Stoops angry with team’s lackluster approach this spring

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - “We got a bunch of guys that are entitled, that don’t work extremely hard.”

UK head coach Mark Stoops didn’t mince words after his football team’s Saturday practice.

“I’m not real pleased,” Stoops said. “We’ve got no leaders right now.”

As proud as Stoops was on Friday, following UK’s annual Pro Day, he was equally frustrated with his current players on Saturday.

“I visited with you yesterday. Yes, it was a great day for Kentucky football,” Stoops said. “Guys we’ve got right now, I don’t know if they just think they can roll out of bed and be good, or whatever. But it’s not the same. We need to get back and play the way our brand was made, by being tough and being physical, and playing physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”

“We’ve just got to get back to the hard-nosed Kentucky football that this program was built on,” quarterback Devin Leary said. “Me coming in as a new guy, I’ve got to do a better job of stepping up as well.”

“We just really need to focus on driving home the rest of spring, the summer and all through fall camp, what this program was built on,” guard Eli Cox said.

“I’d like to be a player-led team, but we’re not. So we’ve got to step up,” Stoops said. “We as a coaching staff better lead, because this group can’t.”