Centre College coach appreciates Mark Stoops being a football ambassador

Vicky Graff Photo

Centre College football coach Andy Frye was not looking at specific personnel pros and cons when Kentucky coach Mark Stoops let him and his staff visit practice recently.

“The thing I am looking for is how practice is being organized and then I watch how it is being managed and Kentucky does both things very well,” Stoops said. “We don’t have the same resources as Kentucky and they can set up drills with a lot more people participating and helping. I don’t have that many guys in a drill but there are still things I can learn.

“I always do a staff meeting after we get back from something like this and ask each coach to give me one or two takeaways of things they either learned or relearned by watching. Any time I go, if I get one thing new or that will help me, it is all worth the time to give our kids a better experience.”

Frye said football is a “fraternity” to where a Southeastern Conference coach like Stoops would invite a Division III program to attend his practice.

“We are one of the few professions that will just lay out everything on the table and tell how we do it and why,” Frye said. “Coaches like Stoops are very, very helpful about sharing information and how they do things.”

Frye understands the demands Stoops has on his time and appreciates what he did for the Centre staff.

“UK wants to be a good ambassador of the game of football,” Frye said. “He (Stoops) also wants to promote his program. He could be a schmuck and then what would I say about the UK program. He knows he is marketing UK football.

“After practice we went in and sat with the defensive coordinator (Brad White) and his staff. I sat in with the offensive line as the players watched film.”

Frye did not pay close attention to any particular player but transfer quarterback Devin Leary did catch his attention.

“The ball comes out of the quarterback’s hand fast. That struck me right away,” the Centre College coach said. “When he cocks his arm, it gets out fast. That’s important. Once he gets his reps in with this offense, he will be fine from what I could tell of him in the team period I watched.”