Kentucky football is set to join the absurd coaching carousel that is already in full rotation this 2025 offseason. On Sunday night, Pete Thamel reported that Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops will be fired, with the process set to ‘formally play out tomorrow.’
Stoops is coming off a 5-7 season, rounded out by a 41-0 loss to Kentucky’s biggest rival, Louisville. Thamel also reports that he will be paid a buy-out of over $37 million, which will be paid out within the next 60 days.
Stoops was the longest-tenured coach in the SEC prior to the firing. He took over the Wildcats in 2013 following a 2-10 year under Joker Phillips.
Sources: Kentucky is expected fire coach Mark Stoops, with the process set to formally play out tomorrow.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 1, 2025
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Stoops’ best years were in 2018 and 2021, in which he finished 9-3 in the regular season with a Citrus Bowl victory. However, he lost to Tennessee, UK’s biggest SEC rival, in both seasons. These were in Jeremy Pruitt and Josh Heupel’s first seasons leading the Vols’ programs.
Kentucky’s 2021 team had its 10 wins vacated by the NCAA, though. It was deemed that UK played ineligible players that year. With those 10 wins off the table, he’ll finish 62-80 (25-68 SEC) in the NCAA record book as the Wildcats’ coach.
The past two seasons were too much for Stoops to survive, despite the massive buy-out stemming from a contract extension in November of 2022. The 2024 season saw him finish 4-8 (1-7) and this year was a 5-7 (2-6) campaign.
Stoops is the younger brother of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. He has another brother, Mike Stoops, who was previously Arizona’s head coach and was on Mark Stoops’ staff at Kentucky. The oldest Stoops brother, Ron, was an assistant coach at Youngstown State.
