When Mark Stoops was asked before the season how he could continue success after major personnel losses from the 2018 team, the coach replied, “We didn’t come here to build a team.  We came here to build a program.”

It appears that Stoops is doing exactly that. 

The 2019 season represents Kentucky’s fourth consecutive winning season and fourth straight postseason bid as Stoops’ Wildcats are coming off a 37-30 win over Virginia Teach in the Belk Bowl. However, it didn’t come easily.

Stoops had to overcome the departure of 14 starters from a year ago, including three All-Americans, and by September three quarterbacks had been lost to injury. The coach relied on the conventional – physical play on both sides of the ball – and the unconventional, moving a wide receiver to quarterback, to navigate the challenging season.

With receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. manning the QB spot, UK went 6-2 down the stretch. UK closed the season with four straight wins, including a 45-13 regular-season finale vs. instate rival Louisville, featuring a school-record 517 rushing yards, and a thrilling 37-30 win over Virginia Teach in the 2019 Belk Bowl.

Bowden went on to earn first-team All-America honors and the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player.  Punter Max Duffy was first-team All-America as well being named the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter.  Guard Logan Stenberg checked in as a second-team All-American, giving UK three All-Americans for the second year in a row. 

Meanwhile, a young defensive unit continued to mature and became UK’s first team in 40 years to hold every regular-season opponent under 30 points. 

Stoops is only the second coach in Kentucky history to take his team to four straight bowls and UK’s 32 wins over the last four seasons are the most in a four-year span since Paul “Bear” Bryant piloted the Wildcats in 1950-53.

This year’s team follows the success of the 2018 squad that went 10-3, UK’s best season in 41 years, topped by a win over Penn State in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. It was only the third 10-win season in school history.

In addition, the 2018 campaign featured a win at Florida -- the Wildcats' first victory over the Gators in 32 years -- resulting in UK being named the National Team of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America.  The regular season concluded with a 56-10 win at in-state rival Louisville, the largest margin of victory in the history of the Governor’s Cup series.

UK was No. 11 in the final USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 12 in the final Associated Press tabulation, the school's first appearance in the final rankings since 1984.

CollegeFootballNews.com listed Stoops as the best coaching performance of the season and he was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year by The Associated Press, Athlon Sports and the league coaches.
Stoops' individual accolades also extended to his players. Linebacker Josh Allen earned three National Defensive Player of the Year Awards and was a unanimous first-team All-American.  Offensive guard Bunchy Stallings also was a first-team All-American and running back Benny Snell earned second-team All-America while becoming UK's all-time leading rusher.

The 2018 season continued a remarkable trend – since Stoops took over as coach of the Cats in 2013, UK was the only school in the nation that tied or improved its win total in six straight seasons.

How has Stoops accomplished all of this? The coach would tell you that there's been nothing magical about the process.

True to his blue-collar roots in Youngstown, Ohio, the methodical advancement made by Stoops’ teams is a reflection of the coach’s rock-steady work ethic, tireless recruiting, and ability to adapt.

Stoops’ ability to adjust when necessary shone its brightest at the beginning of the 2016 season. After losing the first two games of the schedule, and seeing his starting quarterback out for the season with an injury, and seeing his defense struggle in the early stages, Stoops didn’t retreat. The Wildcat coach chose determination over despair and went back to work, revising the offense for a new QB while becoming more involved in helping coach the defense. 

The results? The Wildcats went 7-3 in the last 10 regular-season games, highlighted by a win at No. 11-ranked Louisville and a trip to the TaxSlayer Bowl. Stoops was named 2016 SEC Coach of the Year runner-up by Athlon Sports. That was followed by another seven-win season in 2017, topped by a berth in the Franklin-American Mortgage Music City Bowl.
 


 
Stoops came to Kentucky from Florida State, where he was defensive coordinator from 2010-12.  He inherited a unit a unit ranked 108th in the nation in total defense and turned it into one of the nation’s best. In the 2012 season, the Seminoles were second in the nation in total defense, allowing 254.1 yards per game, and sixth nationally in scoring defense at 14.7 points per game.  Playing well against the run and the pass, FSU was third in the country in rushing defense and led the nation in pass defense.  FSU led the ACC in seven defensive categories.  Stoops also coached the defensive backs under head coach Jimbo Fisher. 
 
