Understanding LSU buzz surrounding Mark Stoops

The coaching carousel is off and running despite two more weekends remaining in the 2021 regular season. On Friday morning, a huge bomb dropped in the Bluegrass, and it had to do with Mark Stoops.

On Kentucky Sports Radio, Matt Jones reported that Stoops has been contacted regarding the head coach opening at LSU.

“Mark Stoops has been contacted via a third party for the LSU job,” Jones reported. “… I think there are — and I speak about this not with complete knowledge, but some knowledge — there are probably seven jobs or less that I think Mark Stoops would seriously consider leaving here for. I think LSU is one of those seven.”

Buzz is building and online rumors are rampant. What does it all mean? KSR is here to try and break everything down.

LSU’s Scott Woodward has a track record

LSU hired Scott Woodward for one reason and one reason only — the athletic director has a prestigious track record when it comes to hiring big-name coaches.

While at Washington, Woodward hired Chris Petersen when no one thought he’d leave Boise State. Petersen would lead the Huskies to the playoff in 2015. At Texas A&M, Woodward hired Jimbo Fisher from Florida State. The Aggies now seem on the verge of winning their first national championship as Fisher continues to upgrade the roster with elite recruiting. Woodward also hired Buzz Williams at A&M after he led Virginia Tech to three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.

At LSU, Woodward got women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey to leave Baylor for LSU despite winning multiple national championships in Waco. In baseball, many guessed wrong before Woodward hired Jay Johnson from Arizona after a Pac-12 title and College World Series berth.

The man hires big-name coaches. Everyone outside of Fisher and possibly Williams came as at least a moderate surprise. Woodward is looking for the same thing at LSU.

With big names come huge money. Fisher, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker, and Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley were the first three names associated with the search. Fisher received a raise before the season that pays him more than $9 million per year. Tucker is on the verge of signing a monster contract extension. Reports say that Riley was going to be offered near $100 million, but that was quickly shot down.

Almost daily, big names throughout the coaching world are getting linked to this job. That is how Woodward tends to operate.

We won’t know much until next weekend is over and the search comes to a conclusion.

Jimmy Sexton’s world

For those not familiar with the college football carousel world, you have probably never heard this name. However, super-agent Jimmy Sexton is the ringmaster in this realm.

Working for CAA, Sexton’s client list is filled with A-list names throughout the college football world.

• Nick Saban
• Lane Kiffin
• Dan Mullen
• Kirby Smart
• Steve Sarkisian
• Hugh Freeze

Who does Sexton also represent? Jimbo Fisher and Mark Stoops. Both now appear to be two legit coaching targets for LSU.

VERY Good LSU source just saw my report and told me the LSU list is this

1. Jimbo Fischer
2. Bill O Brien
3. Mark Stoops

In that order

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 19, 2021

Part of an agent’s job is to play the game. That means getting his guys paid. Names are often leaked to get a current school to give their current employee a contract extension, facility upgrade, or more funds in the assistant coach salary pool.

Mark Stoops has mentioned publicly multiple times this season about a need for a new or renovated indoor practice facility. Yet, we’ve heard nothing concrete from the university administration regarding this upgrade request.

Coaching searches are done out of the public’s viewpoint, but leverage can be had in contract negotiations when the public is involved. That is something to always remember when names are dropped in the media when the coaching carousel is going on.

There is not always smoke when there’s fire, but the majority of the time there is. The hard part is figuring out the reason behind certain name drops.

If Stoops is the No. 3 guy for LSU, that could give the coach and his agent leverage for money in their pockets and upgrades to facilities in the program.

Mark Stoops should be considered a top candidate

The first three years in Lexington were rough for the former Florida State defensive coordinator. Kentucky was just 12-24 and on their third offensive coordinator in four seasons.

Mark Stoops faced legitimate job pressure entering 2016. Since then, the program has been on one of its best runs in history.

Since the beginning of that season, Kentucky is 44-29 with a .500 record in SEC play. The program is set to play in its sixth bowl game in six years and has a great shot at finishing the year ranked, and with double-digit wins for the second time in four years.

So far, Liam Coen appears to have fixed the offensive issues in Lexington, and the coaching staff is slowly raising the program’s recruiting ceiling. Players are getting drafted, and records are being set every year.

That track record of success should be attractive to a lot of blue blood programs. Stoops has handled adversity, hired good coaches consistently, and kept the wagon moving forward despite some bumps in the road along the way.

When digging into his contract situation, hiring could also be feasible. Per Jon Hale of the Courier-Journal, Kentucky has a buyout of just $1.75 million if Stoops were to leave for another job. That is chump change for any major athletic organization.

Even if the LSU thing does not happen, expect Mark Stoops to be brought up in multiple coaching searches down the road.

Patience is required

It has been nearly a decade since the University of Kentucky was involved in a major coaching search. Things have changed a ton since then, and social media has a much heavier presence in today’s climate.

Leaks get out much easier, and the searches can be overwhelming to follow. We might just be scratching the surface in this LSU search.

Over the next 10 days, we’ll see some more names emerge as candidates. Meanwhile, Scott Woodward and his team will continue their work behind the scenes as the Fighting Tigers looked for a new head coach to lead them back to national prominence.

For those on the other side of the curtain, we must stay patient. All this scuttlebutt could just create some much-needed momentum for the Kentucky football program or it could backfire.

We just need to let the cake bake.