A Super 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 Stoops, 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 Stoops going into this season?

I think it's a huge off-season. 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 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

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