The biggest test of Mark Stoops’ transfer portal prowess yet is coming next month
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Kentucky football players and coaches continue to approach the home stretch of the 2024 season with the goal of reaching a ninth consecutive bowl game.
But even if the Wildcats pull off a miracle by running the table against Murray State, No. 3 Texas and No. 22 Louisville there will be bigger questions to be answered after a third straight season that finished short of preseason expectations. And given the likelihood that Kentucky does miss a bowl game for the first time since 2016, Mark Stoops and company have to already start planning for an offseason rebuild.
Which means once again Kentucky will be heavily invested in the transfer portal market.
“Look at history in this league,” Stoops said Monday. “Look at some teams that maybe haven’t gone to a bowl game and the way they’ve bounced back and done some very good things. I think opportunity is important to players, and I just got to make sure I continue to get out and continue to fundraise and raise some money to put a roster together.”
Stoops was likely referring to South Carolina, which was 6-3 entering this weekend just one year after going 5-7, and Vanderbilt, which is 6-4 a year after going 2-10, for his proof that a quick turnaround can happen even against a vaunted SEC schedule.
But the mention of fundraising was not by accident. The reality of college football in the NIL era is money is needed to fund the type of rebuild Stoops will need this offseason.
First, the staff must make sure to retain players like breakout wide receiver Dane Key, who could receive interest from the NFL draft or traditional college football powers looking for their own transfer portal help. Even if Kentucky keeps all its starters with returning eligibility, it will have to replace nine starters and two key backups who will play their last college game this season. Add in the expected departures of defensive lineman Deone Walker and cornerback Maxwell Hairston to the NFL draft, and Kentucky could need double-digit transfer additions before even considering possible upgrades at positions with returning starters.
The expected start of revenue sharing between athletic departments and athletes next year should help attract talent for a program with SEC money, but Kentucky will still face competition from its league rivals and the Big Ten schools for stars from smaller schools who could make more in revenue sharing by transferring to the two biggest leagues. NIL money will likely still play a role in recruiting in that scenario, meaning Stoops has to hope the disappointment this season does not affect donor enthusiasm.
“I hope it sparks (donations),” Stoops said. “I’ve seen it at other SEC institutions spark it.
“I really want to stay away from that because I really get tired, I don’t want to be like I’m whining or I’m crying or I need — you know it is reality I hope we all understand that, right? It is true reality, like you have to, you have to have dollars.”
Of course, even if Kentucky has the NIL and revenue sharing money to fund amassing a transfer portal class, the staff must do a better job picking its transfers than it did last offseason.
How many of the seven class of 2020 recruits who still have the option to use their pandemic waiver elect to return for one final college season could impact which positions Kentucky has to prioritize in the portal, but offensive line, wide receiver, defensive line, edge rusher and the defensive secondary look like clear areas of need. If neither Brock Vandagriff or Cutter Boley stakes a claim to the 2025 quarterback job down the stretch, UK could find itself in the transfer quarterback market again.
With left tackle Marques Cox, right tackle Gerald Mincey and center Eli Cox all playing their final college season, multiple starting-caliber offensive line additions will be needed. Three of the top four defensive linemen are likely leaving, too.
“Everybody is going after offensive linemen and defensive linemen,” Stoops said on his radio show last week. “Are very expensive. That’s the bottom line.
“Let’s just be honest. Defensive linemen and offensive linemen are very expensive.”
The good news for Kentucky is the staff has proven adept at keeping the program’s top talents with almost all the outgoing transfers the last two years coming from a group of underclassmen blocked on the depth chart who left in search of immediate playing time. Some of those departures have still hurt depth, Stoops said this week.
Even if Kentucky misses a bowl, the final three regular-season games could be important for the staff determining which current underclassmen backups could be projected to step into larger roles in 2025. Identifying those players and prioritizing keeping them out of the transfer portal will be another important step in the offseason rebuild, but there is no scenario where the staff can afford to simply count on the current roster having the answers for all the holes that are going to open.
“People want to spin it: Coach is saying he needs to go get a portal (player) and he doesn’t have a good enough (roster),” Stoops said. “That’s not true. Ask any player on our team if they want better players with them. All good players want other good players. That makes everything better, everybody better.
“Competition is good, it’s healthy. Our players want good players. So, I love our roster, I love our young kids, but to think that you don’t need to supplement it is just stupid. You obviously need to supplement it.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 6:45 AM.
