How Mark Stoops contract, pressure situation ruined the potential Texas A&M move

There seemed a very realistic possibility that Mark Stoops could leave Kentucky for Texas A&M as of Saturday afternoon. Multiple outlets reported that Stoops was a candidate for the Aggies head coaching vacancy just hours before the Wildcats were set to kick off against Louisville in the regular season finale.

Just as quickly as the buzz grew, however, it died down. Stoops led UK to a 38-31 victory against the Cardinals and addressed the situation on Twitter following the game. He revealed that he was “contacted about a potential opportunity” but had decided to stay in Lexington for the long haul.

On3‘s Andy Staples broke down what led to the talks falling through on his Sunday podcast with Nick Roush of Kentucky Sports Radio, beginning with Stoops’ current contract.

“He makes an average of $9 million a year in this deal, which runs through 2030,” Staples said. “It’s 75% guaranteed, so if they were to fire him for cause right now it’d be $45 million. You’re talking about a contract that is not all that different from the one Texas A&M just bought out, which I think is ultimately what happened when they presented that contract.

“From what I understand, Stoops was never actually offered the job. It was kind of pending Board of Regents approval of the contract. The Board of Regents looked at the contract and were like, ‘this is way too close to the Jimbo thing and it’s not Ryan Day.’ It’s not what they would consider a slam dunk hire. So that’s where it sort of stopped.”

The Aggies owe Jimbo Fisher nearly $77 million in buyout money after their decision to fire the coach this offseason. That is the largest buyout in the history of college football, so A&M wanted to be careful with how it constructed its new contract.

It was later announced that the Aggies had hired Duke coach Mike Elko, who was the defensive coordinator under Fisher from 2018-21. Details for Elko’s contract have not yet been released.

With that being the case, it seems Stoops is ready to return for his 12th season in Lexington. He is already the winningest coach in program history with a 73-64 career record. He’s also twice led the Wildcats to 10-win seasons, a big milestone at a program that has only done so four times overall.

As Roush went on to explain, UK simply seems like the right spot for Stoops.

“There was always something about this job that fit,” he said. “Mark Stoops, he’s raised the fort at the University of Kentucky. The investment that he’s got into this football program is unprecedented. It’s not that he isn’t a proven commodity in this league and in this conference playing against a challenging schedule, but it is the fact that he’s the Midwest coach that’s coaching the northern-most SEC program. Going to Texas would be a little different.

I know Bob had a ton of success at Oklahoma, but it would be different. The other part of this, too, is that you were tired of the Jimbo style. The bad offense. His last job was with Jimbo coaching defense. So that part of it always felt a little off to me. It did make sense from Stoops’ perspective that there wouldn’t have been a better time for him to walk away than to knock off a top 10 Louisville team. Get another 7-5 season and then the table’s kind of set for the next guy. He wouldn’t have felt bad. It would’ve felt like a step up going to A&M.”

Ultimately, the reason Stoops didn’t work out at A&M had to do with the contract, as already mentioned, but also the level of expectations. Although he has certainly raised interest in the program at Kentucky, it’d be nowhere near what he’d face in College Station, where a national championship is on the agenda.

For that reason, it’s likely better for both sides the way things worked out.

“I think the timing would’ve worked out well,” Roush said. “I don’t think the fit did. That’s always going to be hard for whatever the next school is to hire him because of what he’s paid at Kentucky. There’s not national championship expectations, but there is kind of A&M expectations now where they’re expecting 9-3 or 8-4.”