Eight Seminoles on defense earned 2012 All-ACC honors, including four first-team selections, highlighted by one of the nation’s top defensive end duos in Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine, who combined for 24 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. Werner was a finalist for the 2012 Bronko Nagurski Award as the National Defensive Player of the Year and was among the national leaders in sacks with 13. Stoops also coached cornerback Ronald Darby to ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year.
 
The Seminoles’ prowess was a continuation of the 2011 season, when Stoops’ defenders led the nation in fewest yards allowed per carry (2.3), ranked fourth in the nation in total defense (275 yards per game), second in rushing defense (82.7 ypg), fourth in scoring defense (15.1 points per game), and eighth in tackles for loss (8.6 per game) and quarterback sacks (3.1 per game).  FSU led the ACC in eight defensive categories. 
 
Stoops overhauled the Florida State defense in 2010, his first season as defensive coordinator.  The Seminoles gave up 19.6 points per game, third-best in the ACC and 20th nationally.  FSU ranked 42nd nationally in total defense that season; in contrast, the team was 108th nationally in total defense and 94th in scoring defense in 2009, the year before Stoops’ arrival.  FSU improved its overall defense by more than 80 yards per game, primarily by limiting opponents to 75 fewer rushing yards per game.  The Seminoles ranked third in the nation in quarterback sacks and were 21st in tackles for loss.  In the secondary, Stoops coached Xavier Rhodes to ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and National Defensive Freshman of the Year accolades.
 
During Stoops’ three seasons, FSU went 10-4, 9-4 and 12-2, including wins over South Carolina in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl, Notre Dame in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl and Northern Illinois in the 2013 Orange Bowl.
 
Stoops was defensive coordinator and DBs coach at Arizona from 2004-09, working for his brother, Mike, who was head coach of the Wildcats.  During Mark’s time there, Arizona’s records improved steadily, going 3-8, 3-8, 6-6, 5-7, 8-5 and 8-5.  The Wildcats advanced to the Las Vegas Bowl and Holiday Bowl during the last two years.  Mark and Mike are also brothers of Bob Stoops, who retired in 2017 after 18 years as the Oklahoma head coach. The eldest Stoops brother, Ron Jr., is special teams coordinator at Youngstown State.
 
Stoops inherited an Arizona unit that was 109th in the nation in total defense and 107th in scoring defense in 2003, the year before he arrived.  By the end of his term at Arizona, the Wildcats ranked in the nation’s top 25 in total defense his final two seasons and ranked as high as 33rd in scoring defense.   
 
Prior to Arizona, Stoops coached the defensive backs three years at Miami (Fla.).  The 2001 national champion Hurricanes led the nation in pass efficiency defense, scoring defense and turnover margin. That team also established a school record with 27 interceptions and 45 total takeaways.
 
Stoops’ 2002 secondary led the nation in pass defense and pass efficiency defense. Despite having to replace all four starters in the defensive backfield, the 2003 team led the nation in pass defense.  In his three seasons, Miami went 35-3, including the 12-0 Rose Bowl title campaign, plus appearances in the Fiesta and Orange bowls.  Ten Miami defensive backs who played at least one season under Stoops were eventually selected in the National Football League draft – seven in the first round.
 
Stoops got his first experience in leading a defense as co-defensive coordinator at Houston in the 2000 season.  He coached the secondary at Wyoming from 1997-99 and the Cowboys notched three straight winning seasons.  A highlight of his time there was a school-record 24 interceptions in the ’97 season. His first full-time coaching job was in 1996 at South Florida, helping USF in the start-up of its program before the Bulls had their first kickoff in ’97.
 
Stoops has recruited and developed numerous outstanding defensive backs, many of whom went on to National Football League careers.  Among the notables are Antoine Cason and Michael Johnson at Arizona, Miami’s Philip Buchanon, Kelly Jennings, Brandon Meriweather, Ed Reed, Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph and Sean Taylor and Wyoming’s Brian Lee.
 
Stoops was raised in Youngstown, Ohio.  As did brothers Bob and Mike, Mark played in the secondary at the University of Iowa for Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry.  He participated in four bowl games as a player. Fry hired Stoops as a graduate assistant coach at Iowa in the 1990 and ’91 seasons. The Hawkeyes won the 1990 Big Ten title and played in the Rose Bowl, duplicating feats Stoops also achieved as a player.  Stoops went on to coach four years in high school before entering the collegiate ranks.
 
Mark and his wife, Chantel, have two sons, Will and Zack.