REPORT: Texas A&M Site Expects Mark Stoops to be Aggies' next head coach

Hours after securing the highest-ranked win of his head coaching career, Mark Stoops is firmly in the middle of a major job opening on the college football coaching carousel.

After countless reports surfaced Saturday morning tying the Kentucky head coach to Texas A&M’s vacancy, Rivals website Aggie Yell reports that “barring a last minute collapse,” Mark Stoops is expected to be A&M’s next head football coach.

Stoops is the longest tenured head coach in Kentucky football history. After 11 seasons he has tallied a 72-64 record with two 10-win campaigns in Lexington.

Early week whispers around the college football world turned into reports from college football insiders across the country on Saturday. Following Kentucky’s 38-31 win over Louisville, KSR asked Stoops about his connections to the Texas A&M coaching vacancy.

“Come on. You know better than that. This is a big win for our state and our program and our team,” said Stoops. “You know how good I’ve been, keeping the focus and concentration on this team and that’s all it is.”

Texas A&M paid a $76 million buyout to terminate Jimbo Fisher in early November. After finishing No. 4 in the AP Poll in 2020, the Aggies were just 19-15 over the last three seasons with nine straight losses on the road. Prior to taking the his first head coaching position at Kentucky following the 2012 season, he served as Jimbo Fisher’s defensive coordinator at Florida State.

UPDATE (10:39 pm): Another Report Tying Stoops to Texas A&M

The dominos are beginning to fall. The Texas A&M 247 Sports website reports Stoops is expected to be the next head coach in Aggieland. For those who aren’t well acquainted with procedural matters in modern coaching searches, the next step is a report from a Bruce Feldman, Pete Thamel or a Ross Dellenger that Texas A&M is “targeting” Stoops to be their next head coach. Some, like Michigan State Saturday morning, skip that step with an official announcement from the athletic director.

KSR will be on standby with the news as it breaks.

UPDATE (10:56): Deal Not Done

Two Sports Illustrated reporters, Richard Johnson and Pat Forde, report that Stoops has emerged as the leading candidate for the Texas A&M head coaching vacancy, but a deal is not yet done. That means we will likely have to wait until Sunday for official news to break. FootballScoop echoed that sentiment:

Mark Stoops, the second-longest tenured head coach in the Southeastern Conference, has emerged as “an extremely serious” figure in the search, Texas A&M’s “leading candidate” and the candidate who “has all the momentum,” numerous sources told FootballScoop throughout the day Saturday and late into Saturday night.

Football Scoop

Other Big Names Emerge in Texas A&M Coaching Search

As the Kentucky Wildcats rode the bus back to Lexington, another bomb was dropped in the coaching search. Brent Zwerneman, the Houston Chronicle reporter that broke Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC, reported Dabo Swinney is a a serious player in the Texas A&M coaching search. Similar to Stoops Saturday morning, the news was shared only a few hours before Clemson kicked off against South Carolina.

I will add this: Any reports that say Mark Stoops to Texas A&M is a done deal are premature and inaccurate.

— Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) November 26, 2023

Meanwhile, another possibility hangs in the balance. There were multiple reports that Ryan Day could be an option for Texas A&M if he lost to Michigan. Well, the Ohio State coach just lost his third straight rivalry game. The pastures might look greener in Bryan College Station if he does not have to play the Wolverines every year to end the season.

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