Stoops: Getting Numbers Down to 85 for Spring Semester will be a Challenge: “That’s a severe understatement.” [Video]

Roster management has become just as important, if not more important, than the Xs and Os for college football coaches as the game has changed. “Recruiting will be the lifeblood of our program,” was a line uttered in every introductory press conference for years, but it’s not just high school recruiting anymore. Roster retention and free agent signings in the transfer portal now play a huge role in offseason moves.

Those moves don’t just happen in the offseason. Reading between the lines, it appears that a lot of that roster planning for the Kentucky football program happened during last week’s bye week.

“We would love our concentration to be on coaching and spending time with our players and being around that. That’s where all of us are still putting most of our time, but we have to, I have to look at roster management,” Mark Stoops said on Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference.

Ahead of the House vs. NCAA settlement, coaches …