With Mark Stoops gone, what’s the latest with UK football recruiting?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops will not return to the Wildcats’ program.
- Before his departure, Stoops had 15 players lined up in Kentucky’s 2026 recruiting class.
- Leading those 2026 recruits was four-star quarterback prospect Matt Ponatoski.
The Kentucky football program is moving on from Mark Stoops.
The school made it official Monday, firing its all-time winningest coach after back-to-back losing seasons.
With Stoops now out of the fold and Kentucky on the hunt for a new coach, plenty of changes are expected to occur with UK’s 2026 recruiting class.
The Wildcats have 13 commitments lined up from the high school senior class. Collectively, this group of prospects was ranked 69th nationally by the 247Sports Composite service. The class ranked 15th out of the 16 SEC schools, ahead of only Arkansas, which has also changed coaches.
UK’s 2026 class included only two recruits — safety Messiah Tilson and quarterback Matt Ponatoski — ranked as four-star talents.
The class also featured 11 three-star recruits: athlete Prince Jean, cornerback Isaiah McMillian, defensive lineman Ben Duncum, edge rushers Justyn Hartley and Garrett Witherington, offensive tackle Cameron Miller, running back Delvecchio Alston, tight end Lincoln Watkins and wide receivers Dallas Dickerson, Denairius Gray and Davis McCray.
This was considered a down year in high school recruiting for Stoops. He had never signed a class ranked worse than 38th in the 247Sports Composite, and each of Stoops’ signing classes had at least 18 commitments. Stoops’ final high school recruiting class at Kentucky (the 2025 group) ranked 29th nationally.
From the junior-college ranks, Kentucky also has a commitment from three-star cornerback Braxton Urquhart. Another junior-college player, safety Da’Mare Williams, decommitted from the program Sunday, prior to Stoops’ dismissal.
On Monday afternoon, Kentucky picked up another commitment from junior college prospect Caleb Pyfrom. A 6-foot-4 interior offensive lineman, Pyfrom committed to the Wildcats despite UK not having a head coach in place. Pyfrom previously played at Missouri and Garden City Community College in Kansas.
That’s a total of 15 players from the high school and junior college ranks committed to UK as of Monday afternoon in advance of the December early signing period, which begins Wednesday.
Ponatoski — who plans to play both baseball and football at UK — is considered the gem of the class. He’s the highest-ranked recruit from the group, with the 247Sports Composite listing him as the No. 188 overall prospect in the 2026 recruiting class. Ponatoski said on social media late Sunday night that he wasn’t planning to sign with Kentucky during the December signing period anyway, regardless of the coaching change.
Ponatoski is a possible early round pick in next spring’s MLB draft, which means he might choose to start his pro baseball career instead of attending college. He plans to sign during the February signing period.
Whatever he decides, Kentucky’s coaching switch means plenty of change is about to occur with the Wildcats’ 2026 recruiting group.
Garrett Witherington flips from Kentucky to Virginia Tech
The first member of Kentucky’s 2026 recruiting class to decommit was edge rusher Garrett Witherington, who did so Monday night. Witherington — a three-star prospect from Alabama — flipped his commitment from UK to Virginia Tech.
Witherington is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a top-100 defensive lineman in the 2026 class. He had been committed to the Cats since June.
With Witherington’s decommitment, UK’s 2026 recruiting class is down to 14 players.
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 9:09 AM.
