How Much Mark Stoops' Last Contract Extension Could Cost Kentucky

The lucrative contract extension Mark Stoops signed in 2022 has become a daily part of conversation around Big Blue Nation. What exactly is in it and why was it signed?

Let’s start with the second question. Kentucky had just rattled off two 10-win seasons in four years. They started the 2022 campaign 4-0, including a win over Anthony Richardson and No. 12 Florida, when Scott Frost was fired at Nebraska. CBS listed Stoops as the top candidate for the job, and he was included in nearly every Hot Board for the position. Stoops had to answer questions about his interest in the job on his call-in show.

“It’s been a great ride and we’ve had a lot of good coaches, a lot of good players,” Stoops said. “(The caller) was the first one that had to open Pandora’s box this year and start talking about another job [laughs].

“I’m very content and very happy at the University of Kentucky. We have a lot more work to do here.”

Auburn fired Bryan Harsin on Halloween, 2022. Stoops was also considered a candidate for that vacancy.

Even though Stoops inked a contract extension following the 2021 campaign, the developments in Lincoln and Auburn caused both sides to go back to the negotiation table. It led to another extension in the middle of the 2022 season. The Herald-Leader asked Mitch Barnhart about the deal on Tuesday.

“We were 4-0 going into that, and there was a lot of talk around our program and a lot of talk around Mark (being in the running for other jobs),” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader Tuesday when asked about the impetus for that deal. “…Our fans wanted us to make sure we didn’t lose a guy that had been so beneficial to our program, and so we walked through that. We were thankful to be able to secure him as our football coach and keep him around and make sure that he was a Wildcat. And I’m still proud of that.”

After that 4-0 start, Kentucky went 2-3 over its next five games. The contract extension was signed the day before Kentucky lost to Vanderbilt. Instead of announcing the extension, the press release was merely attached to the extension. Kentucky is 14-20 since the extension was signed, with only four wins in SEC play.

What is in Stoops’ Contract Extension?

Following the 10-win season in 2021, Stoops agreed to a deal that would pay him $6 million, increasing annually to $8 million by the 2027 season. It also guaranteed an assistant coach salary pool of at least $6.5 million.

The new deal negotiated in 2022 increased Stoops’ annual salary to $9 million for the 2023 season, making him the highest-paid coach on campus and one of the ten highest-paid in the country. It also added three years to the deal through 2031. An additional clause was created where Stoops owed the school $4.5 million if he voluntarily left Kentucky. That price tag decreased by $500,000 in each subsequent year.

Jon Hale crunched the numbers. The current buyout cost is $38 million. If they did not sign another extension in 2022, that price tag would be near $28 million.

[READ: How Mark Stoops’ contract has evolved during UK tenure ti include massive buyout]