Mark Stoops confirms former Kentucky starter took big money offer to transfer

The transfer portal has undoubtedly changed college football in a myriad of ways. The Kentucky Wildcats are no exception, as they have benefited mostly from the additions rather than the subtractions. In fact, that was head coach Mark Stoops' point when asked about the transfer portal. He mentioned that Kentucky has only lost one starter to the portal, and it was relatively mutual.

His exact quote was, "We've lost one portal starter, and that was kind of mutual. He was offered a lot of money, and I said, 'You ought to go take that.' I felt like it was a position where we had some depth. We've been fortunate."

The biggest question became, who? Only one player seems to fit all those criteria, and it's Justin Rogers, who transferred to Auburn in 2023. He was a star and a starter along the defensive line. There were always rumors that Rogers was offered a lot of money to come to Auburn, and this basically confirms it.

Mark Stoops most often participates in "coach speak," in which he says the same things over and over and never reveals too much. However, this press conference was relatively uncuffed. He not only named his starting quarterback but also said this revealing quote about the transfer portal. He even called out Auburn for swooping in and taking a player with a boatload of money. While that wasn't his intent, that is a reality of what he's mentioning.

His intent was to talk about how he has an opportunity to get this roster "fixed" and that they are going to develop a plan to do it. They won't be sitting on their hands in this offseason, and he even mentioned that they have the NIL funds to do it. This is a far cry from his normal complaining about the NIL and the transfer portal.