Paul Finebaum reacts to Texas hiring former Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops to staff

On3’s Chris Low confirmed a report on Monday, saying Mark Stoops had been hired by Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns as a special assistant. Stoops just saw a 13-year stint in Lexington end at Kentucky, getting fired at the conclusion of the 2025 season. Now, his career continues in Austin to help Texas, presumably on the defensive end.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum reacted to the news shortly after it broke, providing a question on the matter. He wondered exactly what Stoops would do for the Longhorns, especially since Will Muschamp was just hired as the defensive coordinator. But at the same time, Finebaum said this is a good move for Stoops while collecting a check from UK.

“The question I have is, didn’t he just hire Will Muschamp?” Finebaum said Monday via The Paul Finebaum Show. “How many people have two ex-SEC coaches? Now, (Nick) Saban used to, I think. But he has two ex-SEC coaches. One is the DC and the other one as what? We don’t know. It’s one thing if you had a 28-year-old defensive coordinator that you wanted to bring a mentor to.

“But Will Muschamp is probably the same age as Mark Stoops. It just goes to show once you’re a former coach, you are probably going to be a coach or analyst somewhere. So, good for Mark Stoops. He lands in Austin while he gets to collect his buyout money.”

Finebaum mentions Saban, who repeatedly brought former head coaches into his program. Sarkisian credits Saban for doing so with him after getting fired by USC. Working at Alabama led to him getting the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator job before returning to Tuscaloosa, and eventually getting hired by Texas. There are multiple other examples of Saban making similar hires.

Now, Sarkisian has brought the practice with him to Texas. Stoops is just the latest. Former TCU head coach Gary Patterson wore burnt orange in 2022, having the title of special assistant to the head coach. Paul Chryst and Neal Brown, formerly of Wisconsin and West Virginia, were also on staff at one point. All of them were fired by their respective schools.

Coaches are still going to look for work, especially if they are cashing a large buyout from their former employer. On3 | Rivals’ KSR provided a report on the Stoops buyout, saying he will receive over $37 million over the course of two years. So while the money rolls in over the next year, at least some time will be spent on the 40 Acres.