During his first news conference after the opening of college football’s early signing period, Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops joked(?) that his favorite Christmas movie is “The Grinch.” By the end of Thursday’s extended meeting with reporters — he spoke for nearly an hour — Stoops’ grin had grown three sizes.
Stoops stuck around longer than normal to field questions as he waited for the official word that Kiyaunta Goodwin, the gem of a 2022 class that ranks higher than any class in Kentucky football history, had submitted his letter of intent to play at UK. That happened at 1:52 p.m. Thursday.
“We’ve recruited and known Kiyaunta since he was in eighth grade,” Stoops said. “We’ve known him for a long time and built strong relationships with him and the people close to him. A terrific young man and unbelievable football player.”
Goodwin affirmed his commitment to the Wildcats late on Wednesday following a morning announcement that he was down to them and Michigan State, one of several suitors who fought late to flip him from Kentucky. The 6-foot-8, 340-pound offensive tackle is rated as the No. 1 player in the state of Indiana and as a top-five player at his position, nationally.
While technically an out-of-state signee based on where he played high school football, UK is grouping him alongside its four other recruits signed from within the commonwealth; Goodwin is a Louisville native and would have been the state’s top player had he not moved across the river to Charlestown, Ind. He was among several true freshmen whom Stoops believes could compete right away for playing time next season. Of the Cats’ 22 signees through Thursday, Goodwin is among 10 expected to enroll in January to get a head start on their college careers.
“Whenever we talk to anybody like that, when they say, ‘What’s my opportunity to come in and play as a freshman?’ Our answer is always, ‘That’s up to you,’” Stoops said. “I can’t determine the way somebody’s gonna pick things up, how fast it moves once they get here and everything. You have to go play and see. Athletically? It’s a no-brainer (with Goodwin). I also think he’s very mature in a lot of ways. … I know he likes to work. I know he trains hard and he’s very serious about his craft, so we’ll see where it goes.”
Goodwin’s commitment firmed up Kentucky’s class as a top-five finisher in the Southeastern Conference — it’d never climbed higher than ninth before this year — and a top-15 finisher in the country. Rivals as of Thursday had it ranked 10th, 247Sports had it 11th and On3 Sports had it 12th.
Big bye week
Stoops often demonstrates self-awareness, but perhaps never to a greater degree than on Thursday when he said the following:
“We all know I’m paid too much.”
That utterance was in response to a question about his contract extension with UK and, in the context of that, how vital expanding resources for his staff was to retaining him in Lexington. Paying — and increasing — staff was more important to Stoops than increasing his own salary, he indicated Thursday, as of which he had still not signed a formal amendment to his existing contract.
Talks about his own contract and growing the program — the minutiae of which also includes the promised renovation of UK’s current indoor football facility — were first held between Stoops and Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart during UK’s bye week, Stoops said Thursday.
“It was Mitch and I just simply having a conversation about what the expectations are, and if we’re truly going to go compete for the East, if we truly want to go win SEC championships, then are we truly going to continue to grow this program?” Stoops said. “It’s as simple as that. We all had a big commitment to do that. Once we agreed on those things and what you’re talking about, building out the program and the support (staff), then it was a done deal. It was over then.”
Stoops’ agent, Jimmy Sexton, is well-known across college football for securing lucrative deals for his clients. Stoops mentioned him during his news conference after noting that he and Barnhart have a “handshake agreement” due to Stoops’ comfort working alongside him after nine years.
“Now agents don’t like that, but I know the people I can trust,” Stoops said. “Jimmy is a big dog, but he still works for me. When people give me a handshake agreement, I trust our president and administration that it’ll get worked out.”
Coordinators
Stoops expects to go into 2022 with both his offensive and defensive coordinators still on board.
Defensive coordinator Brad White was reportedly offered the same role on Brian Kelly’s staff at LSU but opted to stay at UK. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen, in his first year at Kentucky, throughout the season was linked to other jobs — predominantly head coaching positions in his native New England — but hasn’t been tied to any openings lately.
Both were instrumental in helping UK lock down its recruiting class at the end; Coen, in particular, thrived after a few years removed from the college game. He was the lead recruiter on wide receiver Barion Brown, the Cats’ highest-ranked recruit after Goodwin.
“It’s actually surprised me in some ways, how good he’s been” Stoops said of Coen. “I think the relationship piece in coaching is at an all-time high. We’ve talked about that, whatever you want to call it, the ‘players coach,’ relating to the players, I think that’s at a premium. You never know when a guy comes from the NFL, how he’s gonna (handle that), but he relates very well to our current players and he does an exceptional job recruiting.”
Next game
No. 22 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Iowa
What: VRBO Citrus Bowl
When: Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Where: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
TV: ABC-36
Records: Kentucky 9-3, Iowa 10-3
Series: First meeting