My prediction on how the Mark Stoops situation ends for Kentucky and who’s to blame

[Matt Dillon]

With Kentucky football continuing to falter under Mark Stoops, many are wondering if this will be the last season we see him screaming at the refs on the Kroger Field sidelines.

As things currently stand, if the season were to end today, I believe that Stoops would return for the 2026 season, largely due to athletics director Mitch Barnhart. Kentucky has shown ‘just’ enough promise to think things may get better with a new offensive coordinator, though we have seen that move play out several times. The bigger influence is that Kroger Field has continued to draw big crowds, even though they have lost nine straight home SEC games.

Barnhart, who is typically very conservative when it comes to making coaching changes, will look for any and every excuse to bring Stoops back next year. A big reason for that, especially in the case of Stoops, is that Barnhart wants to make sure UK saves every penny imaginable for things like new projects and stadium renovations, not firing coaches.

I do believe it’s possible UK can get Stoops’ buyout down lower than the $38 million it’s currently at. However, even if the school were to get it somewhere between, say, $20-30 million, it would be a bigger black eye for Barnhart to pay anything of that sort than to endure a 2-10 season next year after giving Stoops one last chance. He’d much rather take one more chance on Stoops and have it go awry than pay the buyout now and have that kind of stain on his resume.

Mitch very much cares about his legacy, which is why he locked up both Cal and Stoops, two guys he felt would lead UK until they retire. Both men stumbled, and luckily, Cal left for Arkansas, saving UK a potential buyout of around $33 million.

My prediction on how the Mark Stoops situation ends for Kentucky and who’s to blame?

[Matt Dillon]

An interesting read. The writer makes some good points, I just hope he's wrong.

[Majoga]

Poor Barney can't see the existing stains. That Stoops stain looks like a eunuch on a piece of burnt toast. What will he do? Use it to sop up the chicken wing sauce and carry on with the decay, or harvest the scrapings to neutralize the poison eroding BBN football fandom?

[Davidmack]

If Barnhart doesn’t fire Stoops this year, then he needs to be fired too.

[40bill]

MBs patience and generosity are at almost legendary levels. So is his irritation at the base for questioning him....if I recall it was he that turned the Mark Pope intro into a hyper event....because of the negativity around the hire.

Mitch has actually been an outstanding AD for Kentucky despite some notable trip ups. Like the rest of us though there comes a time for a different set of eyes.

I've long been on the positive about Mitch, but i fe its time to gracefully exit.

[EKYCat]

I get that Barnhart has improved athletics as a whole at UK but in all reality only 2 sports matter to most. And in those two he's:

1. Failed to call Cal the first time around and settling on Billy Gillispie instead. Not only that, he couldn't even get him to agree to a contract, but a memorandum of understanding. We know how things ended with Cal but he was the biggest thing going on CBB at the time and to not even make a call after his Billy Donovan and Rick Barnes offers came up dry is negligence at best.
2. Allowed the whole Joker Phillips coach in waiting experiment to fail miserably.
3. Saddled the department with the lifetime Cal contract. Make no mistake, had Cal not slipped up he'd still be the coach at UK.
4. Saddled the department with the Stoops contract.
5. Let the NIL ship pass him by while the rest of the world made the necessary adjustments to compete.

Mitch can ride off into the sunset tomorrow and it won't be soon enough.

[WeWant9]

Two interesting things to me:

Kentucky has shown ‘just’ enough promise to think things may get better with a new offensive coordinator, though we have seen that move play out several times.

I do not know or have heard a single person voice this thought.

The bigger influence is that Kroger Field has continued to draw big crowds, even though they have lost nine straight home SEC games.

Maybe so, but lets re-visit this point towards the end of the season. If Stoops is back, I'd imagine the stadium will not be drawing these big crowds.

[Los Gatos]

Before the season began, I concluded that the worst case for the future of UK football would be 4-8 season. Go 3-9 and even Barnyard would be forced to replace Stoops. Go 5-7 and most fans would back giving Stoops another year. Go 4-8 and Barnyard will try and stick with Stoops. And that likely to do more harm to the future of UK football than the other two outcomes.

Without a Vandy like boycott by the fans I fear that's what we are headed for.

One thing I hadn't thought of, replacing the OC (again) will indeed cost multi-millions. Even then, who will take the job?

[Sjslhill]

I believe Stoops will return as well…..promise the moon and suffer the consequences. This is exactly why I don’t recommend another head coach hire.

[blueheretic]

He’d much rather take one more chance on Stoops and have it go awry than pay the buyout now and have that kind of stain on his resume.

Part of the reason that I think Stoops returns even if he goes 2-10 and loses out.

Barnhart had to see an empty Kroger Field/CS to have it hammered into his head to fire Joker and that WAS an obvious move. Joker should never have even been considered for that job in hindsight. Barnhart should have been able to see that. However, I heard Barnhart and Philips were chums. Barnhart overlooks the flaws of his buddies.

