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  • Wrap-up with Mark Stoops (thanks, Larry Vaught)

    From Larry Vaught --

    Question: Since Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said at ACC Media Days that his top goal was always beating Kentucky, what is your top goal each year?
    Stoops: “Is that Louisville game important? Of course, it is important. It is extremely important, but the 11 games before that are as every bit as important. We play in a big man’s league that I have to give full concentration to and if you don’t, it will be a long day. We better gain on the SEC and believe me, if we gain on the SEC, we’ll gain on Louisville.”

    Question: What about the strength of the inside linebackers?
    Stoops: “We are getting much better. Josh Forrest is a guy who is a ton better. Ryan Flannigan was a first-year junior college player and had a great spring. I think with those two guys we will be much improved. We have not played good enough at that position. I expect to see great improvement there.”

    Question: What all goes into recruiting?
    Stoops: “We recruit these guys for years. They come on campus and spend time. It is not just one thing. Each prospect we concentrate on building relationships with everybody involved in that decision and you never know who that decision maker will be all the time. General consensus would be moms, but there are other people involved and I think our staff has done an exceptional job of getting to know everybody involved with that athlete. That takes a lot of work and time.”

    Question: What about walk-on receiver Charles Walker, who played some last year?
    Stoops: “He has done a great job. Great kid, great work ethic. I had knee surgery in offseason so we were in there doing rehab at the same time and we would have little competitions on who would do better. I would call him soft for motivation. Really a good relationship with him. He will be a player for us. He played on special teams as a freshman and that means we respect him and he has some ability. He is working his way into the receiving corps. He is a factor and will be a football player for us.”

    Question: How do you feel about freshmen C.J. Conrad and Darryl Long at tight ends?
    Stoops: “C.J. has won the job so far and we will see if he can maintain that. He has done a great job. He is exactly what we have been looking for. He can run, he can block. Obviously he will get more physical as the years go on. He is a great pass catcher right now. He is tough. He does everything right. He is a great player and great kid. Very mature beyond his years.
    “Darryl is getting much more physical. Redshirted him and he is a big, rangy guy that will hopefully continue to develop into blocker. He has done some great things receiving as well and between the two of them we have a future.”

    Question: How will the SEC schedule be?
    Stoops: “It’s a cakewalk. Actually, that’s interesting because I have been in all these national discussions about how powerful the league is or is not. The thing about the league is that you know how hard our staff has worked to recruit players and develop players we have here and that’s our job to make our babies the best we can be. We work relentlessly around the clock in all areas of their lives to make them better becasue we firmly believe that better people make better players. We are working hard to develop them, we are getting better.
    “Now does that equate to 10 wins. Everybody in this league is doing the same thing. If you are not, then they make a (coaching) change and go forward. It is just a no-nonsense league. It’s a bottom line league and that’s what we want and what makes it great and why it is so challenging to build a program from bottom to top. You have that chip on your shoulder every day and that mentality to make a difference.
    “There are tremendous resources in the league invested to make all programs better. That is what this league is about. It’s about recruiting the very best players across the country and everybody does that and develops those players.”

    Question: How is the team speed overall?
    Stoops: “It is much better. We have tracking devices in our sports science program and that’s getting big in college football and pro football. The bottom line is we have tangible evidence of how fast guys are running. I believe we have 33 guys over 19 miles an hour which is significantly higher than when we got here and had two or three. We are getting faster and stronger. With that comes mental toughness, and that’s the big thing. Toughness is so broad and is just not picking a fight. It’s are you going to get up early, eat right, go to bed early, go to tutors, go to class, live right. That is toughness. Getting on the field and wanting to fight somebody is not toughness. To me, that is weakness.”
    Comments 15 Comments
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      There's a little message in the final bit of his comments, it seems to me. Wonder if others will pick up on it.
    1. CGWildcat's Avatar
      CGWildcat -
      Great work as always LV! Thank you for all the stories and this wrap up.

      Darrell...message to some players? (Elam comes to mind only based off last weeks articles). Or another team?
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      I don't want to say yet, Coastie. Maybe I misread it. Not to Elam, though.
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue -
      It may be pointed at Drake Jackson?
    1. ShoesSwayedBlue's Avatar
      ShoesSwayedBlue -
      It's pointed the kids who got into fights off campus and who got a little too feisty with unnecessary roughness during the season last year on the field. Dorian Baker is one example. Stoops knows how good he can be [Rowland at Rivals said that several UK guys who saw Baker in the camps at UK said he was the most impressive receiver they had EVER seen in a camp at UK at his age.] He needs to convert his physical toughness into mental toughness and become the player he can be.

      That goes for other guys as well.

      I really believe that the staff sees massive improvement coming this year. They were more confident last year than the first and of course UK was much better, just not deep enough and not physical enough. The team wore down due to both of those factors, along with a general lack of size on the defensive line.

      A lot of the problems that led to the slide have been corrected for this year. UK will be much bigger and deeper in the tackle box on the defensive line and the linebackers will be much better at stopping the run. And the emphasis on physicality and the return of every interior offensive linemen and moving Swindle to the left and putting a couple of maulers [Mosier and /or George AA] at RT will help that too.

      Gotta be good up the pipe on both sides to be really effective. I think we'll be much better on both sides at that this year.
    1. kingcat's Avatar
      kingcat -
      I thought it was pointed at Petrino and U of L

      ..are you going to get up early, eat right, go to bed early, go to tutors, go to class, live right. That is toughness. Getting on the field and wanting to fight somebody is not toughness. To me, that is weakness.”
    1. ShoesSwayedBlue's Avatar
      ShoesSwayedBlue -
      Quote Originally Posted by kingcat View Post
      I thought it was pointed at Petrino and U of L

      ..are you going to get up early, eat right, go to bed early, go to tutors, go to class, live right. That is toughness. Getting on the field and wanting to fight somebody is not toughness. To me, that is weakness.”
      Possibly. But IMO Stoops is far more concerned with the SEC and his own teams accountability. As he said, if UK gains on the SEC we'll certainly gain on U of L[and pass them real soon IMO]. He's been preaching accountability every time he's been interviewed.
    1. CatQuick's Avatar
      CatQuick -
      I think a great example of what he is talking about is the story on Mikel Horton on the KSR page today. The kid realized he wasn't in shape and to change his body was going to require a great bit of sacrifice. Get enough of those stories going on the team and the culture changes.
    1. MickintheHam's Avatar
      MickintheHam -
      Quote Originally Posted by Darrell KSR View Post
      There's a little message in the final bit of his comments, it seems to me. Wonder if others will pick up on it.
      Juma Ikaanga: “The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
    1. Terry Blue's Avatar
      Terry Blue -
      Yours truly brought up that question where Petrino said beating UK was his top goal every season. Just a side note to that. After the meeting a 80+ year old UL fan approached me and basically told me I lied about that statement. It took me back because if any of you know me I'm honest if nothing else. He said he heard the interview and why would he single UK out as an objective when they've beaten us 5 straight times. He then proceeded to start calling me a name that starts with an S and ends with head. If he hadn't been so old I would have decked him right there. LV did a great job conducting the Q&A and Coach came off as very comfortable and confident.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Terry, I'm sure you're correct.

      Here's a quick search of something he said on ESPN radio. Awfully darn close to your comments by themselves.

      The Cardinal's BEAK
      July 21 at 10:29am · Edited ·

      Petrino on ESPN 680: "What we want to do is beat Kentucky every year. Then win all our home games. Win the conference and make the playoff" ‪#‎ACCMediaDays‬
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      In case you needed anything more, Louisville's own Howie Lindsey said the exact same thing you did, Terry.

      On @espn680 radio @Drew_Deener asked Bobby Petrino his goals for the season: Number 1 is always beat Kentucky http://t.co/sm56IMZKco

      Original Tweet: https://twitter.com/howielindsey/sta...42451362525184
    1. Terry Blue's Avatar
      Terry Blue -
      Just like Stoops gave several interviews at ESPN, would imagine Petrino did the same thing at the ACC event. I heard that comment when he was on ESPNU with a couple of talking heads, not the talk I'm sure he made from the podium. I was going to try to explain that to the old fossil, but he was too busy hating and calling me names
    1. suncat05's Avatar
      suncat05 -
      I just hope that Petrino's statement makes for some motivational bulliten board material for our players and staff after last year's loss. And we have them in Rich Brooks Stadium too, IIRC, so that helps too.
      We were sooooo close to beating them last year. And I watched the replay yesterday afternoon on the SECN of last season's Kentucky @ Florida game. Hey Kentucky fans, I still contend that we were cheated out of an opportunity to win that game by the back judge's mysterious 'no-call' in the 2nd O/T. Florida may have still scored if the penalty had been correctly called and assessed, but then again they may not have scored, and if not we certainly would have won the game.
      That loss, not the loss itself but the missed opportunity to get that win has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I hope that same bad aftertaste is in the mouth of every returning Kentucky player and helps motivate them to beat Florida this year.
    1. truecatsfan's Avatar
      truecatsfan -
      Hang in there Suncat, this is our year.
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