Mark Stoops was among 30 new coaches in 2013. Nearly half have lost their jobs.
In 2013, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops was one of 30 new head coaches hired by FBS schools, in most cases to change the direction of their football programs.
Stoops is 26-36 since with back-to-back winning seasons and consecutive bowl bids. After a 4-20 SEC record his first three seasons, the coach is 8-8 the past two years for a program that hasn’t produced a winning conference record since 1977.
What’s interesting is to compare the Kentucky coach to the 29 other head coaches hired that same year. Given that data, call Mark Stoops a survivor.
Just 10 of the 30 are still employed by the same school. Seven of the 30 moved of their own accord, including one who has moved twice. Nearly half — 13 of the original 30 — either quit or were fired.
Ten of those 13 didn’t last the five years — California’s Sonny Dykes, Georgia State’s Trent Miles, Cincinnati’s Tommy Tuberville, Purdue’s Darrell Hazell, Oregon’s Mark Helfrich, Syracuse’s Scott Shafer, Nevada’s Brian Polian, San Jose State’s Ron Caragher, UTEP’s Sean Kugler and Florida International’s Ron Turner.
Three were pink-slipped after the fifth season — Butch Jones, 34-27 at Tennessee; Bret Bielema, 29-34 at Arkansas; Paul Haynes, 14-45 at Kent State.
Others moved on quickly. Bobby Petrino went 8-4 at Western Kentucky before returning to Louisville, where he is 34-18. Bryan Harsin went 7-5 at Arkansas State before bolting for Boise State, where he is 42-15.
Former WKU coach Willie Taggart went 24-25 in three seasons at South Florida, then 7-5 at Oregon before packing up for Florida State, where he replaces new Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.
After two years at Wisconsin, Gary Andersen moved to Oregon State, where he resigned last season. After three years at Southern Miss, Todd Monken became an assistant coach with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Bucs. Matt Ruhle took over at Baylor last season after four years reviving Temple. P.J. Fleck built Western Michigan into a MAC power before becoming Minnesota’s head coach last season.
Aside from Stoops, here are the nine other coaches heading into their sixth year at the same school:
Gus Malzahn, Auburn: The former Auburn offensive coordinator spent a year as head coach at Arkansas State (9-3) before returning to the Tigers. He is 45-22 since, including a 2013 national runner-up finish.
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois: The 46-year-old Carey went 23-5 his first two seasons after succeeding Dave Doeren. He’s 21-18 since, for an overall mark of 44-23 with four bowl bids.
Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech: The well-traveled son of Lou Holtz is 38-28 in five seasons. Formerly head coach at Connecticut, East Carolina and South Florida, Holtz is 4-0 in bowl games at Tech.
Dave Doeren, North Carolina State: After a 3-9 opening season, the former Northern Illinois coach is 34-30 overall, with a 9-4 mark, including 6-2 in the ACC last season.
Matt Wells, Utah State: Promoted when Andersen left for Wisconsin, Wells is 34-32 in five seasons at USU. The Aggies' last winning season was 2014, however.
Steve Addazio, Boston College: The former Temple head coach is 31-33 at BC. The Eagles have gone 7-6 with bowl trips each of the past two seasons.
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech: Just 34 years old when hired as head coach, Kingsbury is 30-33 with three bowl trips at Lubbock. The past two years, the Red Raiders are just 11-14.
Mike MacIntyre, Colorado: After going 10-2 at San Jose State in 2012, MacIntyre was a candidate for the UK job. He landed in Boulder, where the Buffaloes reached the 2016 Pac-12 title game. Overall, MacIntyre is 25-38 at Colorado.
Paul Petrino, Idaho: Bobby’s younger brother got off to a rough start, going 2-21 his first two seasons in Moscow. He’s 17-20 since, including a 9-4 record with a bowl win in 2016.
Now a trivia question: Behind Nick Saban’s 11 years at Alabama, which SEC coach has spent the most time at his current school? It’s a tie between Stoops and Malzahn. Survivors, both.
SEC football coaches by seniority
This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Mark Stoops was among 30 new coaches in 2013. Nearly half have lost their jobs.."