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- [00:00]
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- [00:30]
Talkspace Advertiser
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- [01:32]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
In Lexington welcomes Che Darena March 6th through the 8th, then catch club favorite nephew Tommy March 13th through the 16th and don't miss Michael Palisac March 21st and 22nd. Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987 and they're still bringing the best in stand up comedy to the area 38 years later. For tickets call 859-271-joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com.
- [01:57]
Comedy Off Broadway.
- [02:02]
Matt Jones
Welcome everyone Kentucky Sports Radio Tuesday, March 11th. I'm Matt Jones here in Studio in Lexington. You can give shout out to Clark's Pump and Shop phone line. We will we'll close the phones for right now but we will open them later. 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this edition sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. If you call TJ, he'll make them pay. We are happy to have in studio. We rarely. Ryan, start things off with an interview. I can't. I can't think of how many shows that's ever happened ever. Can you?
- [02:35]
Ryan Lemond
No. Cause you like to talk.
- [02:37]
Matt Jones
So we let you talk to talk for a minute. But it's pro day for UK football, so Mark Stoops was nice enough before March Madness gets rolling to join us in here. Right off the top, Mark, how are you doing?
- [02:50]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I'm doing great, Matt. Good to. To be in studio. Good to come talk with you guys. I know this is a little late for us usually.
- [02:57]
Matt Jones
Yeah, we usually do it early. But you had surgery, is that right?
- [02:59]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I did have surgery, yeah. I had to have ankle surgery and I'm doing much better. It feels much better. However, today I woke up and it's a little sore, but hey, I'll work through it.
- [03:09]
Matt Jones
So you. You had to have surgery, what, right after the season, wasn't it?
- [03:14]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I did, yeah.
- [03:15]
Matt Jones
You were kind of limping around a little bit there. I was.
- [03:17]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I definitely was. It's just wear and tear on the ankle. There wasn't any one injury. You know, I had to have knee replacement surgery.
- [03:26]
Matt Jones
You're getting old. Wow.
- [03:27]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Man. I tell you.
- [03:28]
Matt Jones
Yeah, it adds up.
- [03:30]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
After you and I, we were all just talking about my son and whether he's gonna play college ball and he's not. And I'm totally okay with that. You know, I mean, I'm a. I'm. I'm not the biggest guy. And so the body takes its wear and tear and ankle was next. So I had to have ankle replacement surgery. That does not happen too often.
- [03:47]
Matt Jones
Ankle. I don't think I've ever heard of that. Have you? Have you ever heard that? Right?
- [03:51]
Ryan Lemond
No, I've never heard that before.
- [03:53]
Matt Jones
So ankle replacement. Well, I hope you're doing.
- [03:55]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah.
- [03:56]
Matt Jones
Thank you for taking the time. Spring practice, what started yesterday.
- [03:59]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
It did.
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Matt Jones
And how. How's it going? You. You liking the group?
- [04:03]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I definitely do. I think, you know, let's be honest. You've heard me talk many times. I'm never going to come on here and think, oh, the sky's fallen, but I love the group. You know, you and I will get into the weeds here. We'll talk about many things. Obviously, I was not very happy with. With the way the year was. Who. Who, who was nobody that cares about the cats. So things didn't go well. So you, you had to take a, a deep dive, a deep look at everything in the program again and strip it all down and, and, and take a good hard look at the things, you know, that we've done well over the years. You know, where did we fall short last year? Why? How do we get better? How do we coach better, you know, and put it, put our guys in position to be successful, you know, how do we get into the leadership factors and bring that out of the team and, you know, and grow in that area and then how do you build the roster? And so I love the roster for this year. Let's put it that.
- [05:00]
Matt Jones
Well, let's talk. I want to kind of do this in two parts. Yeah. Maybe start with last year, kind of put it to bed and then talk about what's, what's upcoming. Sure, let's start, you know, let's start with, with last year. It was obviously a year that was disappointing for a lot of fans. I'm sure it was disappointing for, for you as well. When you look back on that year, last year and you say to ourself, okay, it did not go how we wanted to go, why do you think that happened? Why do you think it was? I think Mitch Barnhart said a one year blip. But if that is what it is, why do you think it happened?
- [05:34]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, I think there's, there's many reasons, you know, that it happened. And, you know, I think that's a very broad based question right there. I mean, obviously there's many factors that go into it, clearly, you know, and I'm not just saying this. I know people get tired of it after being here 12 years, 13 years talking to you. You know, it falls on my shoulders and all that. People are like, blah, blah, blah, I understand. But it truly is, you know, you have to look at why that happened. I mean, it starts with myself and making sure the leadership was what we needed it to be, you know, in, you know, with myself, with our staff, with strength and conditioning, with nutrition, you know, X's and O's, you know, everything, you know, that we do in the organization and making sure we're all on the same page. We're, you know, pushing our players to, to, to, to the best of their.
