Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is on ESPN’s “way-too-early 2025 hot seat” list for college football.
Stoops is listed on the “We want this to work” tier of the list.
The article says Stoops can be back on solid ground if he can secure a bowl game in 2025.
Here is an excerpt about Stoops:
Mark Stoops, Kentucky Wildcats
Stoops has brought historic consistency to Kentucky and remained there when other opportunities surfaced. He made bowls every season from 2016 to 2023, twice finishing in the AP top-20. But most SEC coaches can’t survive two rough seasons and Kentucky had very few brought spots last fall, other than its road upset of Ole Miss. The Wildcats averaged just 20.6 points and 330.4 yards per game, and failed to eclipse 20 points in any SEC game.
Stoops can secure his status with a bowl appearance in 2025, but a tough September and October schedule will make things challenging. He’s signed through the 2030 season and earned $9 million in 2024. Kentucky would owe him 75% of his remaining salary if it made a change in 2025, which seems unlikely barring a repeat (or worse) of what we saw this fall.
