A Salute to Mark Stoops, The Head Coach Who Did The Unthinkable at Kentucky

It’s a bittersweet moment for Big Blue Nation. Mark Stoops, the most successful coach in the history of the Kentucky football program, has been fired. Even though things had become stale and a change was required, it didn’t destroy all of the progress Stoops made over 13 years in Lexington.

Kentucky went to 15 bowl games and had two 10-win seasons prior to Stoops’ arrival. He went to eight straight bowl games and doubled the number of 10-win campaigns over a four-year stretch.

Stoops snapped streaks and created some of his own. In 2018, Kentucky defeated Florida for the first time in 31 years. They’ve now won four of the last five over the Gators. Louisville had won five straight games over the Cats when Kentucky stunned Lamar Jackson as 27.5-point underdogs. Stoops won five straight Governor’s Cups from 2018-2023, capped off with a win over a Top 10 Louisville team the week before they played in the ACC Championship Game.

For two seasons, Stoops was the longest-tenured coach in the Southeastern Conference. With a win at Florida in 2022, he surpassed Bear Bryant (60) with more wins than any other coach in Kentucky football history. He compiled an 82-80 record at Kentucky, and during UK’s bowl streak from 2016-2023, the Cats went 61-41.

His tenure included record-breaking performances in unforgettable wins. Benny Snell broke the school’s all-time rushing record in a Citrus Bowl victory over Penn State. Josh Hines-Allen rewrote the Kentucky football record books during his National Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2018.

Mark Stoops crowd-surfed in the locker room after a walk-off win on an untimed down at Missouri, a victory that set up an SEC East Title game in Lexington against Georgia in 2018.

Many Kentucky football fans thought we’d never see the Wildcats do what they did during that first 10-win season. The following year, something more improbable happened. Decimated by injuries at quarterback, wide receiver Lynn Bowden stepped under center and steamrolled opponents. He tallied nearly 1,500 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in only eight games, topping it off with a game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds against Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl.

In 2021, Will Levis helped Wan’Dale Robinson break Air Raid receiving records, while Chris Rodriguez had one of the five best seasons in UK history. Josh Paschal blocked a kick that led to a touchdown against Florida, creating one of the loudest crowd-pops in Kroger Field history. The following week, Kentucky fans danced to Callin’ Baton Rouge while routing LSU. They capped off another 10-win season with a touchdown drive in the final minute to defeat Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.

Previous successful eras were defined by quarterback play. From Boom Williams to Snell, Rodriguez, Bowden, and Ray Davis, Kentucky went on a run with some of the best rushers in school history. It was all thanks to the Big Blue Wall.

Hal Mumme made Kentucky fans think they had to be gimmicky to win in the SEC. Mark Stoops proved that you could win in the trenches by assembling all-conference talent on both sides of the line of scrimmage. From 1993-2013, zero Kentucky offensive linemen were taken in the NFL Draft. Five Wildcats were selected during a four-year stretch, which coincided with the peak of the Mark Stoops era, including Darian Kinnard, the first Consensus All-American Offensive Tackle at Kentucky since 1965.

Things haven’t been as fun in recent years, especially on Saturday during Kentucky’s worst-ever loss to Louisville, but when times were good with Mark Stoops, they had never been better.

Cheers to Mark Stoops! Thanks for the memories, and the parting gift, a negotiated buyout.