- [06:29]
Matt Jones
How do you think that might have fallen short last year?
- [06:31]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, I just think it starts with us. Right? It starts with us. And so we, you know, like one of the things we did when we got back together as a staff and brought everybody in the room, we got off site and put us in a big you know, circular table and, you know, went at it as far as having a meetings for, for six, eight hours, you know, however long it takes just to, you know, hear from every department. And the things again, where we've done well, where we felt fell short, why. And there's a lot of, lot of things that we could have done better. And, you know, we have to look at those things. Everything from, again, from X's and O's, you know, leadership, accountability, you know, strength and conditioning, you know, nutrition, you know, anything. And, you know, you've heard this saying, you know, many years, if you do the little things, the big things aren't so big, right? And last year the little things were big.
- [07:28]
Matt Jones
Well, I think for fans there would be some value in, in specifics. I mean, it's. I think a lot of fans, they hear you say that and say, take responsibility, but give us some examples of, like when you got in that room with eight hours and you said, okay, this needs to be better than that. Like what, what are some examples of that?
- [07:46]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, I think, you know, again, hear me when I say this, because if I say any one thing in particular, one thing I did learn last year, when you lose and everybody, you know, and it's bad, whatever I say gets absolutely ripped apart. Right. I have to be a little bit. Broad stroke there. You can understand that.
- [08:04]
Matt Jones
I also think fans want to hear like our fans, SEC fans in general, they know football and they want to hear, I do think they want to hear more than a broad stroke of what, what, what could have been better. Let's just take discipline. Did you feel like the discipline was where it needed?
- [08:22]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I mean, no. How can I say it was? And, But I don't need that to be. You can understand my point of view saying Mark Stoop said discipline was the absolute problem. That was one of many problems. Right. And when, when I say discipline, there's different layers of that. Right. It's not like our team went rogue and, you know, that's never going to happen under my watch. You know, was it as dialed in as we need it to be? Clearly not. You know, clearly not. And I understand that. I take responsibility for that. That doesn't mean everything was all. I loved our team. Was it, was it where we wanted to be? No, no, absolutely not. We didn't coach good enough. We didn't play good enough. We weren't disciplined enough. You know, we weren't physical enough. There's a lot of things. And so that is part of it that, that I have to look at and so again, if you let, you know, a little thing, you know what I mean, slip by or if things go unchecked, then. Then it can become a big.
- [09:23]
Matt Jones
Do you think that. Did you think some of that happened? You think there was some. There were some. There was some chatter that would come out from the. From the, you know, just people around the program that said, you know, maybe there's not been as much attention to be on time. Do your reps do all these things and that maybe some things got. Were let to slip. Is that fair or no?
- [09:46]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I think that's fair. Okay. I have to take that kind of criticism, you know, and when things unravel like they did and you have a season like, like you did, you have to be accept all that. And again, do I think it was completely rogue and things were. No, that's never going to happen. That's never going to happen under my teams. Was it as dialed in or as tidy as it needed to be? Clearly not. The results weren't there and little things became big things. And so, you know, that. That, you know, that can't happen.
- [10:18]
Matt Jones
There was obviously struggles with the. On. Let's just start with offense. On the offensive line, some of that may have been like, personnel. Were there other. I mean, when did you realize you had an offensive line problem? It clearly wasn't what it has been. A lot of the time you were at.
- [10:33]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, I think it was game two. You know, when we go in there and have the struggles that we had, I think, you know, we didn't anticipate that. And, you know, I think, you know, Coach Bush, you know, adjusted after that, you know what I mean? To some extent. You know what I mean? Let's be honest. I mean, if you get behind, if you're getting in. Predictable pass. You've heard me talk about this a lot. Certainly if it's not a strength and you're not holding up, you know, and so, you know, I think, you know, we went into the season, you know, trying to get the depth that we needed, the continuity that. That I haven't had on the offensive side and with the offensive line and with the offense coordinator clearly caught up to us, you know, at a point. And. And again, that's. That's not fun. That's not good to go through. And some of that was beyond.
- [11:31]
Matt Jones
I mean, I know you didn't think you'd have that turnover at offensive coordinator. You went and you got basically a completely new offensive line. And that may be something that just happens a lot in the Portal era. Do you think this group will meld and has a talent level maybe that last year's group didn't? I mean, do you feel better about that position? Cause it felt like we were a number of steps back last year.
- [11:55]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Fair, you know, Agree. I think we're better and definitely better. One thing that was a point of emphasis. We had to keep our good players that, you know, our good young guys in place. Malachi Abba, you know, you know, we had to keep the Jagger, you know, and he's not young, but. But the guys we had inside, Jalen Farmer, you know, we had to keep the nucleus of the good players we had, keep them here and then add to it. And in particular tackle, you know, we had to get better at tackle, and we certainly did that. We certainly addressed that issue and we had to.
