How did Kentucky avoid implosion? 'You swing, I'm gonna swing back.'

Mark Stoops was staring down the barrel of his 13-year career as the head coach at Kentucky coming to an end, winless in the SEC coming off three-touchdown losses in three of four with the outlier being a heartbreaker against Texas that saw the Wildcats win every category but the one that matters. A loss on the Plains against an Auburn program looking for any reason to fire its coach would almost certainly seal his fate.

Then the Cats pulled off a 10-3 stunner as a double-digit underdog, Stoops emotional on the field talking with SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang after the final whistle.

“We have been up and down, like a lot of people. It is tough,” he said. “I am just grateful for this team and these players. They hung in there, they believe, they don’t flinch. I love them. … It means an awful lot. It’s one victory, but we’ve been through a lot, and it has been a long time, let’s be honest. So it means a lot. It’s emotional.

“You are trying to get me to cry.”

Mark Stoops postgame interview pic.twitter.com/0Cox5WbNfY

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) November 2, 2025

It was a feel-good moment for a team and staff that had hit rock bottom and was working tirelessly to turn things around without letting go of the rope. His guys refused to give up, no matter the outside noise growing louder by the day, and it led to tangible results.

But they weren’t remotely close to finishing the task at hand, Stoops’ seat still hot — just leveling off a bit, buying at least another week. Then the Wildcats went out and steamrolled the Florida Gators in historic fashion, the 38-7 victory being the largest margin of victory for Kentucky in league play in nearly three decades when they beat Vanderbilt by 38 points in 1998. It was also the largest margin of victory against UF since 1950 while also beating them in three straight home matchups for the first time since 1950 to 1955.

Squint and you can now see an eight-win season sitting right there for the taking, defeating Tennessee Tech in the home finale before taking care of business in two winnable road battles at Vanderbilt and Louisville to reach 7-5 and bowl eligibility where you enter postseason play as red-hot as Stoops’ seat was leaving that Tennessee loss to close out October.

Now, just like things stood leaving the Auburn win, all it takes is an ugly performance next week and a loss or two to end the regular season. Whatever good will the head coach has re-earned could slip right through his fingers again and find himself looking for a new job after Thanksgiving. It’s about stacking weeks at this point, and for now, Stoops is two for two.

How did he do it without anyone in that building imploding over the last 14 days?

“I mean, that’s what we do,” Stoops said Saturday evening. “We have a great staff, and the coaches have done a great job. I care, you know what I mean? I’ve worked hard with the team just in relationships, and that goes way back into last winter, into the summer — for each other, everybody invests in each other. And they believe.”

Things have been ugly and you don’t rack up a 770-day SEC home losing streak by accident — no excuses there — but the messaging has been the same through it all. Stoops can be bruised and bloodied, down to the last round or two, but he’s going to keep on fighting until the final bell. It’s just who he is not only as a coach, but as an old kid from Youngstown.

Knock him down and he’s gonna try his best to get off the mat. And he’s felt that same buy-in with everyone around him in the football facilities.

“For me, it’s easy. You know that. I think you know me — you swing, I’m gonna swing back. That’s easy,” Stoops said. “But it’s not always easy to get everybody to do that, 150 people in our building to do that and be on the same page. And I’m proud of the group effort. The coaches, the players, everybody, we’re all in this together.

“There’s never been one bit — I think you know that. You’ve covered me for a long time — there’s never been one inch of hesitancy from me. There’s gonna be no flinching, no worries. Gonna work extremely hard. I care about this university, the people who have given me this opportunity, the fans.

“We’re gonna bang away, and we’re not gonna stop.”

It continues with another statement against Tennessee Tech next weekend, followed by a fight for bowl eligibility in each of the final two road games. Can Stoops push his way to two or even three to pull off one of the most remarkable end-of-year turnarounds in recent memory? The ball is in his court.