For the last 13 years, Mark Stoops has been synonymous with Kentucky football. That reportedly will change soon.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Sunday night that Kentucky is expected to fire Stoops on Monday. The university will owe Stoops $37 million as a contract buyout.
Over 13 seasons in Lexington, Stoops logged an 82–80 record—the most wins for any coach in program history. Kentucky went to a bowl game in eight straight years under Stoops from 2016 to ‘23, but the Wildcats stumbled to a 4–8 campaign in ‘24 and just wrapped up a 5–7 season in ‘25.
Stoops spoke about his future with Kentucky on Saturday following the Wildcats’ 41–0 blowout loss to rival Louisville.
“Come on. Yeah I don't mean to be disrespectful to you,” Stoops said. “Like, I'm going to walk away? Are you kidding me? No. I mean zero means zero. Zero percent chance I [would walk away]. I'm going to be here as far as I'm concerned. Now I can't control what decisions are made. If you're asking me—I mean—zero means zero. Zero percent chance I walk away.”
Unfortunately for Stoops, it appears he will, indeed, be walking away from the Kentucky sideline.
Kentucky now joins a long list of college football programs looking for a new head coach. In the SEC, LSU hired Lane Kiffin on Sunday after a long-winded saga, Florida hired Jon Sumrall from Tulane, Auburn is turning to South Florida’s Alex Golesh and Arkansas is bringing in Ryan Silverman out of Memphis.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Kentucky to Fire Mark Stoops After 13 Seasons.