- [12:33]
Matt Jones
I mean, you guys went a different way, at least from an outsider's perspective in the Portal. Whereas I think a lot of the times in the past you had gone and gotten guys in big programs, maybe didn't play as much as they like, et cetera. Felt like you went and got maybe mid level program, but guys who had performed, started a lot of games. Was that a change in philosophy at all?
- [12:53]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
You know, it was, I think, finding the right guys to come in and, you know, fit in our culture, fit and play for us that, you know, had the physical attributes that we clearly have to have, but also, you know, you know, socially, the way they fit in, the way they adapt to our program was certainly important, I think. I don't know how much, you know, you've really dove into the weeds and I really don't want to get into too much, but I mean, with the changing landscape, we've all talked about that for three years, it is what it is. But this last recruiting cycle for football, it'll go through that one more recruiting cycle for basketball. From what my, my understanding is, you know, come July 1st, I think they're trying to put some guardrails around this thing. And so this last recruiting cycle, you know, you had to make a move or you, you know, you were going to get completely left.
- [13:49]
Matt Jones
Do you feel like Kentucky going forward? I mean, when I hear fans, I asked fans yesterday, I was like, all right, what questions do you want me to ask Mark Stoops? And the one that came up the most was, you know, we're entering a new era. I say this all the time, like, this is a completely new era of college sports. The, you know, coaching, the X's and O's may still be the same but the off the field stuff's completely different. Do you feel like UK and Mark Stoop specifically are. Do you feel like you're ready? Do you enjoy, I mean, whether you enjoy it or not, are you ready for this new era? Is Kentucky ready for this new era? Because it's a different sport in a lot of ways?
- [14:28]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Absolutely. I think the last three seasons have been absolutely, unequivocally the most challenging. You know, at this point, you know, come July 1st, we're supposed to have some guardrails around this thing. True authentic name, image and likeness. If a young man can earn money, you know, with his name, image and likeness, by all means he should be able to do that and go do that. The era of just truly donors pouring 20, $30 million into rosters and just paying for play, that's been the last three years. That's gone. Okay, so again, this has to happen now. The judge has to rule on it. And in April.
- [15:15]
Matt Jones
That happens in April.
- [15:16]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, you know, that has to happen. And, you know, we have to actually get this third party entity that can, you know, have some teeth and monitor, you know, whether this is a true authentic nil deal or not. Otherwise, it's just who's going to pour the most money into.
- [15:31]
Matt Jones
But is Kentucky in that system? Do you feel like Kentucky can be competitive? Are you eager, I guess it's a different way to put it. Are you eager to play in this system? Because I kind of wonder, like, if you're not, like, if coaches aren't, is it going to work for them? Like, are you, are you ready to sort of go to war with these guys?
- [15:48]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
100%.
- [15:49]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [15:49]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
You know, we went to battle this year. I do, I do love the team that I put together, you know. You know, we will see. We went through one spring practice. I love, and I'm not just saying this is not lip service. I love the way they have attacked the off season. You know, coming in and attacking the weight room, having the accountability, having the discipline, having the work ethic, you know, attacking the day, truly, you know what I mean? Watching all their weights, making sure everything's, you know, buttoned up, so to speak. You know, I feel like it's been a great winter. Guys have attacked it. You know, we went into our fourth quarter drills, which we, you know, basically challenge them physically and mentally and do some drills with them. And early in the morning they did that. You know, they attack that. You know, we started spring ball. We're off to the right start. I hear you. You know, I agree with you, you know, there's, there's no defense on some of the things, you know, you know, specifically or broad strokes, however you want to say it. Definitely some things needed to be readdressed. And I think, you know, we are off to the right start. I think we attack this portal. I think if you go back, if you look at it in a segment, we all hope as coaches the most challenging time in our history has been the last three years. We hope we can move forward and attack it. And yeah, we have the rev share, you know, if that, if that's then, then we'll be on an equal playing field with everybody. If, if it works that way.
- [17:18]
Matt Jones
We're going to take a break. Be right back. Got more questions for Mark Stoops. We're also going to get ready. The SEC tournament is coming. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.
- [17:25]
Talkspace Advertiser
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- [18:28]
Matt Jones
It is Kentucky Sports Radio 859-280-2287 on the text machine. Let me give some quick hitters to you that people want to ask. One person writes, I want to ask Mark, do we have a general manager? You hear people getting hired as general manager for the football team. Is there an individual with that role at Kentucky?
- [18:46]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, we don't. It's none of that title, but it is, it's Eddie Graham.
- [18:51]
Matt Jones
So Eddie Grant is kind of our general manager.
- [18:53]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Works with me, works with the budget. You know, he does many, he wears, he Helps. What he's really worked hard at the last three years is raising the money that we've needed to pay some of these players. And so the extent that.
- [19:06]
Matt Jones
So we don't have that as a title, but for practical purposes, that's him. Okay. I don't know that people have known that. I had heard that is. So when you're. Is that. I assume that's an all year job of watching players, trying to figure out where you're going to go, who makes the kind of final decision of. All right, this is because I know you don't have time to watch all these.
