Mark Stoops releases statement following dismissal as Kentucky football head coach
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Mark Stoops said his official goodbye to Big Blue Nation after being fired by Kentucky following the end of a disappointing 2025 season.
Stoops had been the longest-tenured head coach in the SEC before being dismissed after Kentucky struggled to a 5-7 season. He had been the head coach in Lexington since 2013 and finished with an 82-80 overall record. That included 2 double-digit-win seasons in 2018 and 2021, but things went south for Stoops the past couple years, with Kentucky going 4-8 in 2024 before this year’s 5-win campaign.
After last Saturday’s 41-0 loss to rival Louisville, Kentucky pulled the plug on the Mark Stoops era in Lexington. A few days after his firing was first reported on Sunday night, Stoops released a public statement of gratitude for his experience at Kentucky.
“To all of my former players, coaches, staffers, and the Big Blue Nation, from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Stoops said. “Coaching at Kentucky the last 13 years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I’ve felt your support, your pride and your love every single day. Kentucky has become my home, and I’ll be forever grateful to have been your head coach.”
Stoops is handing the program off to Oregon offensive coordinator and Kentucky native Will Stein, who was hired as his successor in Lexington on Monday. Stein has spent the past 3 seasons as the OC in Eugene.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
