Pro Football Focus likes coaching job Mark Stoops is doing

Mark Stoops (UK Athletics Photo)

Kentucky football likes to play the lack of respect card and use it as motivation year-round for players, and maybe even fans. But the more success coach Mark Stoops and the Cats have, the harder that is to do.

A few years ago when Stoops started winning at UK he still was not considered one of the best coaches even in the Southeastern Conference. Now Seth Galina of Pro Football Focus has Stoops 14th on his list of the nation’s 20 best coaches. That’s a big deal for a program that sometimes has had to convince football analysts it was not the 12th, 13th, or 14th rated program in the SEC.

Galina values coaches that give their teams the best chances to win games and beat the odds rather than basing his rankings simply on wins which normally keeps coaches at powerhouse schools rated higher than what they should be at times.

Here’s what Galina wrote about Stoops for Pro Football Focus:

“The Stoops era of Kentucky football is a case study in not giving up too soon on a coach when you are not a national power. Kentucky has been a hard team to win with, but Stoops has seemingly transformed them from bottom-feeders to a mid-table team with a chance to upset the apple cart and win the East every once in a while.

“Their rushing efficiency stands out for a program like this — they’re 14th in the Power Five in EPA per rush over the last three seasons, a mightily impressive figure.”

Remember Pro Football Focus considers Chris Rodriguez the top returning running back in the SEC and Darian Kinnard the best lineman.

Now Stoops is not the top-rated coach in the SEC. That goes to Nick Saban — who else — of Alabama at No. 1 overall. Kirby Smart of Georgia is No. 3, Dan Mullen of Florida No. 5, and Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M No. 13.

Still, it’s another PR boost for Stoops and UK. CBS Sports ranked as the sixth-best SEC coach. Now this ranking has him No. 5 and head of Ed Orgeron of LSU.

Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow hosted Kentucky Sports Radio Wednesday morning and had Stoops as one of his guests. The UK head coach said he would like to see the program make “another big jump” soon.

“I think all of us feel pretty good about where the program is. Not content by any stretch of the imagination but I think confident in the direction that we’re going,” Stoops said. “Love our staff and where we’re headed.

“Just got to get a few more difference-makers to push us over the top but we’re getting closer and closer and I like the way we’re going about it.”