When debating the idea of whether Mark Stoops would ever be tempted to leave Kentucky for some college football power, the argument goes that at his current pace, one day UK might build a statue in Stoops’ honor.
Build it now.
That’s what I say. Don’t wait. Strike while the iron is hot. After all, the 55-year-old Stoops just passed the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant as the all-time winningest coach in Kentucky football history, thanks to the Wildcats’ 26-16 victory over the Florida Gators last Saturday. Now the longest-tenured football coach in UK history, Stoops is 61-53 in his 10 seasons in Lexington.
Let’s review: Under Stoops, Kentucky won 10 games in 2018 — its first 10-win season since 1977 — then duplicated the feat in 2021. Also in 2018, it posted a winning SEC record for the first time since 1977, then repeated it in 2021. Six straight bowl berths. Four straight bowl victories. No. 9 Kentucky is ranked in the AP top 10 for the first time since 2007.
Additionally, UK defeated Tennessee in Knoxville for the first time since 1984. It beat Florida in Gainesville for the first time since 1979. After losing 31 straight games to the Gators, it has now won three of the last five. That alone makes Stoops statue-worthy.
And I’m all for statues. Take a tour of the SEC and you’ll find bronze likenesses of Bryant and Nick Saban at Alabama; Vince Dooley at Georgia; Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson and Cam Newton at Auburn; Robert Neyland at Tennessee. Outside Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville are statues of Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow, an attraction so popular you can barely make your way through the crowd snapping or posing for pictures.
Up the road, Louisville has commissioned the building of a Lamar Jackson statue to go along with the one already standing of Johnny Unitas.
Kentucky has cool and meaningful statues outside Kroger Field recognizing four former Wildcats in Wilbur Hackett, Houston Hogg, Nate Northington and Greg Page, all Blacks who helped break the color barrier in the SEC.
There’s plenty of room for more, however. Were I on the nominating committee, I’d lobby hard for statues of Babe Parilli from the 1951 Sugar Bowl champions; Art Still or Derrick Ramsey (or both) from the 1977 team; Tim Couch of the 1998 Outback Bowl team and Josh Allen, star of that 2018 Citrus Bowl-winning team.
(By the way, there should be a whole collection of UK basketball statues outside and inside both Rupp Arena and Memorial Coliseum.)
I know, none of those players won the Heisman Trophy or a national championship. They still should be celebrated for their significant accomplishments to the history of Kentucky football.
The same goes for Stoops. Cynics might point out that 61 wins pales in comparison to Bryant’s 208 at Alabama, or Bo Schembechler’s 194 at Michigan or Bobby Bowden’s 304 at Florida State, just three of dozens of coaches who are celebrated with statues outside their respective home stadiums. That argument lacks context, however.
From the time Bryant left Kentucky in 1953 to the time Stoops arrived in 2013, a total of 10 Kentucky coaches tried and failed to reach 61 wins. We’re talking Blanton Collier, Charlie Bradshaw, John Ray, Fran Curci, Jerry Claiborne, Bill Curry, Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips. What they could not do — or stopped short of doing — Stoops did.
He isn’t done yet, and you never know what will happen down the road. I don’t own a crystal ball. Look at Penn State, which erected a statue to Joe Paterno when the legendary coach was still guiding the Nittany Lions, only to remove the statue in the dead of night when Paterno became embroiled in scandal. Things change.
That’s not a valid reason for Kentucky not to honor Stoops, the program’s all-time winningest coach. In fact, it might be harder for Stoops to leave a place that displays a sculpture in his honor.
So build the statue. Build it now. There’s no time like the present.
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