Kirby Smart believes Mark Stoops has done remarkable job at Kentucky

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Georgia coach Kirby Smart says Mark Stoops has built his program at UK by being solid in recruiting, organization and development. (UK Athletics Photo)

Mark Stoops says he has a “good relationship” with Georgia coach Kirby Smart and thinks a lot of him as a coach.

“I like his personality and he is a fun guy to be around, but it is not like we are besties or anything like that,” said the Kentucky coach.

The two coaches will be on opposite sidelines again Saturday afternoon when No. 11 UK plays at No. 1 Georgia on CBS-TV.

The two might not be “besties” but Smart certainly was showing love for Stoops and the Cats Monday.

“I think when you look at what coach Stoops has been able to do, it’s pretty remarkable,” Smart said. “First off, he’s a really good football coach. I’ve known him a long time. Recruited against him. We went head-to-head on a lot of recruits back when he was Florida State’s defensive coordinator and I was at Alabama.

“He is a tremendous coach. A tremendous builder of men. To see what he’s done with the consistency which they perform at such a high level. I say it all the time, to be a good football coach you have to have all of the phases. The recruiting phase, the organizational phase, the development phase, the three phases – offense, defense, and special teams, and they are really incredible at all three.

“They have a great system set up that they recruit to. They develop guys. It seems like every year you are talking about their defense, and they are doing a tremendous job offensively this year, as well. The quarterback and transfers they have gotten have really added juice to their offense, and they have a great special teams unit as well.”

“The challenge ahead is for us. I think our kids embrace that. It seems like each week, the last three, four, five weeks, we’ve had big games and we have another opportunity. That’s why you come to the SEC. To play in big games.”

Smart is not worried about his players being distracted by the No. 1 ranking Georgia inherited after Alabama’s loss at Texas A&M.

“It’s just a number, right? I don’t see a plateau. The goal is to be number one at the end of the season. You always know that,” Smart said. “Everybody’s goal is there, but to have an opportunity to do that you have to be in the top four (in the playoffs).

“That’s the most critical part. We won’t get caught up in that and let you guys write about it. That’s not a burden we carry. The burden we carry is how we play.”

4 Responses

  1. The thing I’m worry about he be a sought after coach when the season ends. I just don’t vision him leaving though. If I’m correct he needs 5 more wins to top Bear Bryant to be all time winning coach at UK.

  2. I think he really loves UK. Hes built this program from scratch, its exactly the way he’s invisioned it to be at this point. I give UK credit for giving him the reigns to do what he needed to do to put UK football on the map. This program is his, and he gets paid well for what he’s done and he deserves every penny. Why would he leave it to go somewhere that he’d have to build again? No matter the prestige of the program he’d still have to recruit and make the team his way. I think he’s a very loyal coach who is proud of what he’s done with our football program and in my opinion I see him staying at UK his whole career! The sky is the limit here at UK and he’s gonna keep building and building till UK will not only be a basketball school but also known for its football just as much. We’ll be a top ten team every year before long and i can see us winning a national title in the near future. Maybe even this year ! If we can pull the upset of Georgia we’ll be in the driver seat. He’s been an awesome coach and I can’t wait to watch us grow and grow every year! Go big blue!

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