A few days away from March 1, most of Big Blue Nation’s attention is on the Kentucky basketball team’s postseason aspirations. While Mark Pope is gearing up for the most critical part of the season, Mark Stoops is laying the foundation for a rebuild of the Kentucky football program.

Stoops spoke with the media for the first time since his program added 31 new players for the spring semester. He spent 30 minutes taking questions before the media received an hour of access with the players. There’s a lot to chew on, with interviews and stories to be rolled out in the coming days and weeks. He revealed there will be some form of a spring game and talked a little bit about Tru Edwards’ eligibility, but there are a few more high points we need to share right now. Do me a favor and stick around until the end.

Kentucky is “on tilt” this offseason

There’s a sense of urgency within the Kentucky football program and they aren’t playing a game for six months. Mark Stoops said all of the right things to shoulder responsibility for what’s gone wrong. Now he’s focused on the future, and there’s no time to waste.

“There’s so much to do, but that’s good. That gives us a bunch of juice, a bunch of energy that there’s so much to do today…. Let’s be on tilt today. Let’s be fourth and one today and really ramp up the intensity because it can be overwhelming of what all needs to be done.” He added, “Let’s have that motivation day-to-day and I feel that in the building.”

Kentucky needs to be a more physical football team. You can’t do that with just lip service. Stoops is amplifying the intensity in spring practice to make sure his players know what he expects from them in the fall.

“We’re going to get back to being who we are. We’re going to be fundamentally good and tough and play the game the right way and we’re going to be physical. It starts [in practice],” Stoops said.

Kentucky is OLD

When Josh Braun‘s 2025 season ends, he will have played a football game at every stadium in the SEC*, aside from the Big 12 teams who joined last fall. He is a married man who will be in his third year as a starter in the SEC. He’s not the only vet on the rebuilt offensive line with multiple years of college football experience.

“If you look at them, they’re grown men. They’re people that have 2-3 degrees. There are people that are married. They’re very serious about what they’re doing. I think they’re just an impressive group,” Mark Stoops said.

Career starts isn’t just a stat on a piece of paper. You can feel the maturity when you speak with these men. When I asked Zach Calzada what he learned most at Incarnate Word, he said, “I think my development as a man and as a leader has been the most important thing.”

An incoming freshman might talk about lofty NFL goals. These guys are all about business between the ears. Kentucky needs that to be reflected in their play on the field.

*I asked Braun his favorite SEC venues, outside of the teams he’s played for, and it was not Alabama or LSU. Those places were big, but he gives South Carolina and Tennessee the nod for best environments.

Shiyazh Pete is an Interesting Cat

Speaking of maturity, the left tackle from New Mexico State doesn’t talk like a college football player. Shiyazh Pete described Mark Stoops as a “statesman” because he means what he says. When was the last time you heard somebody describe another as a statesman?

It was just a brief conversation, albeit an enlightening one that Jacob Polacheck went into detail on KSR+. I left the Kentucky football media day wanting to spend an extended amount of time just talking to Pete. He’s a fascinating individual.

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Two Freshmen are Future Starters at Kentucky

Darrin Strey did not look like a guy who should be finishing his senior year in high school. Don’t try to come into a handshake with Strey like a wet fish, or his big ‘ol mitts will smash your phalanges into a thousand pieces. This is a kid who gets fired up just talking about physical football in the trenches. His size, athleticism, and passion are putting him on the right track to be an impact player down the road.

You probably won’t have to wait as long to see Martels Carter on the field in a Kentucky uniform. He’s got the physical tools to make plays in the secondary this fall. Carter also has the mentality needed to succeed early. When Luckett asked him if he’s had a “Welcome to the SEC moment,” yet, Carter was taken aback by the question. “Naw,” he paused. “I’m kind of different.”

No Revenue Sharing/NIL Concerns for Kentucky

Players are being paid to play college football. Right now, the money comes from NIL collectives. Although collectives will not be going anywhere, that money will soon be coming directly from the school. Here’s the catch: the judge has not yet approved the House settlement that would require schools to pay in the neighborhood of $20 million annually to athletes. That uncertainty could be an issue, but Stoops and Co. were able to financially navigate free agency without relying on revenue sharing dollars.

“We worked off what we knew we could do for this year. I think all coaches would like to know and have our rosters pretty stable from year to year. That’s what we were able to do. We will adapt. We were in position to operate on this year,” Stoops said.

“We know the revenue share would kick in, should the judge approve it, it would kick in in July, but that’s all a part of the contracts that we already negotiated with them.”

Roush’s Read: This Felt Like Old Mark Stoops

How many times did you hear Mark Stoops complain about NIL last year? If he wasn’t mad about fundraising, he would preface statements with, “I don’t want to make a headline.” He wasn’t the Mark Stoops Big Blue Nation fell in love with, the guy who had an edge and was ready to fight whenever he was backed into a corner.

Stoops took his bullets today and admitted his faults. At times, the big-picture changes were too overwhelming. He focused on that, more than the task at hand. It feels like he has a grip on what the organization needs to accomplish long-term and he has a plan that he can execute on a day-to-day basis.

He spoke to the media on the edge of his seat. It feels like the Old Mark Stoops is back. He got backed into a corner, and now he’s ready to fight his way out.