Crucial season ahead for Stoops, UK
The last three college football seasons have been disappointing for Kentucky, especially the Wildcats' 4-8 finish last fall, and chatter around the program indicates that 2025 might be a make-or-break year for head coach Mark Stoops.
Entering his 13th season in Lexington, Stoops is facing the challenge of turning the Wildcats' fortunates around. Since 2022, Kentucky has gone just 18-20 overall and 7-17 against Southeastern Conference opponents.
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Part of that hopeful turnaround includes the addition of 26 new faces through the NCAA transfer portal — a group that 247Sports rates as the 10th-best transfer class in the nation. More than 30 players left UK since the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, and also gone is Vince Marrow, who's long been considered one of the best recruiters in college football.
More so than anything, UK needs to right the ship after missing a bowl game for the first time in eight seasons.
'It just comes at perceptively a vulnerable time,' SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said on his show. 'I'm sure you could spin it the other way: For all of Vince's greatness, the last two years sucked.
'Mark Stoops does not help himself very much because he can be surly. He can be defensive. ... It's not a good look when you do it in some of the circumstances he has done it in.'
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The relationship between Stoops and the UK fan base has been up and down since 2023, when the coach countered NIL collective criticisms with a reply to 'pony up' the money to compete with the SEC's elite. At the end of that season, Stoops seemed set on leaving for another coaching job before Texas A&M changed its mind at the last minute.
Instead, Stoops returned to UK, where he remains the longest-tenured coach in the SEC. His $9 million annual salary also ranks him as the 12th highest-paid coach in college football and fifth in the SEC. His contract runs through 2030, and if Kentucky wanted to move on from Stoops, a buyout would cost the school almost $45 million.
Some critics say the results aren't worth the money.
In a CBS Sports poll conducted last month, a panel voted Stoops as the No. 36 coach in college football. The Cats are widely expected to finish 14th in the 16-team SEC. In the last 12 years, Kentucky has struggled against top-10 teams and has had trouble competing following bye weeks.
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However, the door is still open for Stoops to turn things around.
'Getting to a bowl, especially when you have a schedule like Kentucky's, is not impossible,' Finebaum said. 'If you win the four nonconference games — that includes beating Louisville — but that should not be impossible to do.
'I think a bowl game is possible. I think Stoops just has to show proof of life.'
Inside the program, Stoops seems unfazed.
Since Marrow's departure last week, UK has landed five commitments for 2026, including four-star safety Messiah Tilson out of Illinois. Derek Shay was promoted to tight ends coach to help replace Marrow after serving as Kentucky's senior offensive analyst and run game specialist. And workouts will continue this summer and into the fall.
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In an interview with UK safety Ty Bryant for UK Sports Network, Stoops appeared ready for a bounce back.
'I love the fit,' Stoops said of the current state of the team. 'I like the way they've come in and really adapted, and I think we've been trying to be much more intentional about setting the standards — what is our culture, what we've been through for so many years — and setting that bar high and making sure the accountability piece is there, making sure the buy-in is there. I love this group.'
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