Wins and Losses do not matter to Barnhart. Revenue does.

Fans will continue to go to games through this year. That's just Kentucky fans. Suckers all. Must be loyal to UK even when it's not loyal to them.

Stoops will be back next year. Fans will whine about it and then go to the games next year as well. Stoops will do just enough to give UK fans hope and that hope will get them to fill the stadium. Because.....suckers.

Stoops will be back.

He would have been back next year even if Toledo had won that first game.

Revenue is all that matters. Kentucky fans won't revolt. Too loyal to the school. Been suckers for 70 years. That won't change overnight any more than Stoops will find the miracle silver bullet that puts him back on top.

I don't care what Mattie Jones or any other opinionists states.

Barnhart is not firing Stoops. Ain't gonna happen.

[blueheretic]

If it were me as AD, I'd bring him back and I'd call him out for losing after every game.

After every game; "Mark lost another one despite all we've given him. Give the dude $9M a year and he can't find the 'motivation' to win unless it's a cupcake."

I'd bust his ballz every chance I could. Drop jokes all of the time.

"Stoops the losingest top ten paid coach of all time."

I'd hold back the NIL money as well. Just push it all to Basketball.

And I'd publicly state that I don't want to give money to a guy who doesn't know how to use it.

[dencat]

Part of the reason that I think Stoops returns even if he goes 2-10 and loses out.

Barnhart had to see an empty Kroger Field/CS to have it hammered into his head to fire Joker and that WAS an obvious move. Joker should never have even been considered for that job in hindsight. Barnhart should have been able to see that. However, I heard Barnhart and Philips were chums. Barnhart overlooks the flaws of his buddies.

Wins and Losses do not matter to Barnhart. Revenue does.

Fans will continue to go to games through this year. That's just Kentucky fans. Suckers all. Must be loyal to UK even when it's not loyal to them.

Stoops will be back next year. Fans will whine about it and then go to the games next year as well. Stoops will do just enough to give UK fans hope and that hope will get them to fill the stadium. Because.....suckers.

Stoops will be back.

He would have been back next year even if Toledo had won that first game.

Revenue is all that matters. Kentucky fans won't revolt. Too loyal to the school. Been suckers for 70 years. That won't change overnight any more than Stoops will find the miracle silver bullet that puts him back on top.

I don't care what Mattie Jones or any other opinionists states.

Barnhart is not firing Stoops. Ain't gonna happen.

I guess I will disagree with you. I think Stoops is gone after this year. I wish they would just go ahead and do it. I am confident the money is there for the buyout.
Your comments about the fans continuing to go to games, I believe is wrong as well. The money people have spent on season tickets is already in the bank. Some will go to the games anyway. I had tickets for 20 years, and I don't appreciate being called a sucker. Do you include our tailgaters as suckers too? I gave up my tickets this year for several reasons. I will always be a UK fan, win or lose.

You say wins and losses don't matter to Barnhart. Well if there are enough losses and season ticket renewals drop, the revenue will not be there.

[blueheretic]

I guess I will disagree with you. I think Stoops is gone after this year. I wish they would just go ahead and do it. I am confident the money is there for the buyout.
Your comments about the fans continuing to go to games, I believe is wrong as well. The money people have spent on season tickets is already in the bank. Some will go to the games anyway. I had tickets for 20 years, and I don't appreciate being called a sucker. Do you include our tailgaters as suckers too? I gave up my tickets this year for several reasons. I will always be a UK fan, win or lose.

You say wins and losses don't matter to Barnhart. Well if there are enough losses and season ticket renewals drop, the revenue will not be there.

You have every right in the world to disagree with me. I'm completely fine with it.




I consider us all suckers.

I said Kentucky fans. Not "YOU" Kentucky fans. I've traveled thousands of miles to see Kentucky get crushed in the SEC.

I should have said Kentucky FOOTBALL fans, though. So, I'll correct that here.

We've been sucked into it for decades.

"The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem." ~ Kentucky Football Fans anonymous

[Jeffky62]

If Barnhart doesn’t fire Stoops this year, then he needs to be fired too.

I think it should be a package deal this year

[Jaxcat]

My belief is that, regardless of when Stoops leaves, the football team will take a pretty big step back and need someone to inject some life and enthusiasm back into the program. I don't see an IU situation where a coach brings in enough talent to immediately get us back to mid-SEC or above.

My wish list for the new coach/staff:
1. Reverts back to relying heavily on HS recruits and development within our system
2. Has an identity on both offense and defense: a) on offense, utilizes a varied system that emphasizes a DT QB; b) on defense, a more aggressive, attacking scheme vs bend-don't-break
3. Uses the transfer portal sparingly and for specific needs, not wholesale roster turnover and mercenaries
4. Is so good and successful that we have to worry about another program poaching him every year after his 2nd year
5. The team plays hard, disciplined, smart football with smart time management, play calling, situational decisions by the staff