Mark Stoops plans on taking advantage of the latest trend in college football this summer.
The Kentucky coach will take part in satellite camps this summer as a recruiting tool and promote the program beyond the Bluegrass. Stoops plans to visit Florida, Ohio and Georgia this summer but isn’t planning on changing his overall recruiting philosophy.
“I don’t think we’ll overdo it,” Stoops said Wednesday during the SEC spring teleconference. “We want to continue to get players on our campus throughout the summer and our coaches work very hard to get prospects on our campus and in our camps, to unofficially come see us in the summer and see our campus, get familiar with us. We want to continue to work that angle as well.”
Much to the dismay of the Southeastern Conference, the NCAA recently overturned a ban on the off-campus camps, mostly used as a recruiting tool by college coaches. The NCAA banned the camps three weeks ago, only to reverse the decision last week.
“We continue to believe football recruiting is primarily an activity best-focused in high schools during the established recruiting calendar, which has provided opportunities for football prospective student-athletes from all across the country to obtain broad national access and exposure but with appropriate guidance from high school coaches, teachers and advisors that focuses on both their academic and athletic opportunities as they decide where they will play college football,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release. “SEC coaches will be allowed to engage in summer camps as a result of conference legislation approved during the 2015 SEC spring meetings.”
With the addition of several new coaches during the off-season, Stoops added the geographical emphasis when it comes to recruiting, remains intact.
“Our footprint will not change much,” Stoops said. “With the guys that I hired, I think that was intentional, as well. I know recruiting success that guys have in certain areas. We need to continue to do that. We need to continue to do great in the state of Kentucky, we need to continue to do very well in Ohio and we need to expand and continue to get those difference-makers and quality players throughout the south.”
Banking on Barker
With summer break drawing nigh, Stoops wants starting quarterback Drew Barker to stay on course and continue to make strides on and off the field during the offseason.
“I’ve seen a big change in Drew and I want to continue to see that,” Stoops said. “This is one semester. He needs to have a great summer (and) he needs to be a great leader in organizing all voluntary workouts and throwing with receivers and running backs and tight ends. But I have seen a change. I’ve seen a maturity in him. I’ve seen him much more composed on and off the field. I see a guy who’s very hungry to learn and just settle in and continue to grow.”
Stoops also has the same confidence in junior college transfer Stephen Johnson and will be given an opportunity to compete for the job when workouts begin next fall.
“We certainly have a lot of confidence in Stephen, and I think he did a very good job and was very impressive,” Stoops said. “Stephen will have a role, and he’ll continue to compete. Stephen knows exactly where he stands when he came into our program and he knows exactly where he stands now.”
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter