Mark Stoops proud of his longevity at Kentucky: 'Nobody knew I'd be here 12 years'

When Nick Saban retired in January, Mark Stoops became the longest-tenured head coach in the SEC. 2024 will be his 12th season leading the Kentucky football program.

Stoops, the winningest head coach in UK history, explained his perspective to his holding the same position in a college football landscape that sees coaching turnover on a yearly basis.

“Nobody knew I’d be here 12 years. I’m very grateful,” Stoops said on the Paul Finebuam Show on Thursday. “And I was saying this earlier, and [UK SID] Tony [Neely] gives me some good insight and some information, but I mean, there’s been 19 coaches in the history of this league that stay 12 years. Obviously Coach Saban was 18, and there are some pretty good names on that list. Well, I’m proud to be a part of that.

“And I’m proud to be at Kentucky. I think I’ve told you this before, and it’s true. I feel like I’m a very good fit there. I feel like you know, I really like it there. I feel like I’m well received. That doesn’t mean everybody’s always going to like it. It’s a hard job, but I embrace it and I’m grateful to be there.”

While fans in Lexington appear to be content with Stoops’ tenure, year 12 in Lexington almost never happened.

After the end of Kentucky’s bowl season, it was widely reported that Stoops was heavily pursued by Texas A&M to be their next head coach. It appeared to be a done deal before it was waived off at the 11th hour. Mike Elko was eventually hired for that position and Stoops returned to Kentucky to prepare for year 12.

Now, Stoops can focus on improving the Wildcats from their consecutive 7-6 finishes over the past two seasons. Twice has Stoops lead Kentucky to 10-win seasons — both of which resulted in Citrus Bowl victories. However, the Wildcats haven’t been able to break through that ceiling under their longtime head coach. Vegas set UK’s preseason win total odds at 7.5, meaning oddsmakers don’t expect them to eclipse that 10-win mark in 2024.

While Kentucky hasn’t been able to replicate its 2021 season in the years since, they’re still more consistant than ever having been to a program record eight bowl games, including four-straight from 2018-2021.

They’ll look to turn that around in Stoops’ 12th year beginning on Aug. 31 against Southern Miss for the season opener. SEC play begins early for the Wildcats as well, hosting South Carolina for a Week 2 clash.