- [19:28]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Who.
- [19:28]
Matt Jones
Who. We're going to take that guy instead of this guy.
- [19:31]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
So, you know, Eddie Will. Eddie is the general manager as far as helping me, you know, prepare the budget, raise money, you know, and then, you know, decide where we're going to allocate those funds. And then we have a personnel department as well, where the guys in there. We have many people in there, you know, crew of people and they're watching players all year long.
- [19:50]
Matt Jones
So they're.
- [19:51]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
They watch high school and college.
- [19:53]
Matt Jones
Okay. So there are people whose job is to look at who's out there on the scene.
- [19:57]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Exactly.
- [19:57]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [19:58]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
And then it's like, let's say, okay, we need a tackle. Let. We.
- [20:00]
Matt Jones
So it's the final choice of there's this kid from Northern Illinois and then there's this kid from Colorado State. We're going to take the Northern Illinois kid. Is that you who makes that call?
- [20:11]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
We. We make that call as a group.
- [20:13]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [20:13]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Obviously, if it's an offensive lineman, Eric Wolford, you know, grand offensive coordinator, myself, I will say this. You know, with the free agent market in football this last cycle and the cycle before, it was kind of out of control. You know what I mean, what the value was and what people were going. It's like free agency in football right now. I mean, when you have 85 free agents on a football team, yeah. Things can get out of hand in a hurry.
- [20:42]
Matt Jones
So let me ask you about another person here writes, has Mark ever considered having a clock management person? I will say from my. And you know, I'm a big fan of yours. My one criticism over the years of your coaching has been the clock management. Sometimes I feel like there's just somebody just to go, hey, if we call a timeout here, it'll be 35. Just literally math. Do you all. Do you have someone in your ear giving you that information during the game?
- [21:08]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
100%.
- [21:09]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [21:09]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I have. Absolutely, unequivocally, you know, Go to the analytics on that, on when to call a timeout, when not to, and all those things and when to go.
- [21:18]
Matt Jones
So how does that work on game day? Is there someone going, okay, Mark here?
- [21:22]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm far ahead of it. You know, when we're going into the series, you know, whether we're going on offense or defense, he'll. He'll be right in my ear saying, do not take one until the four minute mark.
- [21:35]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [21:35]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
You know, so that, you know. And so at that point, I clearly, I go directly by analytics.
- [21:42]
Matt Jones
What about, like, decisions on punt? No punt. I use. When you were here early, it always felt like Mark Stoops is going to punt. Sometimes I would be. Gosh, I wish they would go for it. Mark Stoop's going to punt. In the last couple of years, it seemed like that's been more. I think you've made decisions sometimes I've heard you after games go, I wish I hadn't done that. Like, how do you decide in a. Do we go for it or not? Situation?
- [22:05]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I do listen to the analytics first.
- [22:08]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [22:08]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
And I will look at those. I think you have to look at what, you know, who you are a little bit too. What do you think you can, you can. Do you know, who you play in? What are their strengths? What are your strengths? You know, where is that? I accept that. I mean, there's going to be that criticism, you know, I don't take offense to that. You know what I mean? Go for it on 4th or not. You know what I mean? I.
- [22:32]
Matt Jones
Do you consider yourself aggressive, conservative. Like, how do you consider yourself as a coach?
- [22:39]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I play things usually by the book, you know, for the most part, I think. I think the big one last year was the, the, the Georgia game. And, you know, and that's. It's really fair, you know, criticism. I could also sit here and say, we were in that game because of. Well, well, we were in that. We were in that game because of defense and field position.
- [23:02]
Matt Jones
Do you. So. So fans will say to me, Fans will say to me, how does this. And what's your answer to this? How does the same team that played Georgia to the final play, wins at Ole Miss, plays Texas really well, a little bit on the road for a lot. A good part of that game, then have the results against Vandy, the kind of way it fell apart against Louisville? Like, how did you just, as a coach, how did you explain beating Ole Miss on the road and then losing to Auburn at home? I mean, like, how do you. How did you explain yourself?
- [23:34]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, Auburn at home, I mean, just.
- [23:36]
Matt Jones
But just in general. I mean, there was wildly inconsistent results.
- [23:40]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Fair, fair, fair criticism. I think, you know, the, you know, you go play. I've said this for years. I think people sometimes latch onto it, sometimes you don't. When you play people in this league, you see weird stuff all the time. It is extremely taxing on our players mentally and physically. You know, where you hit something, where you're playing, where you're at right there, what your headspace is, what you're like physically factors into it. I can't always see that coming. You try to head things off. You try to make sure you're ahead of things. You know, you look at Vandy and they had a really good year. They brought in a quarterback that had a great spark. They brought in some players that were used to that system. They played, you know, extremely hard. You know, we made. That is a game that, that we brought up earlier. The, the, you know, discipline and the problems. I mean, I had remarkable players for me making. Making incredible mistakes early in that game. And you know, that's hard. You know, that's hard. There's no excuse for it. You know what I mean? We should have scored the first three times we had the ball and you know, that, that we didn't do it just didn't happen. You know. And then the Louisville game, you know, I think by that time, I don't know, it's. Again, it's indefensible. We've had a really good run. Yeah, we, our players understand the importance of it. We embrace it. We embrace that challenge. You know, we were, you know, hang it. We didn't play very good.
