Kentucky has fired football coach Mark Stoops.
The school’s athletic director announced the dismissal Monday, thanking Stoops for his dedication and leadership:
“His tenure transformed the program and reset expectations,” said athletic director Mitch Barnhart in a statement released on social media. “His tenure transformed the program and reset expectations. His time here was filled with memorable victories, a historic run of consecutive bowl appearances, and a commitment to developing young men both on and off the field.”
Stoops just completed his 13th season at Kentucky with a 5-7 record after going 4-8 in 2024. Kentucky lost its final game of the year to rival Louisville 41-0 on Saturday.
Stoops, 58, went 72-80 during his time in Lexington (82-80 if including the 10-win 2021 season that was later vacated) and leaves as the winningest coach in school history. Bear Bryant is No. 2.
Stoops brought consistency to Kentucky, making bowl games every season from 2016 to 2023 and twice finishing in the AP top 20.
But Kentucky has had very few bright spots the past two seasons, and the university decided to move on despite Stoops being signed through June 2031 and earning $9 million this year.
Stoops is owed 75% of his remaining salary, which is approximately $37.7 million. That falls within the top five buyouts in college football history, four of which have come this year (the first three were Brian Kelly, $54 million; James Franklin, $49 million, though that was reduced when he took the job at Virginia Tech; and Jonathan Smith, $33 million).
Stoops’ last two years at Kentucky came in the wake of changes to NIL and revenue sharing in college football. Before that era, Stoops delivered some of the best seasons in school history. That included 10-win seasons in 2018, Kentucky’s first since 1977, and the aforementioned 2021 season since vacated.
He developed Kentucky into a program with toughness and player development as its hallmarks. The Wildcats had multiple players drafted every year from 2019 through 2025, including four first-round picks during his tenure.
Kentucky appeared to have found its quarterback for the future this season, as Stoops inserted freshman Cutter Boley as the starter in late September. The move paid dividends, as Kentucky took Texas to overtime and then won three straight games — at Auburn, Florida and Tennessee Tech. Boley threw 15 touchdown passes and completed 65.8% of his throws.
After the loss to Louisville on Saturday, Stoops — who chose to remain at Kentucky when other opportunities surfaced over the years — said he wasn’t going anywhere.
Asked after the game about the possibility of stepping down, Stoops told reporters, “Like, I’m going to walk away? Are you kidding me? … Zero percent chance I walk.”
Barnhart has pledged to “make the necessary investments to recruit an elite head coach” to “build a championship program for the people of Kentucky.”
