Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops on XFL: ‘We need that league to be successful.’
Five former University of Kentucky football stars — Jeff Badet, Farrington Huguenin, Jordan Jones, Austin MacGinnis and Jon Toth — were selected this week in the inaugural XFL Draft.
Two of those ex-Cats — Badet and MacGinnis — were drafted by the Dallas Renegades, for whom former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is the general manager and head coach.
Bob is also the brother of current UK skipper Mark Stoops. Did Bob solicit intel from his younger brother?
“You can see he listened to me,” Mark said with a laugh on Thursday. “I think it’s been a lot of fun for him and he’s definitely taken some guys he’s familiar with, and it’s been fun.”
The XFL — a new professional football league and a tamer revival of the former XFL that operated from 1999-2001 — is scheduled to begin its first season in February. Mark Stoops expressed excitement about being able to watch his brother and former players since that’s a slower time period for UK without any game conflicts of its own.
Mark doesn’t just hope that the XFL succeeds; he thinks it needs to be successful for the future of the sport.
“We need that league to be successful. We, as just football, in general,” Mark Stoops said. “The other league (the Alliance of American Football) was doing well, as far as the ball and the coaching, and it was very helpful. There’s coaches that we know, coaches that have been here, that helped employ people and it helped these players in between this transition.
“With the NFL, sometimes you need to be good in so many different facets. Maybe they’re just missing one, just a little bit, and just need to continue to be developed. So, we all hope it works, because we need a league in between college and pro ball. We need one to be successful. This league seems to be off on the right foot. I know there’s great leadership from the top, so hopefully it’ll work.”