- [25:00]
Matt Jones
30 seconds, real quick. Do you want, do you want that to game to keep going if you go to a nine game sec scale?
- [25:05]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, I do.
- [25:06]
Matt Jones
You want to keep playing?
- [25:07]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I do. I think it'll be a real challenge, but I do.
- [25:09]
Matt Jones
Okay. Yeah, I like that. Right. Because I want to keep it. I know. I understand why you. Some. They may not do it, but I want them to do it. All right, we'll take a break. Be right back here with Mark Stoops, ksr. Welcome back tucking Sports radio. Let's talk for a second about this year with Mark Stoops. All right, so we. I was saying I'm not sure there'll be a Kentucky football team that we like no less about as fans. So tell me about the quarterback position. You're going to have Zach Calzada, you got Cutter. How do you expect that to go do you go into spring practice saying, I think this will be our guy and if so, who would it be?
- [25:48]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
No, I think you, you know, obviously it's an open competition. Getting back to, you know, what we opened with and you know, you have to, when you go through a year like that, you have to challenge every player and say you're coming in here and you're going to earn your position. Right. No entitlement whatsoever. Everything's going to be earned, nothing's given and we have to get back to that. That's the way it's always been. Again, we address some of the issues that I take full responsibility for, but that can't be like that going, going forward, nobody's going to be given anything. They better go win the job. And so do you think in the.
- [26:24]
Matt Jones
Process of getting players you had to promise stuff before that you just decide you're not going to do that anymore?
- [26:30]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I don't think, you know, yes, you know, in a way they feel like there's an open door, which there is. Anything, any time I've told a player that you have a great opportunity.
- [26:39]
Matt Jones
Okay.
- [26:40]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
And so if you go to the quarterback position, you have Cutter coming back, who we, we have great faith in. But you know, let's be honest, that was the only one on campus. Bo Allen decided to come back. We love that. Just, you know, to have that depth and experience and a guy like that. But there wasn't much on campus. Right. We were bringing in two freshmen. So you bring in Zach Calzada. He has, he's a six year guy. So I love that experience of that. Here's a guy that's played a lot of football. You go to the portal. If you go back a little bit of history. We took a shot on Will Levis home run, right? Yeah, you know, but didn't have much experience. You know, last year with Brock, you know, we brought Brock in, didn't have that much experience. Maybe, you know, he could have played better, but maybe I could have done a better job. I take my responsibility. I've never put that on Brock. Right. We talked about o line issues, we talk about coaching. You know what I mean? That's all of us. But could have been better. You know that. You know, with Zach, you see a guy that's played a ton of football. So I like that part of it.
- [27:37]
Matt Jones
But like in spring, are they Both taking like QB1 reps?
- [27:40]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, definitely. And I'll be honest, I made this, you know, with, with what little media appearances I've made so far. Talking about spring, and I will throughout the spring. I really want to stay away from. And I don't mind talking about it a little bit and all that, because I know you have, you know, a lot of listeners that care, but right now, I want to make everybody earn it. I want to talk about. I want to talk about, like, the position, the quarterback position. You know what I mean? They need to be a great leader. I love the arm talent of both of those guys. I mean, they could rip it. Both of them could throw the heck out of the football. Both of them are passionate about it. Both of them have leadership skills, you know, And Bo Allen gives me a great third, you know, because he came back, you know, to me, his arm is much fresh, you know, strong and fresh again. You know, I think Bo's the type of guy. When he first got here during. During COVID I think the guy worked so hard, you know what I mean? He. He. He, you know, set himself back a little bit, but he's back to full strength in a. In a. In a guy that I believe in. And so I just feel like as a room, and then the two freshman guys that we'll bring along, but I think as a room, I love it, and I love the top two guys.
- [28:44]
Matt Jones
Wide receiver, you had two of the more explosive players we've seen here in a long time in Barry on and Dane. They ended up leaving. So what do you. Do you feel good about where you are at that position? I mean, it's hard to replace guys like that. But what is that? What's the game plan?
