Mark Stoops ranked No. 16 in annual CFB Power 5 Coach Rankings

by:Nick Roush•05/18/22•

RoushKSR

Mark Stoops is one of the best coaches in all of college football. It has been the case for years. College football analysts and critics believe he’s continuing to improve at his craft, rising up the ranks among all Power Five head coaches.

Each year writers from CBS Sports and 247 Sports rank every Power Five coach from 1-65. After coming in at No. 22 last year, ahead of the 2022 season Mark Stoops is ranked No. 16 among all Power Five head football coaches.

Stoops continues his steady climb as he’s turned Kentucky into a respectable SEC program, which is not something anybody has ever expected from Kentucky football. The Wildcats went 10-3 last year, the second time the ‘Cats have won 10 games in a season under Stoops in the last four campaigns. The program had only two 10-win seasons in its history (1950, 1977) before Stoops showed up. While nobody is expecting Kentucky to topple Georgia for the SEC East, at this point, it wouldn’t be a major upset if they pulled off a win against the Dawgs.
CBS Sports

If Kentucky does in fact topple Georgia in November with Will Levis at quarterback, Stoops will almost certainly find his way into the Top 10 of these rankings next year.

Only Kirby Smart (No. 2) ranks higher than Stoops in the SEC East after Georgia won last year’s National Championship. Of course, Nick Saban reigns supreme, while Jimbo Fisher comes in at No. 5 after signing a top-ranked recruiting class. A look at other notable names in the coach rankings and how they moved from year-to-year:

57. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt, +7

52. Neal Brown, West Virginia, -11

46. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri, -3

43. Scott Satterfield, Louisville, +2

41. Shane Beamer, South Carolina, +24

33. Josh Heupel, Tennessee, +19

32. Billy Napier, Florida, n/a

30. Jeff Brohm, Purdue, +23

26. Mike Leach, Mississippi State, +7

24. Mel Tucker, Michigan State, +33

22. Sam Pittman, Arkansas, +28

18. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss, +12