Kentucky Wildcats Football: Mark Stoops’ Monday Press Conference Transcript

Nov 9, 2013; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban in front of his team as they prepare to take the field against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Q. Re: the Nick Saban interview on 60 Minutes.

COACH STOOPS: I saw the first part. I think there were two parts. I didn’t see the second part. Yeah, I didn’t see that.

Q. (continued)

COACH STOOPS: What I really admire about Coach Saban and it’s so true, there are some simple ‑‑ there are many things he does. He does things right now in our profession better than anybody, point blank. But the things that I like about it, there are some simple things in there, do your job. You know, there are things that show up in that game Saturday that you want to pull your hair out because you’re very frustrated because those are things we can control. Those are things that get very frustrating. Those are things that are a reflection of coaching that I have to change. If you’re responsible for doing something, do it. Then we can move on to other things. Does that make sense?
That’s a simple thing, but it’s so true. There are so many issues that it’s hard for me to get into with all of that. But I think when he talks about this business and controlling the things you can control, I really try to take a lot to that and have our guys do the same thing.
That’s where you talk about getting here and our record and all that; I can’t worry about that today. I was frustrated yesterday. It’s hard. Sundays are hard. But today it’s not because it’s on to the next game. It’s on to the preparation. It’s on to preparing for Vandy, and I want our team to be the same way. That’s where for a coach you could hold on to those snaps that are good, the thing that’s we’re doing good.
Some things we can’t change. A 6’6″ receiver jumping over our heads plucking the ball out of the air, we can’t change it. One of those throws we had two guys on him. The other ones are bad match‑ups. So that’s just where it’s at. Those are some things that I think he believes in along with many other great qualities that he has. But some simple things that we can do right now.

Q. Re: matchup problems vs. Missouri

COACH STOOPS: Absolutely. I think even Coach (Gary) Pinkel I think said that after the game too. In the scheme of things there were a thousand different ways. Throw it up to the big guy who makes a great play, that’s good recruiting. And that’s taking nothing away (from Missouri), you know that, because they do a lot of good things and he has for a long time. Coach (Pinkel) has done a great job for a long time. But they are tough to match up with.

Q. How is your secondary? How banged up are you?

COACH STOOPS: We’re a little banged up. We’ll see how it goes this week.

Q. We asked you the other week, but do you know James Franklin?

COACH STOOPS: I’m not exactly sure. I haven’t followed him that well. I knew him a bit. We played each other a little when I was at Florida State and he was at Maryland, and he came here and they’ve done a great job. He’s got everybody buying in. He’s got a bunch of players that are playing very fundamentally sound and playing hard, and that’s a compliment to coaching.

Q. Re: Vanderbilt finding a way to win with 189 yards total offense

COACH STOOPS: Obviously, you’ve got a lot of toughness within your team if you can do that. And, obviously, the turnovers helped them a great deal, and that’s very good plays by them. And they set up two inside the 5, and one inside the 22.

Q. How are they doing that? Are they doing anything particular to create turnovers?

COACH STOOPS: Yeah, they just play hard and they play good. They really do. They do. If you watch the game, you could see the plays. One was a deflection off a wide receiver. The other ones were good plays.

Q. re: fan comments

COACH STOOPS: I catch my fair share, but I understand (laughter).

Q. When you hear things like, well, they’re throwing it in, when you’re not playing the way you want to play and you’re losing, what do you say to those fans?

COACH STOOPS: I don’t know. I can’t listen to that. I know our team’s not throwing in the towel. Just like I said, the long run afterwards most people say they ran up the middle. No, we just had a person out of the gap and a guy came down too aggressive to make a good play. Two guys are outside, nobody’s in the middle, you have an issue. Our backside safety got cut off by the official, and it’s gone. That looks bad. I understand that. But that’s not it.
Do I think we can play harder? Yes. Do I think we can play smarter? Yes. Do I think we can coach better? Yes. I understand all of that. But definitely this team is not cashing it in. We’re not perfect. We’re playing the best guys we can to help us win. Believe me, we understand the seriousness of having a successful football program, and we’ll play anybody we can that can help us win.

Q. Vandy could become bowl eligible Saturday. You guys could stop that.

COACH STOOPS: That means nothing to me. Whatever motivates our kids, fine, but that won’t be something I talk about. That means nothing to me. If that’s good for us to stop them from going to a bowl game, I mean, we need the win for us, for our fans, for all the things we’re talking about. For our people and our kids and our program. That’s motivation enough for me.