Nashville, TN — University of Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops isn’t sugarcoating anything. As he enters his 13th season at the helm of the Wildcats, coming off a tough 4–8 year, Stoops delivered a raw, no-filter message at SEC Media Days that set the tone for the 2025 campaign.
“This sh*t’s hard,” Stoops said bluntly, as reported by On3’s Tyler Thompson. “You might as well go enjoy it, dive into it. There are a lot of people who can’t do it and didn’t do it for 12 years, didn’t do it for 13 years—not at Kentucky.”
It wasn’t just a soundbite. It was Stoops’ way of doubling down on the grind of building a sustainable winner in the country’s toughest football conference. The comment echoed like a challenge—one to himself, his staff, and the players.
