If Mark Stoops left on his own, this is where rumors say he could go

There is absolutely zero indication that Mark Stoops is considering anything except coaching Kentucky. His contract is so favorable for him that there's no reason to have other thoughts. However, this doesn't mean the rumors aren't out there, especially because the best way for Kentucky out of this contract is if Stoops does what John Calipari did: leave on his own. Let's look into these rumors.

Retirement

The first one is this idea that maybe Stoops will simply retire at the end of the season or next season. Take his money and ride off into the sunset, knowing he built Kentucky back to a respectable place. That he will want to leave before he tarnishes his reputation.

The glaring problem with this is that Stoops is only 57 years old. Not typically the time when people or coaches retire. Then again, his brother Bob retired at 57 years old when he stepped down from the Oklahoma Sooners, which is certainly weird to see the same age. Mark is becoming known for the same thing Bob was known for, he was often called "Big Game Bob" because he had a tendency to win the big ones but lose some of the smaller ones. Sounds familiar?

Bob would go on to coach later in his life in the XFL and do some other TV stuff, so he didn't really fully retire, but he did use that to step away from Oklahoma. Could Mark choose a similar path? Maybe.

Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes currently have Kirk Ferentz as their head coach, and speaking of retirement, he has to be close. He is about to be 70 years old, and this could be his last season. Iowa is currently 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big 10. The fanbase is hoping for a change soon.

The Stoops family loves Iowa, and Mark played defensive back there in the 1980s. It has long been thought that if given the opportunity, he would coach there. It also seems like fans would want Stoops to be their guy, at least according to recent message board comments.

Florida State Seminoles

Message boards are definitely the Wild West of the sports world. Similar to the Iowa message boards, there's a group of fans who would love to see Florida State hire Mark Stoops.

Florida State is reeling this year, dealing with an absolutely terrible Seminoles team. They are 1-6 on the year and could easily lose four of their next five. They have a strong chance to be 2-10, which is terrible for a team that thought they were snubbed for not making the College Football Playoffs last season.

Moving on from head coach Mike Norvell is even harder for Florida State than Kentucky to move on from Stoops. Norvell would be owed $66 million if fired by the Seminoles. Yikes.