MarkStoops

The 2023 season marked yet another year of achievement for Coach Mark Stoops and the Kentucky football program.

Kentucky finished the regular season 7-5 and UK’s bid to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl extended Stoops’ school record to seven official postseason appearances.

Now in his 12th season at Kentucky, Stoops has the longest term of any coach in school history and the longest term of any active coach in the Southeastern Conference.

Stoops also holds school record for wins (63), home wins (44), SEC wins (30) and wins over ranked opponents (11).

Called “the best program builder in all of college football” in 2021 by ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill, Stoops’ success hasn’t come easily.

Inheriting a program that was 2-10 the year before he arrived, Stoops’ rebuilding efforts took time, but after reaching his first bowl bid in 2016, the coach and the Wildcats haven’t looked back.

A partial accounting of Stoops’ exploits features:

A school-record, 16-game win streak against nonconference competition (2018-22), which was the nation’s longest active streak at the time.

First top-10 ranking in each the Associated Press poll and the coaches’ poll since 2007 (Sept. 11, 2022)

First consecutive top-10 rankings in each poll since 1977 (Sept. 18, 2022)

First home win over Florida since 1986, also marking the first win over an Associated Press top 10-ranked opponent since 2010 (2021)

First win at Tennessee since 1984 (2020)

First New Year’s Day Bowl win since 1951 (2018 season)

First 10-win season since 1977 (2018)

First SEC Coach of the Year since 1983 (2018)

First final poll ranking since 1984 (2018)

First bowl win since 2008 (2018 season)

First win vs. Florida since 1986 (2018)

First bowl appearance since 2010 (2016)

Off the field, Stoops is a staunch supporter of the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, helping raise more than $500,000 annually for the kids. He was named the Honorary Coach of the 2022 AFCA Good Works Team.

Kentucky’s football team has fared well academically under Stoops, as each year UK’s football score in the NCAA Academic Progress Rate has been well above the benchmark of 930.

Several of Stoops’ players have also won All-America accolades, along with honors such as the Bronko Nagurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Paul Hornung Award, Ronnie Lott Trophy, Ray Guy Award, Danny Wuerffel Trophy, Jason Witten Man of the Year, Pop Warner Award, Academic All-America and National Good Works Team.

Off the field, Stoops has been active in fundraising and events for the UK Children’s Hospital and he was named Honorary Coach of the 2022 National Good Works Team.

The bountiful crop of victories and honors are the fruit of the last eight seasons, but the harvest didn’t come easily.  Arriving in 2013, taking over a team that had gone 2-10 the season before, it took three years of plowing, planting and growing before the results came.

Stoops earned his first bowl game as head coach in 2016, when the Wildcats overcame an 0-2 start to go 7-3 down the stretch and advance to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. UK duplicated seven wins in 2017, playing in the Franklin-American Mortgage Music City Bowl.

Led by linebacker Josh Allen, the National Defensive Player of the Year, and Benny Snell Jr., the school’s all-time leading rusher, the 2018 squad went 10-3. It was 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. The 2018 season also 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.

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.

The 2019 season was one of the most unusual in school history. A succession of injuries decimated the quarterbacks and Stoops turned to wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. to man the QB position. Running the ball almost exclusively, UK went 6-2 down the stretch and closed the season with four straight wins, topped by a dramatic come-from-behind Belk Bowl win over Virginia Tech when Bowden threw the game-winning touchdown pass with only 15 seconds remaining.

Stoops followed with the Covid-shortened 2020 season that was capped by a Gator Bowl win over No. 23 North Carolina State.

More winning seasons and bowl appearances have followed, giving Stoops the school records in both categories.

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 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.

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.

Mark and Mike are also brothers of Bob Stoops, who spent 18 years as the Oklahoma head coach and has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. The eldest Stoops brother, Ron Jr., is retired after coaching at Youngstown State. Mark and Mike have reunited in Lexington, as Mike joined the UK staff in 2022 as inside linebackers coach.

Prior to Arizona, Mark 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.

Stoops has two sons, Will and Zack.

Stoops Coaching History