Vince Marrow opens up about picking UK over Michigan State. ‘Now I know how recruits feel.’
A day after Kentucky football recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow announced on social media that he was sticking with the Wildcats, he sat in a room filled with reporters and explained his decision.
Marrow, who has earned much of the credit for UK’s recruiting success under Mark Stoops, put his days-long internal debate over whether to stay in Lexington or bolt for a lucrative offer at Michigan State in familiar terms.
“Now I know how recruits feel when they’re down to two schools,” he said.
In the end, Marrow stuck with his commitment to Kentucky and Stoops, a childhood friend from Youngstown, Ohio, who immediately brought Marrow on board once he took the UK head coaching job following the 2012 season.
Another friend, new Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker, wanted Marrow for a similar job in East Lansing, and the Spartans were apparently ready to pony up some big bucks to get him.
“It was very, very hard. We’re very close,” Marrow said of his relationship with Tucker. “But I’m also close to the red-headed guy and we grew up together. It was just hard. I can’t put it another way. He really wanted me and they really, really made an effort. It was just hard the last three days. You get money and a raise, but I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. Especially when it’s two friends.”
The “red-headed guy” is, of course, Stoops, and it wouldn’t have been easy for Marrow to leave him.
“They ought to do a 30-for-30 on when coaches are about to leave and you go through them conversations, because they ain’t always pretty. They’re tough,” Marrow said. “But, I will say this: I am very close with him. I actually think you take friendship for granted, both ways, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s a real good friend first. And he shared with me why he’s not going to lose me. And it would have been hard to leave him, too. We’re pretty close. It’s not like that a lot in the coaching business. It’s all about business.”
Stoops’ family entered into the Kentucky vs. Michigan State debate over the past few weeks. And UK fans happy to be keeping Marrow in Lexington should give “Uncle Bob” some of the credit.
“Where we’re from is a very small town, and his uncle sent me a text that kind of shifted the thing,” Marrow said. “It was kind of like a mafia guy sending you a text saying. ‘Hey, you better keep your butt there.’ But it was all jokes. But I really appreciate Uncle Bob — his dad’s brother — sending me a real touching text. I love Mark. But we’re still in a business. Did our friendship play a big part in this? Yes, it did. Because, anywhere else, for what Michigan State offered, I think probably a lot of other coaches would’ve took it. … But I know what we have here, and I didn’t want to leave it.”
Tucker was hired by Michigan State a few days ago after just one season as the head coach at Colorado, and Marrow was immediately mentioned as a candidate to join the Spartans’ coaching staff. He was also tied to the head coaching job at his hometown school, Youngstown State, last month, and he rebuffed that possible opportunity to stick with UK.
On Friday afternoon, Marrow turned down a move to Michigan State, too, tweeting that he was “staying home” at Kentucky, and ending his tweet with a look toward the future: “This is a special place and we have #UnfinishedBusiness. Let’s go!”
That future is sure to feature some intense recruiting battles with the program that wanted to employ him. Much of Marrow’s appeal to Tucker and the Spartans is a result of his positive relationships with Ohio high schools and proven ability to land highly touted recruits from the football-rich state. Tucker, a Cleveland native, will make Ohio a recruiting priority.
“I’m going to be seeing them guys in a couple of months, in the spring recruiting,” Marrow said. “And we all know — it’s no secret — they’re going to battle. They want Ohio. …
“Mel Tucker’s a good coach, and he’s a good recruiter, man. I’ll tell you this, a lot of them Big Ten schools are probably not happy he’s at Michigan State, because he is a good recruiter. But we’re good recruiters, too. So, it’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be … a battle to watch, because they’re saying that Ohio is their first place that they want to try to get in there. So it’s going to be interesting.”
Marrow had previously agreed to a new contract last January and was set to earn $600,000 from Jan. 7, 2019, through June 30 of this year, with annual raises of $25,000 in each of the next two seasons under those terms.
Details of Marrow’s new contract with Kentucky are expected to be announced next week.
