A Super Talked Talk Mississippi Media Production.

This is another one of those interviews of a guy I would probably talk to three times this year, but

this will be the only time because Mississippi State and

Kentucky no longer on the schedule but John Hale joins us he's been on us with us many

many times from the Lexington Herald leader and John Mark Mark Stoop's, 10 wins two or three seasons ago, follows it up with back to back

seven and six seasons, disappointing seasons, I would guess. I don't think that he's on the hot seat by any stretch of the imagination because of what he's done with that program, but what's the temperature in the room on Mark Stoop's going into this season?

I think it's a huge off-seat. I think it's arguably the most important

off-season he's had at Kentucky since those early years when he was trying to

build this thing from the basement of the SEC. It's going to tell us a lot the way the next you know six

months 12 months play out what Kentucky's realistic ceiling is in the new look

SEC with Texas and Oklahoma and no divisions because like you mentioned it felt like they had reached this new high and then taken two steps back the last two years.

I mean he got and the latest contract extension he got was in the middle of that

2022 season and literally the next day after they signed that contract they

went out and lost to Vanderbilt snapping Vanderbilt's really long SEC losing streak.

And they're, I think they're a game over 500 since he signed that contract extension.

It's just not what the standard he had set or what fans have come to expect have been.

And so now the question is can you rebuild, can you use the transfer portal, can you take advantage

of these new roster building mechanisms in college football to get Kentucky to a spot where you can contend for an expanded

playoff. That should be the standard now. They were right on the verge of that in 2018 and 2021.

Now can they do that again?

And if not, if they're still hovering around this 7 and 5

kind of regular season record,

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