Ad Disclosure
Kentucky is certainly a bigger basketball brand than it is a football brand at this stage, but the Wildcats football program is making progress under Mark Stoops.
Stoops is in his 9th year as Kentucky’s coach, and after compiling a 12-24 mark in his first 3 seasons, he is 39-26 since.
On Monday during his weekly press conference, Stoops again addressed something that he continues to see as a huge issue when it comes to Kentucky’s ceiling as a program, and that’s the lack of an adequate indoor practice facility.
“We need an indoor (facility). You can do the research on how many teams don’t have an indoor,” Stoops said.
Mark Stoops: "We need an indoor (facility). You can do the research on how many teams don't have an indoor." Said UK and Vandy are the only (I assume he means SEC) schools without a football-specific indoor facility.
— Derek Terry (@DerekSTerry) September 13, 2021
Stoops followed up with his own research, adding that Kentucky and Vanderbilt are the only 2 SEC programs without a 100-yard indoor facility.
* Asked about the fieldhouse, Stoops said “We need to address it.” Pauses. Laughs and notes that his assistant AD is in room. But says they need a new facility. Notes that UK and Vandy are the only two schools in the league that don’t have full 100-yard indoor field to work on
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) September 13, 2021
Will Stoops get what he believes he needs to help the Wildcats compete with the top teams in the SEC?
His superiors appear to be listening, as Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart recently said, “I want it as much (Stoops) does.”
The Wildcats will look to move to 3-0 on the season this Saturday at home against UT-Chattanooga.
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
