EKU Coach Walt Wells Appreciates how Gracious Mark Stoops has Been

Linebacker Trevin Wallace had seven tackles against Eastern Kentucky. (Vicky Graff Photo)

He praised Kentucky coach Mark Stoops all week and Eastern Kentucky coach Walt Wells certainly didn’t change his message after Saturday’s 28-17 loss at UK.

Wells was a quality control assistant on Stoops’ staff for two years at Kentucky. He also went into cardiac arrest at the EKU football offices about a year ago and had to be revived twice.

All that led to an emotional handshake and embrace by the two coaches/friends after the game.

“Mark’s gracious. He’s very complimentary as I was, we’re good friends and when he was just outside I told him I’ll see him in the basement here in a couple hours,” Wells said. “He’s just a really good, genuine person, and what you see is what you get with Mark.

“His comments I’ll always remember, and I hope he remembers the comments I made to him.”

Stoops told Wells he was not surprised his team bounced back from a lopsided loss at Cincinnati to open the season to push Kentucky until the end.

“That’s the team that I expect to play right there. And you have to earn it, you have to work and you have to beat them. They did a really nice job,” Stoops said.

Wells didn’t want any part of a “moral” victory for his team and program.

“I tell them that there is a standard we have to play with every week. Every week we want to get into the fourth quarter, and we did. We didn’t last week, we weren’t in the first quarter last week but this week we got into the fourth quarter, and if you give yourself a chance in the fourth quarter that’s all you can ask for in this game,” Wells said.

“Then you have to go out and continue to do the right things to make plays to win the game and you won’t be nervous, you’ll be trained to win the game you have to play to that high standard.”