Texas believing Mark Stoops will help the Longhorns get over the top is laughable

It didn't take long for Mark Stoops to get back in the SEC.

After compiling a 38-68 on-field record in the SEC with the Wildcats, Stoops will now be tasked with helping Steve Sarkisian get the Texas Longhorns to a national championship for the first tine since 2005. Sarkisian has already added Will Muschamp to his staff as a defensive coordinator, so bringing in another failed head coach from the conference is in-line with whatever he's trying to do.

Mark Stoops lands at Texas for 2026 season

Presumably, Stoops will be helping out with the defense, probably organizing things with Muschamp and offering himself as a sounding board in meetings during the week. It's not a surprise that Stoops is back in coaching after being fired from Kentucky at the end of the 2025 season, and him latching on with a team that has championship hopes isn't a shock either. But Texas doesn't seem like the best fit for Stoops. With Sarkisian, Muschamp and former West Virginia head coach Neal Brown in the fold, it seems like a lot of chefs in a very small kitchen.

Ironically, the beginning of the end for Stoops at Kentucky was likely a disappointing overtime loss to Texas in October. The Wildcats played their butts off that name and out gained Arch Manning and the mighty Longhorns offense by over 200 yards. But they still lost, and those types of losses were piling up on Stoops. It was time for the Wildcats to move on and it appears that they found a gem in Will Stein.

Stoops brings a lot of knowledge with him, and he's had plenty of success in his career as an assistant coach, but he could never get Kentucky football to where it wanted to be. The Wildcats would tease something special and fail to deliver time and time again. He was 30 games under .500 in the SEC! Doesn't Texas already have enough of a reputation of falling short in close games without bringing in the master of it?