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UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 13, 2013Mark StoopsCOACH STOOPS: Thought it was a great night for the program. Really appreciate the fan support, just an unbelievable atmosphere. I thought the players played hard. Made some mistakes, but overall, pretty clean game. So, very excited. Q. Did anyone stick out to you? COACH STOOPS: Jalen did a nice job, he has that dimension to run the football and pull it down when something is not there and create, so he did. He did a nice job tonight. I was impressed with the way Jalen played. Q. I know you knew the numbers have been distributed and hoped it would be higher, but when you come through that catwalk and see that many people what does that tell you? COACH STOOPS: I was amazed.  You felt that, you heard these numbers for the past couple weeks, and you know, you never know who is going to show up. I was just‑‑ it was overwhelming. It was fantastic. Our players really felt that, the energy of the catwalk. And just to see the stadium and they were energetic and into the game, it was a great feeling. So it really helps. It will help our program. Q. They couldn't get many sacks‑‑ looks like you have something from the two ends, what did you see from those two guys? COACH STOOPS: Yeah, I thought so, as well, it was a live game and we were live on the quarterbacks, I think they could have created some havoc. I thought they did a nice job, they are very active and have been very solid all spring. Q. If you're going to have one solid building block up front‑‑ COACH STOOPS: Absolutely, I do, I think you have to be physical up front on both sides of the ball. Been very pleased with both lines. You know, we know we need to get bigger and stronger, but that is a good foundation. I thought with Misterinside. He's very unselfish and you need to be very unselfish as an interior defensive lineman. So Misterdoesn't get a lot of credit but he's very solid inside. Q. What does that do? COACH STOOPS: It does an awful lot, because if you can get some pressure with four guys, then you can put another guy in the coverage. So that's a big part of it and also in the run game, if you can learn to play the run game without numbers all the time, then that helps your defense, as well. Q. What about the other quarterbacks? COACH STOOPS: Yeah, I thought we were solid again. You know, I have to go back and look at the film. It was really hard for me to tell but I thought each of them had their moments and were consistent. We need more playmakers around them, and so it's not always on the quarterbacks. It's on the other ten guys that are out there playing with them. Q. Talking about Josh Clemons. COACH STOOPS: He's done a nice job. He's been very solid and he's going to have a nice little wrinkle for us. Q. How representative was the performance we saw tonight of the spring as a whole? COACH STOOPS: Well, I don't think you saw our offense at its full strength. We are not‑‑ as you split the teams, you water it down a little bit. Our tempo wasn't what it has been. And I think part of that is just numbers and being thin when we split up the teams. But when we get everybody together and get a full complement of players on the offensive side, they can mix up their personnels better and play at a higher tempo. So we weren't as fast as we normally were. Q. Inaudible? COACH STOOPS: Yeah, I was pleased, I've been pleased with Ashley. He's coming along. I was standing back there in the secondary, saw him and just watching him and I like the way he's moving around and he's getting better each and every day. Q. The playmakers you're talking about, having to get better‑‑ COACH STOOPS: Well, it's both, it's both. We are going to work hard to get better with the guys that are here. And our incoming guys are going to help, as well, but no, our players will get better. They will continue to get better. They have gotten better and we need them to get better. Q. What was the night like for you, just your first night as head coach, what did that feel like? COACH STOOPS: It took me a few series. I didn't know what to do there for a while, I was just watching both sides. I couldn't figure out my headset going from offense to defense and all that. I have to get used to that. Somebody gave me a little lesson before we went out there. Once I figured out the head set I was able to listen to both sides, so that worked out pretty good (Laughter). No, I was very pleased. Again, you know, great coaches, and we try to be very organized, have good plan for what we're doing. I just wanted to see the overall operation. I did not want to see sloppy football. And it wasn't exactly always pretty, but for the most part, I was very pleased with the way that the game went and the flow of the game and just with the calls with the substitutions, just not too many penalties. I believe only one turnover. So overall, I was pleased. Q. The recruits, what do you think they will take away? COACH STOOPS: Well, I think, I hope they just enjoyed that experience. I just visited with quite a few of them, and you know, I hope they see the passion of this state; they see the passion of the people here, and they see a great group of guys in our locker room, both players and coaches that are going to work extremely hard to get this program turned in the right direction. Q. What does it take‑‑ inaudible. COACH STOOPS: It's remarkable, it really is. I've said it a few times, but again, I really thank them for their support and their belief and their passion for this program. It's tremendous. It does nothing but help us, and it also, you know, makes us want to do better. As players and coaches, we feel that passion and energy and we want to deliver. Nobody wants it more than that group of guys down there in the locker room, so we want to get this done and deliver for this state because