Even if Kentucky is keeping Mark Stoops, Wildcats need a new football plan

If you checked in Monday on the final Mark Stoops weekly news conference of the 2025 Kentucky football season, you did not hear a coach who sounded like he is headed to the exit.

In addition to looking ahead to Saturday’s season-ending battle for the Governor’s Cup between Kentucky (5-6, 2-6 SEC) and intrastate rival Louisville (7-4, 4-4 ACC), Stoops held court on various topics that pertain to the immediate future of UK football:

• Kentucky’s apparent “de-emphasis” on high school recruiting: “You have to look at a roster of one-year increments right now,” Stoops explained. “There are some (rival) schools that have — I’m not afraid to talk about it anymore, like, let’s not dance around — there are some schools that have a load of money to buy high school kids.”

• UK’s apparent pivot to recruiting the junior colleges: “Because you get a guy with multiple years (of remaining college eligibility),” Stoops said. “Sometimes, with the free agents (in other words, additions via the transfer portal) ... you don’t want them all to be one-year guys. And so you’d like to have some multiple-year (players).

“Some (junior college) guys, they’re a little more mature, they have some more football under their belt. We’ve seen more on tape, and you maybe feel a little more confident that they could come in and help you next year.”

• His plan since there are presently seven (of 10) UK assistant coaches who are not under contract for 2026: “I’m already talking with (deputy athletics director) Marc Hill about that right now,” Stoops said. “And, obviously, Marc and (UK athletics director) Mitch (Barnhart) work closely together with me, and we’re working through all that.”

None of that sounded to my ear like a coach who thinks he’s on the way out, either of his own volition or at the University of Kentucky’s discretion.

With an on-the-field record of 82-79, Stoops has been the best UK football coach in my lifetime. Excepting Paul “Bear” Bryant, there’s a strong case Stoops has been the best Kentucky coach since World War II.

However, going into Saturday’s game with U of L, UK is 23-26 overall, 9-23 in Southeastern Conference games over the past four seasons. This ongoing stretch has felt a lot like program stagnation.

In a perfect world, both Stoops and Kentucky would likely benefit from parting and giving each other a fresh start.

Alas, in the world as it presently exists, there does not seem a viable path to such a parting.

Even with super-agent Jimmy Sexton in his corner, it is not apparent Stoops could presently get a head coaching job equivalent to the one he has.

Meanwhile, the $38 million buyout UK athletics would owe Stoops within 60 days of the coach’s dismissal “without cause” would seem a formidable barrier to the university initiating the termination process with its head football coach.

If Kentucky sticks with Stoops rather than pay a hefty buyout, it would make UK part of an emerging mini-trend.

In an era of revenue sharing with players when college athletics funds are tight, Florida State, Wisconsin and Maryland have all three already announced they will bring back embattled coaches Mike Norvell, Luke Fickell and Mike Locksley, respectively, rather than have to pay buyouts of $58.667 million (Norvell), $25 million (Fickell) and $13 million (Locksley) to fire the head men.

Even if Stoops and UK run it back for a 14th season in 2026, that does not mean Kentucky can stick to the same plan for its football program. Lest UK’s 2026 football season be perceived as the university just running out the clock waiting for Stoops’ contract buyout to drop, Kentucky needs something new.

In an era of college football free agency, that could start with the appointment of a veteran football executive to oversee UK’s personnel-acquisition apparatus.

There could be a major public push to gin up “legitimate NIL” opportunities that will pass muster with the College Sports Commission’s new clearinghouse. The idea would be to supply Kentucky football with additional funding to apply toward its roster construction.

Obviously, there could be coaching staff changes, though it remains debatable whether the most-discussed assistant change, at offensive coordinator, makes sense for a program that has already changed OCs four times in the current decade.

Whatever UK does, there needs to be a vigorous public-relations venture in which those with decision-making authority over the Kentucky football program communicate clearly and directly with Wildcats fans their vision for a better future.

Last offseason, the UK football program essentially maintained radio silence. While there was a rationale for that approach that I understood in what was a gnarly fan environment after a 4-8 season, saying nothing is not a sustainable, long-term approach.

Not all but some of the currently-discouraged UK fans could be won back with a new plan for success that is well communicated.

Even if Kentucky goes status quo in the head coach’s office in 2026, it needs a plan for change it can sell to a fan base, many members of which are presently somewhere in between despair and rebellion over the arc of the UK football program.

This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 7:00 AM.

Mark Story

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Mark Story has worked in the Lexington Herald-Leader sports department since Aug. 27, 1990, and has been a Herald-Leader sports columnist since 2001. I have covered every Kentucky-Louisville football game since 1994, every UK-U of L basketball game but three since 1996-97 and every Kentucky Derby since 1994. Support my work with a digital subscription