Mark Stoops addresses retirement rumors, stepping down at Kentucky: 'Zero percent chance I do that'

Marks Stoops has made himself clear on his future as the head coach of Kentucky.

During his press conference on Monday, Stoops disputed some of the rumors that he’d be retiring or at least stepping down from the job at season’s end.

“Very briefly? Zero. Zero percent chance I do that,” Stoops stated. “Next question.”

This comes after speculation to end this season that this could be potentially Stoops’ last in Lexington, if not in the sport entirely. Kentucky would not have been firing him considering his career there along with his contract’s buyout there being a total of $44 million.

This was the case with the Wildcats currently having a record of 3-6 overall as they’re likely to have their first losing season since 2020 and their first in a full year since 2015. It includes a current four-game losing streak between their two bye weeks as they haven’t won since September 28th – albeit with that being a road upset of Ole Miss in the Top-10. They do have that win in Oxford and closer losses to Georgia and Tennessee too but have also lost to South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida, and Auburn by an average margin of 18.5 points per loss.

Stoops is the longest-tenured coach in the SEC with this being his dozenth season at UK. He is the winningest coach in school history over that span with a record of 76-71 (.517), including a mark of 61-41 (.598) from 2016 to 2023 where they’ve made eight consecutive bowl berths. That stretch also features two finishes of 10-3 overall, five years being ranked at some point in the AP Poll, and three years of being ranked at some point for the College Football Playoff.

Kentucky has three games left against Murray State, at Texas, and Louisville in what some thought might be Stoops’ final ones in the bluegrass. However, that’s not what he’s thinking with no thought of him not being back for next season at UK.

“You know, we still have a quarter of the season left. So, you know, it’s up to us on how we decide to finish,” said Stoops. “I trust our team, I believe in our team, and, you know, we’ll be excited to get back on the field today and start our prep for Murray.”