Mark Stoops pays tribute to John Schlarman

Mark Stoops meets the media every Thursday before a gameday generally to recap his teams’ week in practice and to give one final preview of the Wildcats upcoming game.

But on this Thursday, Stoops used all of his time to discuss his friend and offensive line coach John Schlarman.

Schlarman died Thursday at the age of 45 after a two-year fight with cholangiocarcinoma. He played for the Wildcats from 1994-97, earning All-SEC honors as a senior.

He returned to Lexington to join Stoops’ staff as offensive line coach in 2013 and held the position until his passing.

Thursday, Stoops spoke in detail about Schlarman and the impact he left on the UK Football program.

“We so greatly appreciate John and all of the work that he did here, but more importantly the man that he was and the legacy he leaves,” Stoops said. “We will work extremely hard to honor his legacy for many years to come.”

Stoops said the team plans to pay tribute to Schlarman Saturday when they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.

“I want to coach is if John was with me...standing next to me. If I can be a window through his eyes, for him to see the game through my eyes, it would be an honor. I think our players need to think of it the same way. Just envision him being there with us, watching us. We will play. Our team will be ready to play.

“It’s a tough day, but our kids will be resilient, bounce back and will play hard in his honor.”

Watch his full remarks below:

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