Could UK’s Mark Stoops Be Headed to Florida State?
By Drew Koch
With Jimbo Fisher leaving Florida State, could Mark Stoops be on his way back to Tallahassee?
Jimbo Fisher headed west to be the head coach of Texas A&M on Friday, leaving Florida State without a head football coach. Oddly enough Mark Stoops’ name has popped up as a possible replacement.
Adam Hirshfield and Bill Bender both suggest that Stoops might be a candidate for the vacancy on the Seminoles’ sideline. Stoops is not likely to be at the top of the list to receive a phone call from Florida State athletic director Stan Wilcox, but it’s not a completely ridiculous possibility.
Mark Stoops of course served as defensive coordinator at Florida State under Fisher from 2010-2012 before becoming the head man in Lexington. Stoops has seen mild success throughout his tenure at Kentucky. During his time in the Bluegrass State Stoops has amassed a record of 26-35 (.426).
Stoops inherited a team that had gone 2-10 the year before he arrived. In his first year on the job Stoops did no better than his predecessor Joker Phillips. In the 2013 season the Wildcats were 2-10 including a winless record in the Southeastern Conference. Now in his fifth year he has the Wildcats going to a bowl game for the second year in a row.
Other possibilities for the vacancy in Tallahassee include, Willie Taggart of Oregon and Kevin Sumlin, recently fired from Texas A&M. Taggart is thought to be Florida State’s first choice.
Stoops will most likely be in Lexington when the 2018 college football season kicks off. That being said, with the current coaching carousel college football is experiencing, anything is possible.