Kentucky coach Mark Stoops with Kelly Craft after the Cats beat Auburn Saturday night.
She watched players in the locker room “jumping up and down” Saturday night celebrating Kentucky’s 10-3 win at Auburn, UK’s fist Southeastern Conference win this season and first in the last 11 games.
“I just basked in their glory. That is how(Kentucky coach) Mark (Stoops) handled it. It was all about the players. I cried myself. I couldn’t believe it and how happy they all were,” said Kentucky fan/booster Kelly Craft.
Normally Craft and her husband, Joe, don’t go to road games mainly because of her business and political travel schedule. However, they went to Auburn for one reason.
“Loyalty and support. That was it,” Craft said.
The Crafts know many Kentucky football fans are upset with Stoops, a man they consider a friend. They regularly go to his Monday night radio show no matter whether UK wins or loses to support him.
“He knows he can count on us for support and this was an opportunity for us to go,” Craft said. “We just felt with all the rhetoric and noise (about Stoops’ job security) to have somebody you know you can count on there. He knows he can count on us. Maybe it just made us feel better to be there to support him. We feel like he’s a member of our family.”
Craft saw the happiness UK players and coaches felt after beating Auburn. She was shocked when some Kentucky fans made it clear they wished UK had lost in hopes that might have led UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart to make a head coaching change.
“I don’t know why people would feel that way. They don’t know coach Stoops. It is a privilege to get to know someone’s heart beyond the score. We know him. This is not just about football, not just about the UK. It is about a man who loves who he is doing and loves helping young men,” Craft said.
Stoops appeared to be near tears during an interview with SEC Network sideline reporter Alyssa Lange before he left the field after the win.
“He had tears in his eyes. It was real,” Craft said. “It was like he had played every play. He may have not been out there physically but it is still exhausting for him. He puts his heart, mind and soul into each player. This is not just about a paycheck to him like some think. He wants players to know someone believes in them.
“I am probably more invested in the loyalty process because that is how we grew up. We still talk to Cal (former UK basketball coach John Calipari). All that noise about us (not getting along) with Cal is not true. That was just noise.”
She spent most of the game on the field instead of watching the game from a suite. She was on the field to hug and congratulate Stoops after the win and in the locker room to watch the postgame celebration.
“We went into the locker room and I felt like I had played the game, too,” she said. “It was that emotional. He wears his heart on his sleeve and was so emotional with those players.”
Craft liked Stoops’ postgame comment about how bad the Sunday after the loss to Tennessee was but on Monday he was “excited because of the new challenge and having to get his players” ready to play at Auburn.
“He knew he had a team to lead and didn’t have time to mope around,” Craft said. “He doesn’t have time to worry about what people are saying. He’s leading a team. If they (players) see he is down and out, they will not play with any energy.
“I think it is really important for people to understand that comment about how on Monday (after the Tennessee) loss he got up and looked forward to working with his team another week. You fall off the horse and you get back on. I know we (the football program) have fallen off, but he is just good people and we just wanted to be at Auburn to support him win or lose and show our loyalty.”
17 Responses
Loyalty, Friendship, and money can all be good things, but they never change whether or not a person is good at what they do or the best person for the job. Mark Stoops is loyal to UK and his UK players ONLY because UK is signing his check. He would be just as loyal to A&M and A&M players if things had worked out the way he wanted.
When your loyalty is bought and paid for, it is not loyalty, it is ownership and it means you are for sell to highest bidder because you are loyal to the money.
You are right OF. Stoops had his bags packed and was ready to go to A&M. He pouted about not getting that job last year and had a 4 win season. This year he is fuming about all of the fire Stoops talk, but he brought this on himself. If he wants BBN to get off of his ass, he needs to win 4 more games this season. Then he needs to solidify his team for 2026, starting with the better players he already has. Then work the portal for kids who want to be part of rebuilding this team versus kids who couldn't play anywhere else. Another 7 win season, counting a bowl win, would be enough to get BBN back on his side. He is being paid $9 million a year; anything less than a 7 win season is just unacceptable. He will have to do this against an improved SEC and an expanded 9 game SEC schedule + Louisville. He has his work cut out for him, but this is what is expected at Kentucky now. He had a hand in raising those expectations, so a 7 win season is the new floor for being Kentucky's head football coach.
We keep screwing around and we're not going to get Sumrall and we're going to lose Cutter.
Absolutely correct. Stoops lost some of the fan base when we were 5-0 2-0 in 2023 and he told the fanbase to pony up. Since that remark he has gone 9-19. Maybe he should pony up half of his check. Maybe the Crafts should donate more money. I work in a warehouse and make 20$ a hour how am I going to pony anything up?
