Anonymous SEC coaches sound off on Mark Stoops: "This is a make-or-break year."

Big Blue Nation is in a show me, don’t tell me stage with Kentucky football under Mark Stoops — season ticket sales down 12.7 percent and just a few hundred fans showing up for the spring game. It comes on the heels of back-to-back seven-win campaigns leading to a disastrous 4-8 finish in 2024, the program needing a total culture reset this offseason for any hope of a turnaround under the current administration.

Stoops got choked up talking about his desire to get the train back on the track, a chance to be a part of the change before the possibility of a new conductor is discussed. It won’t be a perfect season in 2025, but he’s certain it’ll be one that will make the fanbase proud.

“I love this place. I’ve been here 12 years, going on 13, and I promise you — I’ll be honest with you, I’m emotional right now talking about it because my ass wants to get back to the office and get to work to make this team better,” Stoops told KSR in March. “That’s what I can guarantee you. I can guarantee you that they’re going to play with the same level of competitiveness that we’ve always had, the same chip on our shoulder, the same discipline.

“We’re not going to be perfect, but we’re going to play hard and we’re going to do things right.”

FanDuel has the line set at 4.5 wins for Kentucky in 2025 while DraftKings has it at 5.5, the Wildcats taking on one of the ten most difficult schedules in college football with early spread projections indicating Kentucky will only be favored to win four games.

What do Stoops’ competitors think of the veteran coach as he takes on this overwhelming challenge in the fall? Well, they’re not sold, to put it lightly.

Athlon Sports is preparing fans for the release of the outlet’s annual College Football Preview by sharing anonymous SEC coaches’ comments about their opponents this season, those quotes set to be featured in the 2025 print magazine. When asked about Kentucky, the conference foes were not optimistic a turnaround was on the table in Lexington, questioning the staff’s ability to do what it takes to win in this transfer portal/NIL era while calling it a make-or-break season for Stoops.

“The recipe for Kentucky’s success under [Mark] Stoops isn’t there right now, unless they hit on every portal guy they brought in and [Zach] Calzada is significantly better than he was the last time in the league,” one SEC coach said.

“They weren’t aggressive or physical on the lines last season. They didn’t really play like those Mark Stoops teams that would beat you up,” another added.

“Stoops doesn’t seem like the guy who’s going to radically adjust to win in this NIL and portal era, and it’s starting to show up on the field,” said a different SEC staff member.”

Could it lead to a dismissal? His contract is ‘very friendly,’ as another coach said, but the Wildcats are falling back behind the programs they worked so hard to surpass when Stoops first took the job — let alone competing for one of the top spots in the league.

The road ahead is a tough one.

“This is a make-or-break year for the future of this program,” the coach said. “He’s got a very friendly contract that makes him hard to fire, but right now, it’s hard to look at the overall roster here and think they’re keeping pace with programs like Vanderbilt and South Carolina, who changed with the time.”

99 days away from the start of a very important Kentucky football season.