- [28:59]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, you know, I think once again, you know, with. Bring Jamari Macklin back because he played so well late. Yes, he did last year. And again, I think that's an area where, if. If there's some criticism, it's like, you know, you had those two guys outside, you kept on waiting, you know what I mean, you know, for them to do things. And they did. Certainly Dane was, you know, very steady and reliable for us. And then, you know, but then J. Mac, we played inside, and then when we started playing him outside, we realized he's a better outside guy, you know. You know, he made some really tough contested catches late in that season. And so I think, you know, once again, like I talked about with the. The offensive lineman that we needed to bring back. It started with J. Mac, too, because he played so good late, and again, he has a ton of experience, so bringing him back, you got, you know, you got Fred back. We brought in J.J. hester, you know, from Oklahoma, that Has some really good upside. That's a tall guy that could really run that, that needs, you know, needs to produce for us. You know, you bring in Stiletto, that's played a lot of football, especially when healthy from Clemson, you know, Kendrick Law, that, that gives us a strength in a build of a receiver that we had that I haven't had, you know, and, you know, a ball in hand guy that's extremely strong and explosive, you know. So, you know, I, I like what we've added there. David Washington was a guy late last year that we felt like, you know, was going to be a good football player.
- [30:28]
Matt Jones
You, you. In terms of a coaching staff, you know, the fans tend to say they see a position struggle and then they put it on that position. Coach, there's been a lot of talk about, as we said, the offensive line, but also other positions. How did you, you kind of kept a lot of your staff together. How do you feel like, I mean, do you understand fans criticisms about that or do you think it's not really fair to say the offensive line coach.
- [30:57]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I don't, you know, myself, and I don't mean to be oblivious to this because I do talk to you, I talk to media. Like, I understand the gist of it and my head's not in the sand. I don't listen to all that. I can't. Right. You know what I mean? I can't. You can't. But I will say this. There's, you know, I understand the frustration. Heck, I was frustrated when Eric left the first time, you know, and he. And I go, go, go back. I could tell you this. There's, there's, there's not a coach that I've ever had that I take more calls for. You know, the guy could go anywhere he wants at any time. And he knows the last time and he, he decided to go work with Nick. And, you know, and I understand that. And it hurt us though, you know what I mean? The continuity. He knows that when he came back, we had those discussions and, you know, both professionally and personally, you know, about the responsibility and what we need in the consistency and the continuity that I need. He understood that, embraced that. He's taken those bullets. He's come back. He just recruited as good as anybody have ever had in any, any.
- [32:07]
Matt Jones
Yeah, you all did get a, you all did get a ton of guys.
- [32:10]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
But I guess what I'm saying, listen to me on this. In his defense, if, and I'm not, you know, I'm not. I'll defend any of my guys if I believe in it, you know, but he's a guy that's on the treadmill at 5:36am every day, texting 25 recruits all day, every day, working his butt off and can literally. I don't need to start naming names, but, like the biggest of the big in our profession all called to hire him this off season, you know, every one of them.
- [32:41]
Matt Jones
So. So you feel, you feel confident in.
- [32:44]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
That, in his ability? Yes, and his recruiting and his coaching in all of it. And. And he's a. He's a tireless worker. He's relentless. He's tough as nails, believe me. Yes, the inconsistency, the continuity has hurt us. Yes, he was a part of that, but that, you know, again, we. That's the side of it. We accept it. We know it now. It's about what are we going to do moving forward. Right.
- [33:05]
Matt Jones
Are you do. When you look at your. Your offense and defense, just philosophy, big, big picture. Do you. Is there anything you want to change from what you had last year? I remember after Liam left, you said, we, okay, we want to try to run the ball more, get back to some of that. And I think you did some of that last year. Do you see anything going into this year where you're like, okay, I want to see us move in this direction from a philosophy standpoint, I think just.
- [33:32]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Getting better at all things we did right last year, again, getting back to some of the criticism when, you know, you. We got into it a little bit. You know, it's hard to get into everything as much as we need to. But when we talked about o line issues early, you know, in the season and we identified that it's then it's kind of like package some things to what you can do. Right. We have to try to win games. I think we've done a decent job over the years with that. Right. Not always perfect. I'm not trying to pat myself, but it's like, adapt to what you can do. And that goes into the factoring of whether you go for it on 4th and 10 or not and who you're playing. Can you get it? You know what I mean? And so, but, you know, I think offensively, defensively, special teams continue to build on the good things we're doing. And then, yeah, we, you know, situational football last year, again, not very good at times. In, in, in. In. Let's look at critical moments, some short yardage scenarios that really hurt us, you know, that I have to take responsibility. That is going to be addressed in the spring.
- [34:34]
Matt Jones
There Were a lot of like third, fourth one.
- [34:36]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, most definitely.
- [34:37]
Matt Jones
Yeah. You know, let me finish with this because this is the. I, I think this is probably the $64,000 question. There are. When I talk to average UK fans, here's exactly what they say to me, most of them about Mark Stoops. And he has been amazing in what he's done here. He did stuff I never thought we could do at Kentucky. Right. Like he, he recruited at a level that we didn't think he invents, brought in players that we didn't think. You know, we had these 10 win seasons. I didn't know if we'd ever do that. All these bowl games in a row, et cetera. And then they'll say, so he's done a great job, period. Next sentence. I am worried though about the future. How do I know he's going to be ready for this next era? How do I know this next year is going to be better than the last couple? If you were to hear that and you were to try to give a message to the fan base as why they should still be excited and pumped up for the future of UK football, what would you say?