The Florida game maybe the one weather Stoops stick around or not. But the way Mitch talked after the Auburn game I don't think He's going anywhere regardless what happens the rest of season unless the upper hand says otherwise. Just my opinion.
I am thinking like you Cats79
Cats79
I never really thought Stoops would be let go, no matter how the season turned out. Barnhart had a big hand in Stoops' situation with the way he handled NIL at the beginning and because of that, I could not see Barnhart holding Stoops 100% responsible for the situation.
I do hope Barnhart tells Stoops that Hamdan's contract will not be renewed very soon so Stoops can hire someone to pick an OC for him. Stoops just can't keep having this coaching carousel on the offensive side of the ball.
This coaching carousel is like a prom date.
All these schools want the big man on campus (Lane Kiffin) When they can't go to the prom with him they go for the nice guy that they can have a good time with. (Sumrall)
If your a real fan and you really know this roster you know that we are very young at all the key positions. Yes Stoops has done a terrible job the last 3 years. Any other SEC school including Vanderbilt he would be fired at the very least at the end of the year. If he can somehow get us a to a bowl game it will shut all that noise up because we were only picked to win 4 games this year. After we beat Tennessee tech we will have 4 wins. If we can sneak another win in I don't think he even gets fired if he wins 5 games. If he wins 4 games I think it's about a 50/50 chance he gets canned. Ive heard money mitch is set to retire soon. He could just be waiting for the next athletic director to fire him. Idk. I like Stoops and I hope he can take this team to a bowl game for his own sake. He's done a lot for the Kentucky program. I think with someone a little better we could have made a lot more noise but personally I like Stoops. I want him to succeed.
Personally I hope the Cats win out. I hope they win a bowl game. I hope they are able to keep the nucleus of the good young talent they have. I hope they kick ass next year. Sumrall is a not a slam dunk. It's not a guarantee.
That would be the best case scenario for Stoops and BBN.
I agree, Jimmy. I would love to see UK win out. The only thing I really want is for Stoops to recognize his own limitations (Offense, Clock Management, Team Prep, etc.) and hire the people that can help fix or mask those problems and let them do what they know how to do. The problem is Stoops evidently doesn't seem to think "He" has any shortcomings or he just doesn't know how to fix them. Look at the turn over at WR coach. He has had some good ones but they are good everywhere but at UK. OC has been a dumpster fire. OL coach has not had stability since Schlarmann. Stoops makes enough money to take a little pay cut and get people around him to help him.
I was at the game too! The atmosphere was just off the charts from the flying eagle to video boards to start of 4Q light show and fireworks, it was truly entertaining with the win too! We need to move in my opinion from Barnhart and not Stoops! With all the openings out there now the bidding war is about to start – can we afford to go down that path? Barnhart took the easy way, sign Stoops to 9mil contract and dust hands on helping football 🏈 program with extra NIL $$ and helping to make Kroger Field a tough place for opposing teams to play! Stoops is a football man who just needs some help on the offensive side of ball. With our young QB and young receivers seems he could find a OC who would love to come coach and teach our young QB! In my opinion UK can now forget getting Jon Sumerall since he is from Al and his wife graduated from Auburn! BTW the buyout to get rid of Auburn coach was like 19mil! Would we really want Barnhart hiring a new football coach? It would cost 38mil to move out Stoops and Auburn only spends 19mil to fire their coach🤷♂️! Barnhart needs to go in my humble opinion!
FSU coach took a $1M per year pay reduction and those monies are to be used for player recruitment and retention. That should be on Coach Stoops agenda if he REALLY wanted to keep his job. God knows a 12% pay reduction isn’t too much to ask based on what he makes 🤷♂️.
This is nauseating. Now it all makes sense. Stoops has been kissing the backsides of the billionaire and his wife who own UK athletics for years! Now we understand why Stoops and Sonofamitch are so defiant in their own failure. Kelly Craft seems about as objective as a grandmother speaking of her grandson. How in the hell does a program move forward when the people who fund the operation talk about failures in terms of feelings? This woman doesn't know a football from a watermelon and what's worse, she doesn't care! After All, Little Marky Is FAMILY! Good grief, Charlie Brown, UK Football is COOKED!
IMO two things are true. 1. We are not going to get Sumrall, regardless; and 2. Stoops isn't going anywhere.
Makes economic sense to me as she and Joe would more than likely be funding the buy out. I’d hug him too for around $20M.