Speaking after football practice on Saturday, Stoops said he won't be "derailed" by any distractions, wherever they come from.
"When you start talking about my program and others that we compete against: me, I don't do that," Stoops said.
"I stay in my lane. So that's in defense of my players, in defense of the work that we've done. And believe me, we want to continue to push.
"But don't demean or distract from the hard work and the dedication and the commitment that people have done to get to this point. I don't need to apologize for that, and I won't."
Stoops also added that the Kentucky football program "wasn't born on third base."
"We understand history," he said. "That's great. I embrace it and love it, the history of our basketball. I'm proud of it. I love it. I didn't have that history. We're creating it."