Mark Stoops agrees to contract extension, will remain as Kentucky football coach
University of Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops will remain with the Wildcats into the 2022 season and beyond.
Stoops and the school agreed in principle to a contract extension through June 2028. Financial terms of the new contract were not yet available. It is pending signatures.
“I’m excited to continue to build this program to national prominence,” Stoops said in a news release. “We’re on our way and I’m more confident in Kentucky football than I’ve ever been.”
Stoops, who was hired ahead of the 2013 season, is 58-53 overall as UK’s coach. He has coached in more games than any head coach in school history and is three wins away from setting the all-time wins record in school history, which is currently held by Paul “Bear” Bryant (60).
The Wildcats’ head coach has been linked to multiple job openings across the country, including LSU — which hired Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly — and Oklahoma, where his brother Bob won a national title.
“Mitch and I came to an agreement a week or two ago and shook hands on it Saturday afternoon,” Stoops said. “This process is a compliment to our relationship.”
UK on Sunday will learn its 2021 bowl destination. The Wildcats will play in the postseason for a school-record sixth straight year, and are seeking their fourth straight bowl win, which would also be a record. Most projections have UK appearing in either the Citrus Bowl or Outback Bowl; both games are played on New Year’s Day.
Stoops’ last contract extension was agreed to prior the 2019 season; he made $4.8 million this season. UK since then has amended the contracts of multiple assistants, including recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow, who in 2020 agreed to a deal that, at the time, made him the highest-paid assistant in the Southeastern Conference who wasn’t an offensive or defensive coordinator.
“We have been in discussion with Coach Stoops in recent weeks and are excited about his ongoing commitment to Kentucky,” UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart said. “Coach Stoops has done an outstanding job in building the UK football program and we look forward to continued success under his leadership.”
While financial terms of the deal were not yet available, at least one element of the previous contract remains: automatic extensions based on win benchmarks. Stoops will earn a one-year extension in any season in which his team wins seven games, or a two-year extension in any season in which his team wins 10 games.
This story was originally published November 30, 2021 at 1:09 PM.
