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Mark Stoops was the defensive coordinator at Florida State before he came to Kentucky as head coach.
This season 12 of the other 15 SEC head coaches have offensive backgrounds.
“I think it’s challenging in this league and in any league as a defensive head coach or defensive coordinator in general. Offenses are so creative. The speed at which they operate sometimes, the players that they have, the athletes, it’s a challenge. It’s different,” Stoops said at SEC Media Days.
“I always prided myself on being a great DB coach first and then translating and being a defensive coordinator, but it’s different. I’ve been a head coach for 12 years. Offenses are different than when I was a defensive coordinator.”
Stoops admitted there is a “lot going on” with SEC offenses that make it difficult to defend.
“Lot of misdirection, a lot of skill. It’s a great challenge,” he said. “We’re grinding away and trying to be the best.
“I think obviously (former Alabama) Coach (Nick) Saban left a pretty good example, and (Georgia coach) Kirby (Smart) is not doing too bad, either.”
One Response
When Mark Stoops came to Kentucky he was considered a defensive mastermind. What he has done since he’s been the coach of Kentucky has proved that. This year with a balanced defense and a ton of experience you will see why people make that claim. The defense he runs you have to have real athletes. In years past we’ve either had a solid front or a solid secondary. This year we will have both and you will see what Stoops does when he has a defense that can actually run his defense coherently. Everyone gets mad including me because we don’t rush enough guys at the quarterback. We really haven’t had the secondary to be able to do that the last couple of years. Our secondary actually has depth for the first time in many years. I think we will have the best run defense in the SEC this year. I think we will also have a top 5 pass defense. We should get off the field on 3rd down more this year which will give the defensive guys a rest. The offense will be much better this year as well which will also give the defense a break. If we can average 30 or more points per game, I think that will be enough to get us to 10 wins.