UK football needs a new coach. Now we find out if Kentucky has a path to one
After his team laid a dinosaur egg in our state’s marquee college football rivalry, Mark Stoops’ future as Kentucky coach hung over his postgame news conference.
Harkening back to his remarks earlier this season that there was a “0% chance” he would walk away from his job — or the $38 million contract buyout he would be owed if fired without cause — Stoops reiterated Saturday “zero means zero. I’m gonna be here as far as I am concerned.”
After a frigid afternoon in which Kentucky’s performance was even colder than the weather, it is getting increasingly difficult to argue for a 14th season for Stoops as UK head man. With bowl eligibility and the Governor’s Cup on the line, Kentucky was humiliated by Louisville on Saturday, falling 41-0 to Jeff Brohm’s Cardinals before an announced crowd of 50,634 at the L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
As bad as it was, the final score does not tell the full story of how horrid a loss this was for Stoops and his team.
U of L entered the game on a three-game losing skid.
Due to injuries, the Cardinals played without all four of their scholarship running backs.
The Cards were also without their leading receiver, Chris Bell.
Yet, with all that firepower missing, U of L still dominated UK in every phase. The Cards outgained the Cats 440-147.
Louisville’s defense sacked Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley six times and held UK to a net of 40 rushing yards.
The Cardinals’ special teams blocked one UK punt and “bothered” another, giving the U of L offense the ball on the Kentucky 10-yard line and the 37, respectively.
For Kentucky, it was an all-systems failure. It came against a foe that Stoops used to dominate, having beaten Louisville in six of seven meetings between 2016 and 2023.
“Not very proud of our effort here today,” Stoops said.
Now the questions in what shapes up as an unusually consequential offseason for Kentucky football move front and center.
Unless you are old enough to remember UK football in the 1950s, Stoops has been the best coach the Wildcats have had in your lifetime. His 82 “on the field” victories are the most ever for a Kentucky coach. The eight-year bowl streak he presided over from 2016 through 2023 was unprecedented for UK.
Heck, through 10 games of this season, Stoops had done a good coaching job, as reflected by the fact his team, which started 2-5, persevered and reached 5-5.
Alas, back-to-back defeats of 45-17 at Vanderbilt and Saturday’s 41-0 demolition by Louisville eroded that goodwill.
It is a genuine shame after what he has achieved for Kentucky that Stoops has ended up in this spot.
Nevertheless, over the past four seasons, UK has followed back-to-back disappointing 7-6 campaigns with two straight losing years of 4-8 (2024) and 5-7 (this season).
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Kentucky is 5-21 in its past 26 games against power-conference opponents.
UK’s struggles are not happening in a vacuum, either.
While the Kentucky ship is listing, Indiana sits 12-0 and will make the College Football Playoff for a second straight season. Vanderbilt entered the final week of the regular season needing one victory for a 10-win season. Louisville has won 27 games in the three seasons since Brohm returned home to coach his alma mater.
Given the gridiron successes of those other previously football-challenged “basketball schools,” it is easy to understand why Kentucky fans are apoplectic over the present state of UK’s football program.
After Saturday’s rout, I asked Stoops what he would tell Kentucky backers to convince them he can get the Wildcats program trending upward again.
“We’re going to try to build this roster. We’ve been in tough spots before, and we’re going to continue to improve,” Stoops said. “I mean, I love the young players that we have on our team. We have to get more depth. We have to be good across the board to play the schedule that we do. And you know, depth is a big issue. You know, we have to have enough players. And you know, we have a good quarterback (Boley) who is a redshirt freshman.”
There is young talent at Kentucky (if the Cats can keep it out of the transfer portal) but, at this point, it’s hard to imagine UK fans finding comfort in that messaging.
Of course, what makes this a complicated situation is that, by contract, the University of Kentucky will owe Stoops $38 million within 60 days of termination without cause.
I don’t think there is any chance UK can make that large a lump sum payment. Can the university get Stoops to negotiate?
So this is the trap that the University of Kentucky and athletics director Mitch Barnhart have created for themselves.
Kentucky has reached the point it needs to change football coaches. It is not presently apparent there is a realistic path to UK doing so.
This story was originally published November 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM.
