league is how challenging it is, and I think you hear that, and people talk about it but try living it. It’s pretty difficult and I think some coaches, you see some great coaches and some great institutions, and you see a lot of people in our league and it’s tough.”
On speculation that he might retire at the end of the season…
“Very briefly, zero. Zero percent chance I do that.”
On watching a football game, does he do it from a coach’s perspective or a fan’s perspective, maybe enjoying an adult beverage…
“Well maybe enjoy an adult beverage but still learning, still watching, still watching the game. You know just the flow of it, the calls, the way people are setting things up. What people may catch somebody in, both with an offensive play or a defensive call, you know constantly watching it, trying to learn, always trying to just get a feel for it and continue to improve that football IQ and I encourage our players to do that. Just constantly watch, you know when they’re watching ball, just take in the football IQ piece, you know what I mean? If somebody has three guys around them and next thing you know there’s a facemask or something crazy, sometimes it’s unavoidable or a late hit is avoidable, just basic things. A lot of times I just encourage them to watch, because I do think young people are very into other things.”
On the offense in the first quarter during the Tennessee game…
“Yeah, I agree, was encouraged with the way they competed, played, I thought physically we showed up a little bit against really high competition in a tough environment. Really encouraged by Brock’s performance in a very tough environment, tough defense, very good front, good cover guys, just tough all the way around. That’s what we have to get used to and be able to compete at that level all the time.”
On if the pass blocking was better than it had been…
“I think, you know, you put it all together. I thought it started with an explosive run and then that always catches people’s attention. And even the tough runs, the dirty runs, the four or five yarders, and then that sets up some play action and it lets you protect a little better on first/second down. Something to build on.”
On Jordan Lovett…
“Jordan is a good football player, I love his passion, he cares a great deal. Just like anybody that plays the game, you are going to have some high moments, and some low moments and make some mistakes. If he makes a mistake in a critical moment, it eats him up. You appreciate that caring and that passion because he does a lot of good things and he really cares about his teammates and how he plays for all of us.”
On giving Jamarion Wilcox more carries in Tennessee game…
“There has been a lead-up to it. We had some plays for him (in the Auburn game). We didn’t play very well, as you know, in that game, across the board. So, not so much on him, but maybe some designed runs and some plays and some things
we had specifically for him that we kind of got out of. But in this next game it was a bit intentional. I wanted to continue to see him get the ball. Sometimes we are going to have to learn on the run a little bit with some of that because he definitely has some talent that could make people miss and play at a very high level. But there is still growth to have there,
and again, that is not unlike all our players. All of our players got to continue to grow and get better.”
On leading the SEC in run-pass option yards per attempt…
“Yes, we have to get better at it as well, whether it is the reads or the scheme or how we set it up. I am not sure your information is exactly like ours, because people don’t always know what we have called or what we have checked to and all that. But it is something that we need to take advantage of, especially when you are running the ball well.”
