SEC Media Days: Oklahoma Always Holds a 'Special Place' in Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops' Heart

The Wildcats' head coach is now the elder statesman among all coaches in the Southeastern Conference.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops / John E. Hoover / Sooners on SI

DALLAS — From afar, Mark Stoops has had a deep appreciation for everything Brent Venables has accomplished as a college football coach.

But not too afar.

“Brent was almost like a, I don't want to say a brother or cousin or whatever, but he was very close to the Stoops family for sure,” Stoops said Thursday at SEC Media Days at the Omni Hotel.

Stoops, the elder statesman among Southeastern Conference coaches going into his 12th season, wrapped up the week-long festivities unofficially kicking off the 2024 college football season as the 16th coach to speak to the media.

After three losing seasons to start his tenure in Lexington, Stoops’ teams have posted a winning record in seven of the last eight seasons, including 10-3 in 2018 and 2021.

Stoops pointed out that eight college football programs have played in eight consecutive bowl games, and the Wildcats are one of them.

“That’s not nothing,” Stoops said, “but we want to improve.”

UK was 7-6 in each of the last two seasons, which they’ve done four times under Stoops. That may be good for Big Blue Nation football fans, who are used to championships in basketball and excuses in football. But it’s certainly not the Stoops standard.

“We just want more,” Mark Stoops said. “Where we’re at, the margin for error, we have to make the best of every situation.

“I’m not interested in just existing. We want to find a way to improve, use these rules, whatever it is, to make changes and get to the next level.” 

That’s what Bob did in 18 seasons at Oklahoma, winning more games than any other coach — 190 total, to go with a national title, loads of conference titles and bowl trophies and a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.

The fact that Oklahoma’s reins have been passed to Venables is not lost on Mark Stoops, the youngest of four Stoops brothers who followed their father’s footsteps into coaching. 

“(Venables) played at Kansas State with Bob, and then (we) watched him get into the profession, and both Bob and Mike had a lot of confidence in him,” Mark Stoops said. 

“They gave him some opportunities in coaching early because he earned them, and they believed in him and obviously he's produced. 

“So I just think from afar, you know, myself, I have great admiration for what he's doing and certainly proud that he's taken over Oklahoma and doing such a great job. Because you know, the Sooners will always have a special place in all of our hearts for the time and effort that Bob and Mike both put in there, and our family rooting for him for so many years — and Brent’s gonna do a great job there. So it's just fun to have somebody you know and care about still in that position.”

Stoops reiterated that having both Oklahoma and Texas in the SEC makes a hard job even harder. 

“Obviously with Oklahoma and Texas joining our great conference, it just makes it that much stronger,” he said. “But it's kind of interesting for me because as I go to the SEC meetings or we're down in Destin, spend some time and you run into so many good friends, so many good people, I'm so familiar with both Texas and Oklahoma. You know, obviously with OU, Brent Venables, I have known Brent since he played, his first year coaching and worked with my brothers, and been very close to Brent for a long time. And Joe Castiglione and even the president, Joe Harroz, he’s very close with Bob. 

“And then you go over to Texas, even Sark (Steve Sarkisian), I go back to competing against each other way back when we're … playing out West and that was at Arizona, he was at USC and Washington, and crossed paths many times. And you know, (athletic director) Chris del Conte at Texas, who was with us at Arizona. So there's just so many good friendships.

“We welcome Oklahoma (and) Texas, and (that) makes us that much stronger. And you know, it's difficult — but we embrace that.”