Kentucky football HC Mark Stoops pens emotional goodbye to Wildcats

The 2025 Kentucky football season ended in another disappointment, as the Wildcats finished 5-7. The season also marked the end of the Mark Stoops era in Lexington, with the Wildcats firing Stoops after two straight losing seasons. It was the end of an era in Lexington after Stoops had served as the head coach at Kentucky for the last 13 seasons. In response, Stoops issued a lengthy thank-you statement.

A little more than 24 hours after the school made a formal announcement, Stoops thanked Kentucky football fans for welcoming him to Lexington. He thanked the fans for all their support and thanked his players, coaches, and everyone involved with the football program during his time at Kentucky.

“To all of my former players, coaches, staffers, and the Big Blue Nation, from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Stoops shared in a social media post. “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.”

Mark Stoops leaves Kentucky as the winningest coach in Wildcat history, and broke the record after he beat Florida in 2022, which was held by Bear Bryant at 60. Stoops finishes his time in Lexington with 82 wins for the Wildcats.

This season was the final straw for Stoops and the Kentucky administration because the Wildcats were one win away from reaching a bowl game with two games left, but lost those final two by a combined score of 86-17. The most significant loss was the 41-0 loss to Louisville that ended the season.

It is also worth noting that Stoops had a $38 million buyout, and the school is due to pay Stoops the entire buyout within 60 days, as stated in the contract.

The Kentucky Wildcats went out and acted fast with their football hire, poaching Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein as their new head coach. Stein is a Kentucky native and has family ties to the Wildcats, so the fit was easy, even though he played at Louisville, which is why it got done so quickly.

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