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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 07-24-2014, 10:08 AM:

Hopefully Stoops will have a long and productive career at Kentucky.

George Rogers Clark High School football coach Mike Riddle believes Mark Stoops is the right fit at the University of Kentucky.

Riddle, an offensive lineman with the Wildcats from 1995-98, likes the direction the program is heading going into Stoops’ second season as coach at Kentucky.

“When you look at what they have done (in recruiting), they’ve done an outstanding job, they’ve had the best recruiting that’s ever happened with these last two classes they have gotten,” Riddle said. “When you play in the best conference in America, it’s going to take a little time (to build the program) but at the same time, just watching the games (last year), I could tell a difference in some little things they were doing. It’s hard to watch every game but I would just pay attention to a game when it’s in the fourth quarter and the game isn’t out of hand but they were 20 points down and on the goal line. They were still fighting, clawing, into it and still competing. I saw fire last year in terms of continuing to fight and playing to.

“They’re going to get it turned around. It’s going to be a process, but anything worth having is.”

Favorite milestone: While at Kentucky, played under Bill Curry and Hal Mumme, and lists the team’s 26-14 loss to Penn State in the Outback Bowl in 1999 as his favorite memory while with the Wildcats.

“That was something, especially when you look at it,” he said. “That was our goal (playing on New Year’s Day) and we hit that target. It was a fun year and we had a lot of success compared to what Kentucky had in the past. It was just a neat experience. It was the first time in 50 years that Kentucky had been in a New Year’s Day Bowl game. That was pretty special being a part of that.”

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