Georgia head coach Kirby Smart considers Mark Stoops a close friend. "Mark’s one of my close friends... I text him all the time," Smart said Monday. He probably should have stopped right there, luckily for us he did not.
So, when asked about Stoops's tenure at Kentucky, Smart offered what started as high praise before taking a hilariously wrong turn into brutal honesty.
Kirby Smart speaks the truth, and that truth hurts Mark Stoops
“It’s really amazing what he’s done at Kentucky... he’s done some incredible things, broken some records up there, been extremely competitive in our league. That’s not necessarily by record, I mean it is by record sometimes, but the games that he’s been in and the way they’ve played is incredible," said Smart on Monday. The full press conference is available here.
You have to laugh. It's an amazing job... just don't look at the wins and losses. That single, awkward and brutal caveat, "not necessarily by record", perfectly sums up the Mark Stoops era: the feeling of competitiveness without the actual results to show for it. Hey we got close, that's pretty good, right? RIGHT?
Just how right was Kirby Smart though? Let's look at Stoops's all-time record against every SEC opponent.
Mark Stoops's SEC Record by Opponent:
- Alabama: 0-4
- Arkansas: 1-1
- Auburn: 0-3
- Florida: 3-9
- Georgia: 0-13
- LSU: 0-1
- Mississippi State: 5-7
- Missouri: 6-5
- Oklahoma: Has not played
- Ole Miss: 1-4
- South Carolina: 6-7
- Tennessee: 2-10
- Texas: 0-1
- Texas A&M: 0-1
- Vanderbilt: 7-4
(Note: Records are sourced from Winsipedia and do not include vacated games by Kentucky and other schools, reflecting only on-field results.)
The numbers are staggering. In 13 seasons, Mark Stoops holds a winning record against just three SEC teams: Missouri, Vanderbilt, and a .500 record against Arkansas. Against the conference's best teams you can see he really struggles.
Kirby Smart said it best. Stoops's teams play hard and are always physical. They feel competitive. But as the numbers show, being competitive and building a winning record are two very different things.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion