ESPN puts Mark Stoops on Way-Too-Early Hot Seat

The coaching carousel was relatively calm following the 2024 season. Can you name another coaching change aside from Bill Belichick to North Carolina? Probably not. That means things are due to get a little crazy during the next coaching carousel and ESPN believes Kentucky’s head coach might be in the mix.

Kentucky just finished a 4-8 campaign. It’s Mark Stoops’ worst record since his first season in Lexington. Kentucky didn’t score more than 20 points in an SEC game all season. There’s a reason why his approval rating among Big Blue Nation is as low as it’s been in about a decade.

As bad as 2024 was, one year cannot undo all the good Mark Stoops has done for the Kentucky football program. It’s not just the eight straight bowl games or the two 10-win seasons. He made an SEC cellar-dweller a respected program with an identity, albeit one that feels like it’s slipping away.

There’s no denying that 2025 is a big year for the longest-tenured head coach in the SEC. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg isn’t too naive to avoid the noise, but he’s throwing Stoops in the “We want this to work” tier of his way-too-early hot seat list. He’s in the same company as three other SEC head coaches, Brent Venables, Hugh Freeze, and Kalen DeBoer.

“Stoops has brought historic consistency to Kentucky and remained there when other opportunities surfaced,” Rittenberg writes. “He made bowls every season from 2016 to 2023, twice finishing in the AP top-20. But most SEC coaches can’t survive two rough seasons and Kentucky had very few brought spots last fall, other than its road upset of Ole Miss. The Wildcats averaged just 20.6 points and 330.4 yards per game, and failed to eclipse 20 points in any SEC game.

“Stoops can secure his status with a bowl appearance in 2025, but a tough September and October schedule will make things challenging. He’s signed through the 2030 season and earned $9 million in 2024. Kentucky would owe him 75% of his remaining salary if it made a change in 2025, which seems unlikely barring a repeat (or worse) of what we saw this fall.”

The 2025 Kentucky Football Schedule is a Bear

There’s a line Rittenberg used that is especially important. “Most SEC coaches can’t survive two rough seasons.” Shane Beamer and Clark Lea recently reversed course after posting losing records, but there is no precedent at Kentucky. Once bowl streaks end, a coach’s tenure soon follows.

It’s not just about making a bowl game. There are other damning notes to the recent play of Mark Stoops’ Cats. Kentucky is 3-14 over its last 17 games against power conference foes and 2-11 in its last 13 SEC home games. It’s not going to get any easier next year. The talent level will be near the bottom of the SEC, while they’re playing one of the most difficult schedules in the league. Arch Manning, D.J. Lagway, and Nico Iamaleava will be heralded as the best QBs in the sport, and they’re all coming to Kroger Field.

Aug. 30: vs. Toledo – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Sept 6: vs. Ole Miss – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Sep. 13: vs. Eastern Michigan – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Sept. 20: OPEN
Sept. 27: at South Carolina – Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, SC)
Oct. 4: at Georgia – Sanford Stadium (Athens, GA)
Oct. 11: OPEN
Oct. 18: vs. Texas – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Oct. 25: vs. Tennessee – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Nov. 1: at Auburn- Jordan-Hare Stadium (Auburn, AL)
Nov. 8: vs. Florida – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Nov. 15: vs. Tennessee Tech – Kroger Field (Lexington, KY)
Nov. 22: at Vanderbilt – FirstBank Stadium (Nashville, TN)
Nov. 29: at Louisville – L&N Stadium (Louisville, KY)

How many of those games will Kentucky have to win to cool Stoops’ seat? Probably more than they can pull off.