The SEC Network provided a recruiting showcase for UK coach Mark Stoops. (UK Athletics Photo)
Having players picked in the National Football League draft is a great selling point for any major college football program and something Kentucky has been doing well in recent years. However, the one-hour special on the SEC Network on Kentucky football this week was a huge recruiting promo for coach Mark Stoops’ program.
“Kentucky Spring Football All-Access” showcased everything right about the UK football program from facilities to NFL players to caring coaches to a winning culture.
“Go” seemed like the key word from coaches all 60 minutes. The special had some footage from spring practice, including a lot of completed passes by Beau Allen and Joey Gatewood, But what the show had a lot more of was insights into the UK coaching staff and how coaches related to players — something recruits and their families certainly will be able to watch the next few years.
Stoops talked about how it “is not about me” and that players are “allowed” to enjoy their college experience. He brought up how his father, a former high school coach, had “likable relationships” with players.
“I think it is important to invest in the players and spend time with them. That’s authentic. Payers know people that are fake immediately and coaches that are fake,” Stoops said.
“We spend a lot of time assessing players. We probably spend more time than most with player assessment. That lets you get to know them better than some.”
Players and their families have to like that. It might also show what makes recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow so special.
Stoops said when he recruits he thinks about “decisions he would want somebody to do for my own kids” but is also brutally honest with recruits.
Kentucky did a great job backing up Stoops’ statements with confirmation from current and past players.
“He is a player’s coach. He cares about his players,” UK defensive lineman Josh Paschal, UK’s top returning defensive player, said.
“On Thanksgiving, a lot of players get to go home. I am from Georgia and can’t go home and eat. He has invited me to his house,” safety Yusuf Corker said.
“He is just awesome to be around,” NFL linebacker Josh Allen, a former national defensive player of the year at UK, said.
“He is a funny guy. I love coach Stoops. When it comes to football, he is serious,” UK linebacker Jordan Wright said.
Defensive coordinator Brad White, a former NFL assistant coach, also made it clear that Stoops has done more than recruit. He’s also turning out productive NFL players as shown by linebackers Bud Dupree, Za’Darius, and Allen — all NFL starters.
“A lot of guys in our room know Josh and see how they work and handle their business off the field,” White said. “The trickle-down effect has been immense for our guys. That leadership has planted a seed in the guys we have right now.”
Allen, now with Jacksonville, says Stoops and his coaches develop players and he sees the proof each week in the NFL.
“Every Monday we watch (quarterback) sacks of the whole NFL and see a lot of Kentucky guys (making plays),” Allen said. “I am so prideful, I call that out.
“We built something that cannot be broken. I hope guys coming up can see that.”
They can and just in case they haven’t, recruits and UK players got to see it again on the SEC Network Special.
