Tennessee football has become intimately familiar with Mark Stoops since 2013, when he took over the Kentucky program. 12 years later, he was fired by the Wildcats after the 2025 season.
According to a report from 247’s Chip Brown, Stoops has made the decision for the next step of his career. He will be joining the staff at Texas under Steve Sarkisian as a special assistant.
This will put Stoops on the sideline at Neyland Stadium next season. The Vols will host the Longhorns Sept. 26 to open SEC play. There is no kickoff time or TV designation determined at this point.
While Stoops has plenty of experience inside Neyland and coaching against Josh Heupel, he’s had little success. From 2013-25, he only managed wins in 2017 and 2020. He never beat Josh Heupel.
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Stoops is coming off a 5-7 season, rounded out by a 41-0 loss to Kentucky’s biggest rival, Louisville. The Wildcats quickly moved to hire Will Stein, Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, as his replacement.
Stoops was also 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.
His 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 finished 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 past year was a 5-7 (2-6) campaign.
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