The problem isn’t Mark Stoops’ new contract, it’s the lack of transparency

The timing could have been better, which is probably why we are just now finding out about Mark Stoops’ contract extension.

As reported by the Herald-Leader’s Jon Hale, the Kentucky football coach actually signed his new extension on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. UK President Eli Capilouto and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart signed the extension the same day.

The next day, Saturday, Nov. 12, Stoops’ Wildcats lost to Vanderbilt 24-21 at Kroger Field. The victory snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak by the Commodores. It dropped UK’s record to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the SEC in a season in which the Wildcats were picked to finish second in the Eastern Division by league media.

In the meantime, the press release attached to Stoops’ contract has yet to be released. I think we know why.

It says here that Stoops was deserving of a new deal. He’s the all-time winningest coach in program history. Before this year he had produced two 10-win teams in the last four seasons. In 2018 he produced the program’s first winning SEC record since 1977, then repeated the feat in 2021. His teams have won four consecutive bowl games.

To be sure, this year has been a disappointment. Once 4-0 and ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25, the Cats must beat Louisville on Saturday to avoid a break-even regular season. Overall, however, Stoops has done yeoman’s work taking over a team that went 2-10 in 2012 and building a program that now produces NFL Draft picks, conference wins, bowl victories and respect around the nation’s toughest conference.

He’s now 65-58 in a difficult job. This is his 10th year, the longest tenure by a football coach in UK history. He’s 28-30 in the SEC over the last seven seasons. That conference mark might not look impressive until you remember that from 1978 through 2017, Kentucky never had a season in which it won more conference games than it lost.

“I think there’s a major league respect for Kentucky in our program because the kids that have played against Kentucky, it’s been a bloodbath, man,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said last week before his top-ranked Bulldogs beat UK 16-6 at Kroger Field on Saturday. “So, our guys respect Kentucky, I respect Coach Stoops and what they did last week has no relevance to what they’ll do this week.”

In fact, Stoops’ new deal represents another step forward. It removes the incentives that awarded Stoops a $250,000 bonus and an automatic extension with a season’s ninth win and beyond. Instead, Stoops’ significant bonuses are directed at high-bar achievements, such as New Year’s Six bowl games or College Football Playoffs.

Instead, UK is guaranteeing Stoops more money up front. In fact, his base salary jumps to $9 million, starting in February 2023 through June 2031. It also raises his buyout from $1.75 million to $4.25 million.

That’s all monopoly money, of course, and always subject to change. Coaching salaries are going nowhere but up and will continue to do so as long as television rights fees continue to climb. And while Stoops will now reportedly make more than UK basketball coach John Calipari, look for that to quickly change, as well. After all, Cal has a lifetime deal. And the devil in the details makes all contracts relative.

And before the Vanderbilt loss, at least, this was the first time in the Stoops tenure that you heard the coach seriously mentioned on lists for openings at other schools.

The problem is not the terms of Stoops’ new contract. The problem is the lack of transparency. It’s as if UK was trying to hide the deal for fear of fan reaction after the loss to Vanderbilt, that it didn’t want to take a potential public relations hit from an unhappy fan base.

Perhaps it had its fingers crossed that Kentucky would upset No. 1-ranked Georgia on Saturday, or at least beat archrival Louisville this Saturday before making the official announcement. Instead, word got out. Sooner or later, it always does.

Actually, the non-announcement fits the narrative of this 2022 season, when routine matters have turned into anything but routine.

This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 1:10 PM.

John Clay

Lexington Herald-Leader

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John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription