Jon Sumrall says Mark Stoops, above, would give you the shirt off his back. (UK Athletics Photo)
One constant during Mark Stoops’ tenure at Kentucky has been the way his assistant coaches have always praised him.
I go back to former offensive coordinator Neal Brown appreciating the way Stoops liked to have family dinners after practice to make sure his assistant coaches’ wives and children were included.
Assistants who have left Kentucky — even for better jobs — have almost always had high praise for Stoops other than offensive line coach Eric Wolford who jumped ship after one year without even saying farewell to his players so I don’t think he really counts.
Former UK linebackers coach Jon Sumrall, who left UK after last season to become head coach at Troy University, recently went on the Fringe Element podcast with Braden Gall and had a lot of praise for Stoops.
Sumrall, who coached in UK’s bowl win over Iowa after taking the Troy job, told an interesting story about how Stoops reacted last season when UT-Chattanooga gave the Wildcats a real scare in Lexington.
“We won the game, but we didn’t play our best. We finished the year 10-3 and you look back at that game, that could have been a bad loss,” Sumrall told Gall.
Bad loss? It would have wrecked what turned out to be a 10-3 season.
“After that game, he was like, ‘Hey, we’ll deal with it tomorrow. Bring your kids to the pool at my house tonight.’ I think the thing that gets lost about Mark, he’s a caring person,” Sumrall said.
“He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He does more for people in regards to just being selfless and authentic and so genuine. He is a loving and kind dude for the people who are around him.
“Just a quality guy but he likes to have a good time. He likes to unwind and he’s fun to be around and he’s fun to coach for.”
Stoops has had two 10-win seasons in four years — something UK had done only twice in the previous 100 years. The Cats have been to six straight bowl games, including last year’s Citrus Bowl win over Iowa, and won their last four bowl games.
Stoops has 59 wins at Kentucky — just one short of the school record set by coach Bear Bryant.
But Sumrall made sure to explain to Gall that Stoops enjoys what he’s doing, including having a celebratory bourbon and smoking cigars.
“In 2020, we beat Tennessee at Tennessee, and we’re on the team bus and probably doing some things the administration didn’t want us to do near the bus,” Sumrall said. “Mark likes to have a good time. On game day, he’s as intense as they get. I’m probably similar in that regard.”
