Mark Stoops is motivated and filled with gratitude, but is that enough?

Mark Stoops: Motivated, gratitude filled, paid, underachiever?

Mark Stoops sounds motivated. Says he loves being at Kentucky. Says he's grateful. Says they’ve reevaluated everything.

And yet, after 13 seasons, Stoops is still sitting on a losing record — 66–73 officially, or 76–73 if you count the vacated 2016 season. Even more concerning? Kentucky is just 18–20 over the last three years, including a 1–7 SEC mark last fall that required a Hail Mary to avoid a winless league slate.

Yes, Stoops helped raise the program’s floor. Yes, he's led Kentucky to bowl games and double-digit wins. But expectations — and paychecks — have changed. Stoops is now one of the highest-paid coaches in America. His results, lately, aren’t matching the paycheck.

This season will be a defining one. Can 2nd year offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan turn around an offense that sputtered in 2024? Will a rebuilt roster — featuring over 50 new players — come together fast enough to compete against what projects to be a top-10 toughest schedule nationally?

Gone is Vince Marrow, the longtime right-hand man. The coaching staff remains mostly intact otherwise. But will the product on the field change?

Stoops says yes. He says they’ve adjusted. That the hunger is back. But words won’t mean much if the product looks like it did last fall — disjointed, passive, and a step behind the rest of the SEC.

To make matters worse, Vanderbilt and South Carolina each have as many SEC wins at Kroger Field as Kentucky does since late 2023. That’s not just a red flag — it’s a blinking siren for a coaching change.

The season opener against Toledo on August 30 is approaching fast. Stoops has earned time, but the patience is thinning. With another underwhelming year, the conversation may shift from gratitude to goodbye.