Kentucky has agreed to a contract extension with coach Mark Stoops that will keep him in charge of the Wildcats through June 2031, the university announced Monday. While no figure was attached to the deal, Stoops will reportedly earn $9 million annually, according to multiple reports.
Though the Wildcats are 6-5 in what has been a disappointing season relative to preseason expectations, Stoops, 55, is nevertheless the program's winningest coach (surpassing Bear Bryant earlier this year) at 65-58 in 10 years.
"The continuity we've had has been crucial to our growth and is even more important as we move forward," said Stoops in a statement. "I wanted to reaffirm my commitment. I've loved it here and am excited about our future."
Stoops was hired prior to the 2013 season, replacing Joker Phillips, and finished 2-10 in his debut effort. However, the Wildcats have enjoyed an upward trajectory since with seven (and soon to be eight) straight bowl appearances. High points have included 10-win seasons in 2018 and 2021, both of which culminated in Citrus Bowl wins.
Stoops deserves it
Stoops inherited a program that essentially acted as a place-holder for fans until the start of the men's basketball season. One decade later, he has elevated the Wildcats out of the SEC basement and into consistent winners, finishing no worse than fourth in the division since 2014. In fact, he has made football so relevant that he had some social media backing after getting into a summer war of words with men's hoops coach John Calipari, who referred to UK as a "basketball school."
"Listen, we all know this program wasn't born on third base," said Stoops. "Some may, but I can promise you this football team didn't wake up on third base. [They] did a lot of work, we did a lot of work."
This season hasn't been great, to be sure. The Wildcats have lost five of their last seven games following a 4-0 start. But don't let that distract you from the long-term consistency Stoops has established.
Hefty price tag
Stoops will reportedly earn an average of $9 million per year under the new contract. That would make him the sixth-highest paid coach in the country, according to the USA Today coaching salary database.
Is that a bit excessive? Yeah, at least for now. Stoops doesn't have a national championship, or even a division title, like Alabama's Nick Saban or Clemson's Dabo Swinney -- two of the six coaches who make more than him. However, Stoops does have Michigan State's Mel Tucker to thank for his newfound fortune. The Spartans rewarded Tucker with a $95 million extension following last season's 11-2 record -- despite the fact that Tucker posted a 2-5 record in 2020 in his debut in East Lansing.
This is the new market for coaches. The SEC knows that it is going to be flush with money when the new TV contract kicks in a couple of years from now, which means that the short-term financial hit is tolerable compared to what's coming in the future.
Thank you, Auburn
It's the time of year when coaches leverage vacancies to get more money out of their current employers, and it's not impossible to think the vacancy at Auburn played a role in Stoops' raise and extension. The Tigers fired Bryan Harsin last month, which opened up one of the most desirable jobs in the country in terms of upside.
Has Auburn reached out to Stoops or his representatives? That is unknown -- and, quite frankly, irrelevant. Kentucky knows that it's out there, and if it planned on extending Stoops this offseason there was no reason to wait to see what could tempt him after Black Sunday.
