<a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/mark-stoops-132239/">Mark Stoops</a> is <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/kentucky-football-fires-mark-stoops-coaching-search-sec-football/">reportedly out at</a> <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/">Kentucky</a>, with <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/what-went-wrong-for-mark-stoops-kentucky-football-autopsy/">the Wildcats moving on from their all-time winningest coach</a> on Sunday. Now, even further details have been revealed of how that came about tonight.



Earlier tonight, <a href="https://x.com/KySportsRadio">Matt Jones</a> of KSR <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INI3m-Yv1AQ">reacted</a>, <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/rapid-reaction-the-mark-stoops-era-ends-at-kentucky/">alongside several experts across</a> <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/">Kentucky Sports Radio</a> <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/rapid-reaction-the-mark-stoops-era-ends-at-kentucky/">and</a> <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/cats-illustrated/">CatsIllustrated</a>, to Stoops’ firing at UK. He said it has been something that <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/kentucky-wildcats/news/kentucky-insider-gives-latest-on-mark-stoops-future-after-blowout-loss-in-governors-cup-louisville-cardinals/">was discussed and debated throughout the day</a> coming off their record of 5-7, which ended in two blowout losses to <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/the-dore-report/">Vanderbilt</a> and <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/cardinal-sports/">Louisville</a>, losing in <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/louisville-football-obliterates-kentucky-governors-cup-mark-stoops-hot-seat/">a 41-point shuout yesterday</a> in the Governor’s Cup, with new influence from some of the different powers that be now within the athletic department maybe helping to lead to this eventual decision by AD Mitch Barnhart.



“I’m a little surprised he pulled the trigger. I am. I mean, I started thinking, around 1 or 2 o’clock, he was going to do it, but I think I said earlier, even when I got asked is it going to happen, I was kind of like, eh, I just don’t know, man,” said Jones. “But, I think what happened, at it’s core, and I’m fairly confident about this. I think there was finally – okay, earlier today, I said I wasn’t thrilled about <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/kentucky-extends-partnership-with-jmi-sports-through-2040/">the new JMI thing</a>. I’m still not, but, I will say, this probably happened because <a href="https://pres.uky.edu/champions-blue-board">the new (Champions Blue Board of Governors)</a> and Board of Trustees made voices other than Mitch Barnhart and (President) Eli Capiluto in the room. My reasoning for always thinking this was unlikely to happen is that Mitch wouldn’t want to do it, Eli wouldn’t want to do it, and The Crafts were not going to push it. And so, if that were the case, Mitch doesn’t listen to anybody else, so, and he doesn’t know what’s going on, he doesn’t listen to social media. How is he even going to know?…But then I think he started hearing, I think, these other voices, that (Champions Blue Board of Governors) and some Board of Trustee people, and maybe even at least one political figure said something, and I think, at that point, they still left it up to Mitch, but he realized, oh, wait a minute, it’s not just crazy fans out there saying it. There are actually people that matter saying it, and then you ended up in this process.”



“I just think there were people who, there were more people who felt (frustrated),” said Jones. “<a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/uk-cant-run-this-back-as-is-and-expect-support-the-program-is-too-far-behind/">And, I mean, there were a lot of people, like, in the BBN that felt that way</a>. But I think there were more people in positions that are a little higher than people thought, and some of them expressed their voices. I think it took people by surprise.”



That said, nothing has been officially announced yet by Kentucky. Jones originally thought that was a result of further negotiations of how his buyout would be paid out, but that was taken back once he was made aware of <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/mark-stoops-agreed-to-restructured-buyout-with-kentucky/">newer reporting</a>, <a href="https://x.com/clowfb/status/1995331563454652545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1995331563454652545%7Ctwgr%5Ebdb7adab9d53ff1fa05e0eeb158e0343ebd3cfcf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.on3.com%2Fteams%2Fkentucky-wildcats%2Fnews%2Fmark-stoops-agreed-to-restructured-buyout-with-kentucky%2F">per On3’s Chris Low</a>, <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/mark-stoops-agreed-to-restructured-buyout-with-kentucky/">that the now-former head coach would be willing to restructure his buyout</a> in different increments than the originally agreed-upon timeline of two months.



“I’ve heard Mitch has played hardball. That’s why I didn’t put it out from 5:30 on, because I still think they don’t have a deal. But I also think they realized that they’re, like, we can’t keep these Kentucky fans up all night or they’re going to go crazy,” said Jones. “And so, that’s how we got here. But I still don’t think they have a deal.”



“They weren’t going to be able to do it. And so, I can tell you, by like 7 o’clock, that wasn’t their position,” Jones said of the new information regarding the buyout. “That’s a massive thing, and that was not his position earlier…But, that’s a big deal, and I’m going to give him credit. <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/mark-stoops-doubles-down-on-future-at-kentucky-zero-percent-chance-i-walk-away/">He didn’t have to do that</a>, and I actually think that’s a goodwill gesture on the way out.”



Much has been reported on this process today, and more on how it all went down should be tomorrow once this likely becomes fully official in Lexington. Jones, though, shared more on what went on behind closed doors this evening that ended what was a thirteen-year tenure for Stoops at Kentucky.

Kentucky HC Mark Stoops

Kentucky Wildcats Football

Kentucky

Mark Stoops firing: Kentucky insider reveals new details from Sunday meetings

Southeastern Conference

Organization Logo

Teams

Fan Sites

Forums

Shows

team-link

College Football News

College Football Player Rankings

College Football Rankings

College Football Playoff

College Basketball News

Women's Sports

College

NIL News

NIL Valuation

NIL Deals

NIL Deal Tracker

Sports Business

Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal

Transfer Portal Rankings

Transfer Portal Team Rankings

Transfer Portal

NCAA Transfer Portal Home

Football Recruiting

Basketball Recruiting

Database

Team Rankings

Player Rankings

Industry Comparison

Commitments

Recruiting Prediction Machine

Recruiting

High School News

Schools

High School Search

Rankings

High School Rankings

Scores

High School Scores

High School

NFL Draft

NFL Draft News

Draft By Stars

College Draft History

College Draft Totals

NBA Draft

NBA Draft News

Draft

NASCAR

Culture

Sports Betting

About

On3 App

Advertise

Press

Contact

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

News

Roster

Schedule

Kentucky Draft History

[site-name] Draft History

Transfers

FB Recruiting

BB Recruiting

Fan Site

Team Store

team image

Kentucky - KSR

KSR+

KSBoard

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Mark Stoops firing: Kentucky insider reveals new details from Sunday meetings

OSU hires OC

Instant Impact

Coach K

Jordan Seaton

Dabo Swinney