Whether he intended to or not, Kentucky tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow made a pretty loud statement by electing to stay at home in the Bluegrass rather than take a new job for a higher salary on Jim Harbaugh’s new staff at Michigan.

Marrow is widely considered one of the best recruiters in the nation, and if Kentucky’s 29th-rated recruiting class holds to form, it would be its third top 40 recruiting class in Marrow’s three years at the university. Michigan was never shy in admitting it wanted Marrow to help revamp its own recruiting efforts at the beginning of the Harbaugh era.

Instead, Marrow and Kentucky agreed to terms on a new three-year contract earlier this week, and on Wednesday he addressed the media for the first time since agreeing to the deal that will keep him in Kentucky for the coming years.

Here’s some of what Marrow had to say on Wednesday, according to Cats Pause (247) reporter Jon Hale:

Opening statement…

“… being a former professional athlete and a coach, you usually don’t like to see media, but I will say even you guys, in my short time here, it’s been a good relationship. And it was a lot of things about relationships that played a big part in this, of me staying.”

When asked how tempted he was to depart for Michigan…

“Michigan, being a Midwest guy, being from Ohio, it was very tempting. But it’s just my relationship here with the administration, with just our staff and even the kids I have coming in here, just the kids I recruited the last two years, played a big part in that. But really, like I tell parents, it was basically the community. I mean, the last three days, I couldn’t go anywhere without people saying something to me. We were in church and the guy doing the offering asked me, ‘What are you going to do?’ So that’s how deep it got. So relationships played a big part, just to be honest with you guys.”

When asked if his decision to stick with Kentucky over Michigan might influence future recruits to do the same…

“My focus is on Kentucky, but to be quite honest, me staying here should speak volumes in that. I know a lot of our recruits were very fired up, because for some reason they just assumed that I was gone. I told people it wasn’t a slam dunk. A lot of people were saying it was a situation that it was just a slam dunk that I was going. … You look at the stadium renovations, just the type of support we’ve been getting that last two years here, that’s always a big part – played a big part in it.”

When asked if the potential of his departure crushing Kentucky’s recruiting influenced his decision…

“… Coach (Mark) Stoops is a great leader. The class wasn’t going to fall apart. But I sure didn’t want to be a part of that. People were saying it was going to be devastation and all that. I mean, I don’t know that, but it did weigh on me. I mean, it’s a situation I wouldn’t wish on nobody. It was a couple — probably Saturday, Sunday I really didn’t get sleep, but I knew in my heart where I made my decision to go. It was mainly appreciative of people in the community here that reached out to me. You think coaches don’t – I’ll be on Twitter because I recruit on Twitter, and it was a lot of responses from people in the community that was hoping I would stay.”

When asked about Kentucky’s current recruiting…

“I can’t comment on that, but I can comment on just the direction we’re going. We’re gonna finish strong like we finished strong the last two years. We got a couple more slots we got to fill. It’s just a situation of where I know with me staying here, a lot of them guys were very fired up to see that. So we’ll see where we’re gonna finish out at. I feel pretty good where we’re finishing at, though. It’s gonna be pretty good.”

When asked if his return is vital to UK maintaining a recruiting pipeline in Ohio (Marrow’s home state)…

“It had to be important because some other schools wanted that part of Ohio too. So, Ohio signs about 147-150 DI guys a year. I think we’ve been signing like anywhere eight of the top 20. We’ve been way up. You see like ESPN noticed it, other major networks noticed it, the damage we’re doing in Ohio. But it’s always going to be a major part, just keeping that foothold there. I think I heard people say Michigan is going to hurt us in recruiting in Ohio. Well, we live for the battles for that, so I think we’re going to do fine in Ohio still.”

When asked if he’s formed a relationship with new OC Shannon Dawson and if Dawson can be an asset in recruiting…

“Yes, because we still try to keep the same type of offense. Shannon, I actually met him, I was working out over the holiday. Marc Hill (UK executive associate director of athletics) was bringing him in, and I think they were going over his contract. So I met him. I talked to him when he got hired and texted him. But meeting him in person, he’s very a personable guy, go-getter. He recruited some Ohio too. We actually went to battle on a lot of the kids in Ohio, so he’s happy to be on this side now. He’s going to be a great addition. Sharp guy, and I think you’re going to see a lot of more things in our offense. Same thing that (former OC) Neal (Brown) had here but a little bit more to it.”