The Kentucky Wildcats extended the contract of head coach Mark Stoops through 2019, UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart announced Friday. The new agreement extends Stoops’ term from June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2020, and gives the second-year coach five seasons remaining on his current deal.

Stoops has led the Wildcats to a 5-3 record in 2014, which surpasses the team’s combined win total from the last two combined seasons (two each in 2012 and 2013).

“Mark is guiding our program in the direction we all want it to go and we are proud to reward that,” Barnhart said. “I was confident Mark was right for this job when I hired him, but he has exceeded my expectations. From leading a group of young men, to recruiting, to fundraising, to becoming an important part of the Lexington community, Mark has embraced and excelled in all facets of being Kentucky football head coach.”

If Stoops continues to coach and lead the program the way he has thus far, it seems unlikely he’ll remain in Lexington in 2019, five years from now. But Kentucky is doing all it can to show a commitment to its best football coach since Rich Brooks.

“Under Coach Stoops’ leadership, the UK football program is experiencing an incredible upward trajectory in the classroom and on the field,” UK President Eli Capilouto said. “That continued progress, led by Coach Stoops, is critical in competing in the nation’s strongest conference while maintaining one of a small number of self-sustaining athletic programs in the nation – one that supports the University’s academic mission in dynamic ways, including $65 million to support the construction of a new Academic Science Building.

“As important, Coach Stoops and his staff put students first in everything they do. The facility improvements underway in our football program will support the athletic and academic success of our students and the long-term health of the program.”

Stoops’ team has made progress on both sides of the football this season. Kentucky is averaging 31.6 points per game, a jump from the 17.9 average in 2012, the season prior to his arrival. The Wildcats defense is allowing 24.8 points per game, 31 points less than their average in 2012.

“I am excited about the progress our team has shown on the field, but this is as much about the next five years as it is the last one and a half,” Barnhart said.  “As I’ve said before, I believe we can compete at the highest level in the toughest conference. Mark is the coach to take us there.”

Kyle Tucker, the Kentucky beat writer for The Courier-Journal, tweeted some of the incentives in Stoops’ new deal.