SEC PREVIEW KENTUCKY

Top 25 recruiting gives Stoops hope

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Thursday, July 17, 2014, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Thursday, July 17, 2014, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Mark Stoops' old team won the national championship last season while his new team lost all of its SEC games.

Kentucky went 0-8 in the SEC and 2-10 overall in his first season as a head coach. Florida State -- where he was defensive coordinator from 2010-2012 -- went 14-0 and beat Auburn in the final BCS national title game.

KENTUCKY SCHEDULE

DATE;OPPONENT

Aug. 30;Tennessee-Martin

Sept. 6;Ohio

*Sept. 13;at Florida

*Sept. 27;Vanderbilt

*Oct. 4;South Carolina

Oct. 11;Louisiana-Monroe

*Oct. 18;at LSU

*Oct. 25;Mississippi State

*Nov. 1;at Missouri

*Nov. 8;Georgia

*Nov. 15;at Tennessee

Nov. 29;at Louisville

*SEC game

Kentucky

at a glance

LAST SEASON 2-10, 0-8 (7th) in SEC East

COACH Mark Stoops (2-10 going into second season at Kentucky)

RETURNING STARTERS Offense 7, Defense 8, Specialty 1

KEY RETURNING PLAYERS DE Bud Dupree, DE Za’Darius Smith, OT Darrion Miller, WR Javess Blue.

SEC TITLE SCENARIO Kentucky takes a 16-game SEC losing streak into this season, so the Wildcats need to be focused on winning a conference game, not the title. Coach Mark Stoops and his assistants have recruited incredibly well given the program’s lack of success in recent years, but Kentucky is likely a couple of more recruiting classes away from being an SEC title contender.

Despite Florida State's success, Stoops said at SEC media days he had no regrets about taking the Kentucky job.

"I didn't miss being there, but I was very proud of Florida State," Stoops said. "I was very proud of the work that I put in there with Coach [Jimbo] Fisher, being on his staff from day one, laying the foundation, seeing the hard work that we put in to lay that foundation."

Stoops said he was too close to Florida State's players and coaches not to root for the Seminoles against Auburn.

"They're a special group," he said. "They paid the price."

Now, Stoops is trying to lay a foundation in Kentucky and he is off to a good start, signing a consensus top 25 recruiting class in 2014.

The recruiting success for a program with a combined 4-20 record the past two seasons -- the Wildcat also went 2-10 under Joker Phillips in 2012 -- earned Stoops a one-year contract extension through 2018 and a gradual raise in salary from $2.1 million this season to $2.65 million in 2018.

"The contract extension meant a lot to me because I think it shows the administration believes in the plan that we have in place and the work we've been doing," Stoops said.

Kentucky's recruiting class this year included 11 players from Ohio.

Stoops is from Youngstown, Ohio, and a big part of his plan for winning in the SEC is to recruit a state normally associated with the Big Ten.

"It only makes sense for us to go to Ohio with my ties, my roots, but also the proximity," Stoops said. "Southern Ohio, we're so close to. There are quality football players there."

Administrative support is evident beyond Stoops' contract extension and raise. A new football operations building is set to open in 2016 and Commonwealth Stadium in the midst of a $120 million renovation.

Fans also are buying in. Kentucky ranked 29th in attendance last season with an average of 59,472 -- an increase of 9,781 from 2012.

Stoops' first Kentucky recruiting class, which he only had a few weeks to put together, was ranked in the top 30.

"We're certainly recruiting at a very high level," Stoops said. "Now I think you're going to start to see the fruits of our labor when it comes to physical development.

"Our players have put in the time. Our training staff has done a great job getting them prepared. We're physically better. Hopefully, that will translate to more wins."

The Wildcats return 15 starters and have 36 players who have started at least one game, but Kentucky takes a 16-game SEC losing streak into the season.

So it's no surprise Kentucky was picked to finish seventh in the SEC East by voters at media days.

"That's always going to happen to Kentucky until we prove them wrong," senior defensive end Bud Dupree said. "Hopefully, this year, we'll build a foundation for the guys so they won't keep getting picked last."

Stoops said he's not concerned about preseason polls.

"We're worried about getting better," he said. "We're worried about putting our head down and going to work."

Dupree said the Wildcats have to "find something in yourself that's worth fighting for, that's worth playing for" to turn the program around.

"Every day I go out, I think about just being the best," he said. "I try to get everyone on my team to think about being the best."

Stoops said he understands going to a bowl game would be a major step for Kentucky, but he has higher aspirations than winning six games.

"I don't want to give up the other six," he said. "We're going out to compete, to win each and every game."

Sports on 07/28/2014

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