- [35:38]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Well, I would say, number one, I hear them and I accept, you know, the criticisms 100%. I'm not, you know, so hard headed where, you know, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna try to embrace any challenge, any obstacle to get better. You know, you could take this or leave it, Matt. And you know, I've never been, you know, as motivated as I am right now. No, you know, if you know anything about me, I do not like an ass kicking and you know, in, we didn't play to our best last year and you know, I could guarantee you since that season was over when we lost on Saturday against Louisville, our butts were in that office on Sunday and have not stopped since. We're going to attack this thing. We have to put the pieces together. We have to strategically, you know, get better and put them in a position to be successful. But it came with building a roster. That was the first thing I had to do. We've done that. Then it comes with absolutely demanding excellence from them and leaning on them 247 in a way, you know what I mean? In a very positive manner. But, you know, in keeping them accountable and making sure, you know, they have the leadership qualities that it takes to be successful, to stay united through, you know, challenges, because there's going to be obstacles when you play in our league. You're going to hit adversity. And how do you handle that? And do you have the roster? Do you have the depth? Do you have, you know, the preparation that it takes? We're leaving no stone unturned. We're working our tail off. I love this place. I've been here 12 years, going on 13 and I promise you, you know, I'll be honest with you. I've never, you know, I'm emotional right now talking about because my ass wants to get back to the office, get to work and make this team better. That that's what I could guarant and I could guarantee you that they're going to play with the same level of competitiveness that we always have, the same chip on our shoulder, the same discipline. We're not going to be perfect, but we're going to play hard and you know, we're going to do things right.
- [37:46]
Matt Jones
Mark, thank you very much. I'll let you get back to your office to go do that and good luck with pro day today and hope it goes well. Thank you very much for your time.
- [37:55]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Thanks.
- [37:55]
Matt Jones
Appreciate it. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back. Kentucky Sports Radio welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. This segment sponsored by Cornbread Hemp. If you need rest, relaxation and all the great stuff from Cornbread Hemp, you make sure if daylight savings time is messing up your sleep. Cornbread Hemp sleep gummies, full spectrum flower only hemp CBD gummies. No next day grogginess. They gave some out at our free at our show the other day. 30% off. Use my code KSR at checkout. It is corn bred hemp. Alright. So guys, Mark was here. I thought he finished very strong with his sort of take there at the end. What did you think of, what did you think of Mark?
- [38:39]
Ryan Lemond
Just as a fan listening to him, I heard some things I needed to hear. You know, he took, didn't, didn't make excuses. You know, he took responsibility for a lot of things that happened last year. And if you're a media person in this town and you cover UK football, there was some Golden Nuggets in what he said there in 45 minutes.
- [38:52]
Matt Jones
I mean they're really Mr. Media Guy. What are the golden nuggets? Mr. Scoop, I'm a respected member of the media. The football. Yeah. What are the Golden Nuggets?
- [39:00]
Ryan Lemond
Well, like that's the first time I think publicly he's talked about the problems with culture and the problem with the offensive line. You know, I think that was Some.
- [39:08]
Matt Jones
He did acknowledge the culture.
- [39:09]
Ryan Lemond
Yes, he did. Which he did.
- [39:11]
Matt Jones
I think is important. I think it is, because everybody around the program knew that. And, like, it felt like nobody was saying it. He did. I thought that was good. Drew, by the way, nice to have you here this first time you spoke, I think. Yeah.
- [39:25]
G
Hello, everyone.
- [39:25]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Is my mic on?
- [39:26]
Matt Jones
Yes.
- [39:27]
G
Good to see everybody. I gotta admit, you know, most. The interview was all right. You know, didn't fire me up at the end. He got me fired up a little bit when he said. Because a lot of people have questioned his motivation. When he said, I'm emotional to get back to the office to fix this right now. I hate an ass kicking. I thought that was a great answer. I mean, we all know that he knows it didn't go well, but I think there's been a lot of people wondering how much gas is left in that tank. And I can tell you just sitting across the table, that is a guy that is pretty motivated or at least seemed that way to go fix everything that went wrong.
- [39:57]
Matt Jones
Is that the first time. Am I right? That, like, it's been acknowledged that Eddie grand was the gm?
- [40:02]
Ryan Lemond
I first I've heard that.
- [40:04]
Matt Jones
Yeah. That's why I knew that that's what it was, but I. I don't know that they've ever said that. Even though he said it wasn't the title.
- [40:11]
Ryan Lemond
Yeah, not the title, but he's acting as the team general manager.
- [40:13]
Matt Jones
Yeah.
- [40:14]
Ryan Lemond
Which in this day and age, you got to have somebody like that.
- [40:16]
Matt Jones
Oh, you definitely have to have somebody like.
- [40:17]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah.
- [40:18]
Matt Jones
I mean, you. And. And. And I think Eddie's been doing it a lot on the fundraising side. Um, but the picking player side, I think, is also a big part of that, too.
- [40:28]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah.
- [40:28]
G
He's mentioned how helpful that he's been in the past in press conferences. And Eddie does do a lot of fundraising, but I think that's the most open he's been about actual roster management and Eddie's role in that. But I know Eddie leading the charge on getting the money for Nil.
- [40:41]
Matt Jones
Shannon, you're harder to convince on everything. What did you think of it?
- [40:44]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
I think Stoops is always at his best when he's on this show. He's just so open and honest. He took responsibility. He sounded like he had energy. I think his best segment was the last one, so he ended on a high note. And I think maybe the most important thing I heard is that he would be interested in keeping the local game on the schedule for next season.
- [41:01]
Matt Jones
Yeah, that was interesting. I mean, that was an interesting comment. Like, I don't know that anyone else at UK has said that, but they need to be because another golden nugget for local media. There was. There were a bunch of your Golden Nuggets. You like the Golden Nuggets?
- [41:15]
Ryan Lemond
He would just dropping them for you guys. Making your job easy today.
- [41:19]
Matt Jones
Yeah, you know, I. Overall, listen, I think it's very difficult whenever you've had success to all of a sudden have to deal with failure and what. And what you say. And I've always thought of Mark as like a guy who, you know, I don't think he's stubborn in the way that I thought Cal was stubborn, but he's also like, he wants to defend himself. And I think sometimes it's hard for those people to just go, you know what? It didn't work. Right. And I feel like he's getting closer to that. That's not easy. It's not easy to do something that fails when you're a successful person and just say, this failed. I've talked about, like, when I worked at cbs, it just kind of failed. Like, I just. The two people I worked with, it was me, Matt. No more Matt Norlander and Jeff Borzello. We were all hired at the same time. Those two guys are two of the national college basketball writers. And I'm not. It just didn't work. That just did not work for me. Sometimes that's hard to just go, you know what? I just failed. And I think Drew is getting closer to that because I just don't know how you can look at last year's anything except it didn't work. But in order to make it better, I think you have to acknowledge the failure.
- [42:36]
G
Yeah, he did that as best he could. He didn't get too specific on some things. I could have wanted to hear more, but really, just, you got to give the man credit for sitting here for 50 minutes. People didn't hear this, but you said, how long do we have you? He said, as long as you need me. As many questions as you have. Because they have Pro Day at 11. He's going to be late for that. I know we get accused of defending Stoops a little bit. Not many coaches would have just done what he just did and he was here by himself.
- [43:00]
Matt Jones
Okay. That's another thing, like, a lot, most of the time, if coaches come, there's going to be media people sitting here and they're going to look at you. Like, don't ask that. He came here by himself. Right. He, he, he, you know, I Do give him credit for that. Look, I don't know him well. Like, Like, I talked to him earlier today and it was the first time I'd talked to him in, you know, since the season ended. But I also think, like, he seems like a guy who, when the. When. When the criticism comes, it does hurt him and he really wants to show people he can. He can fix it. And, you know, this year will ultimately decide the tale. Ryan. Like, it is what it is. The results are going to be what they are, and we'll see what happens.
- [43:43]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah, you're right.
- [43:44]
Ryan Lemond
Whether you're a coach or whatever you're doing in life, if you have great success and all of a sudden there is a blip, if you're a good leader, you do exactly what he did. You take it head on. You don't take. You take responsibility, you don't make excuses and you promise that it's not going to happen again. And I think we heard that from our coach today.
- [43:59]
Matt Jones
Yeah, you always say our coach like, you're very much like. It's funny how you say that. You're big on our coach. Our.
- [44:08]
Ryan Lemond
He's our B's.
- [44:09]
Matt Jones
Our coach from Mark Pope, too.
- [44:10]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Yeah.
- [44:11]
Matt Jones
It's like you. Do you consider these people to be like your family?
- [44:14]
Ryan Lemond
I would welcome them to my house for Christmas anytime you're doing for the pool parties.
- [44:19]
Matt Jones
That's true. The players are already there.
- [44:21]
Ryan Lemond
I don't know if I'm going to.
- [44:22]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Have a pool party this year.
- [44:23]
Ryan Lemond
Dane left the pool parties maybe over.
- [44:24]
Matt Jones
I think it'd be weird if you.
- [44:25]
Comedy Off Broadway Announcer
Did over for a pool party.
- [44:28]
Matt Jones
Yeah. Shut up, Mr. Don't invite us for the Christmas party. There's nobody that can talk about that less than you. We are going to talk basketball when we return. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.
- [44:41]
Ryan Lemond
Your mic did sound a little.