Just one day after his 13-year tenure at <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/">Kentucky</a> came to an end, head coach <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/mark-stoops-132239/">Mark Stoops</a> has released a statement.



“To all of my former players, coaches, staffers, and the Big Blue Nation, from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Stoops wrote. “Coaching at Kentucky the last 13 years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I’ve felt your support, your pride, and your love every single day. Kentucky has become my home and I’ll be forever grateful to have been your head coach.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="1024" src="https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-820x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-4004399" srcset="https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-820x1024.jpeg 820w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-240x300.jpeg 240w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1-40x50.jpeg 40w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2025/12/02145129/Stoops-1.jpeg 1639w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



Stoops was hired at Kentucky prior to the 2013 season and was the longest-tenured SEC head coach prior to his firing on Monday. Over his 13-year tenure in Lexington, Stoops led the ‘Cats to an 82-80 (38-68) record with eight consecutive bowl game appearances from 2016-2023. He leaves the position as the winningest head coach in program history.



After making those eight straight postseason appearances, the last two seasons have been rough for the program. In that span, Kentucky compiled a 9-15 (3-13) record and failed to make a bowl game. It looked as if Stoops may have saved his job with three straight wins over <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/auburn-tigers/">Auburn</a>, <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/florida-gators/">Florida</a>, and <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/tennessee-tech-golden-eagles/">Tennessee Tech</a> to get to 5-5 this season, but blowout losses to No. 14 <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/the-dore-report/">Vanderbilt</a> (45-17) and <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/cardinal-sports/">Louisville</a> (41-0) to end the year gashed all hope of that. 



The program moved fast in naming a new head coach in former <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/oregon-ducks/">Oregon</a> offensive coordinator <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/will-stein-177513/">Will Stein</a>. Stein, a native of Louisville, KY, had been the Ducks play-caller for the past three seasons. Although he is assuming duties at Kentucky, he will continue to call plays for Oregon throughout the College Football Playoff.



“Growing up in Kentucky and sitting in the stands at UK games as a kid, I could only dream of one day leading the Wildcats,” Stein <a href="https://x.com/UKFootball/status/1995943519052001558?s=20">wrote in a statement</a>. “This is truly a dream come true.”



No matter what the future holds for Mark Stoops, he will forever be remembered as one of the best (if not the best) head coaches in the history of Kentucky Football.

Mark-Stoops-releases-first-statement-after-being-fired-as-Kentucky-head-coach

On3 Football

Mark Stoops releases first statement after being fired as Kentucky head coach

team image

The Main Board

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

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

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

Kentucky

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

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

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Mark Stoops releases first statement after being fired as Kentucky head coach

Cooper Barkate

Mark Pope

Gary Patterson

Crain & Cone

Transfer Portal Intel