we deserve to have a great program. Q. How much do you put‑‑ how much is tonight an evaluation‑‑ COACH STOOPS: No, it does, it weighs in more, because you know, under the lights, in a game setting, we want to see how they respond, how they play, and so you need those playmakers to make plays when the lights come on. Q. When you deal with your staff to start planning for the fall, are there going to be one or two things, what you've seen in the spring‑‑ where you say, we have to really focus or zero in on one or two things? COACH STOOPS: Yes, we have a good idea of who we are right now and we have to adapt to that, on both sides of the ball, to put our players in a position to be successful. Obviously in the fall, we'll come back and hopefully our players are working extremely hard and our newcomers come in and can help. We have quite a few practices before our first game there. Yeah, we'll go back and look at the spring and as a staff, we need to‑‑ we are going to stay on track. We are going to do what we do, but we also have to tailor that to our players. Q. Tweaking scheme‑‑ COACH STOOPS: Correct. Q. Any specific change has to happen between now and September? COACH STOOPS: Oh, we've got an awful lot of work to do. There's a lot of things we need to do, and we will. We will change significantly. Our players will get quite a bit of work in this summer. They need to do a lot of work on their own, because we can't work with them to a certain extent. So with the football end of it, they are going to have to do a lot of work and we are going to have to have great leadership. With the strength and conditioning, we have a great plan of seeing our guys get bigger and stronger between now and the fall. Q. What do you want to see from the quarterbacks? COACH STOOPS: They have got to work and they have got to get with the receivers and we have got to get on the same page and they have got to be leaders on the field. Q. You worked with them last season‑‑ but in here with us, he was a much different guy last fall, he spoke differently and sounded like a guy who is confident‑‑ said Peyton Manning carried himself‑‑ inaudible. COACH STOOPS: Great comment, he's right. I want our guys to feel good about ourselves, but it can't be fake. I haven't seen that from him or any of our other players this year. Our guys have been‑‑ they have been humbled, as you know. They know we have a lot to do, and they know we are going to work hard to get better. Q. The confidence‑‑ COACH STOOPS: Yeah, I think he's earned the right to feel good about himself and get to a starting point of where we have a foundation of where we're at and where we're going to go. Q. Do you feel that the‑‑ inaudible. COACH STOOPS: Yeah, I guess so. I want them more hungry to be honest with you but they are good kids. Again, I talked to y'all several times throughout spring and talked about how they were feeling their way through things and trying to get a grasp of the offense or defense or special teams and just getting a feel. I felt as spring was going on, practice on11, 12, 13‑‑ I started seeing guys step up, little by little and gain more confidence. So that helps. Q. You say you have a sense of who and what your team is‑‑ COACH STOOPS: Oh, we're a team that's just getting a foundation of who we are. So we know we have got a long way to go. But they have got the right attitudes and we have a coaching staff that has a great plan and has coached and been around a lot of successful people. We have got a long way to go. Q. Creating leaders on the field‑‑ has that happened and if so, who are some of those players? COACH STOOPS: Some leadership has emerged. I think guys like Ashley, guys like Avery, they have stepped up. Jalen, at times; Raymond Sanders, even though he's a quiet guy at times, he plays big. So we're getting some. Q. When you got here, did it feel like what it felt like‑‑ inaudible. COACH STOOPS: Yeah, certainly. I got to Florida State and Arizona, they were very similar. So I hope we can make the improvement that we did there. Obviously players will help. I think just continue to grind, bigger, stronger players we need to recruit, but we need to continue to work with these players and put them in a position to be successful. That's been my motto since I've been here. It's our job to put them in a position to be successful and get them to do things we need them to do. Q. When you were hired as head coach‑‑ recruiting and signing days and spring practice, what's next for you? COACH STOOPS: 2014 recruiting. We'll be on the road next week with a couple days to go out and do some junior college evaluations. Our staff will be‑‑ as you know the rules, they don't let the head coaches go out, but we will be getting all that information into our system and he rally situating so that coaches and myself that are off the road will be getting data and film and the names for 2014‑2015. So the next phase is spring recruiting will be coming up and obviously wrapping up this spring, having some player meetings and doing some evaluations with our players and sitting down and talking to them about the things, the areas that we expect them to improve before they show up in the fall. Q. Inaudible. COACH STOOPS: He did. You know what, this is the best he's played and that's good to see. Again with the fans out here and the media out here and all that, to see him step up and make some big catches was good to see. Q. Were there any other playmakers that really stood out to you? COACH STOOPS: Raymond's been solid all spring. He's just a really good back. Martin (ph) is a big, physical guy that can make some plays, as well. I think AJ had some good catches, as well. Cody Quinn I thought did a decent job at times covering. I talked about Za'Darius, but Avery and Ashley are some guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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