What is Mark Stoops' buyout at Kentucky?

As Kentucky Wildcat fans grow restless, many are beginning to ask the question, "How much would it cost to buyout Head Football Coach Mark Stoops and hire a new coach?" The answer is a lot. It would take a real commitment from the athletic department and the school to decide to move on from Stoops.

Stoops signed a brand new contract in November 2022 that would allow him to coach the Kentucky Wildcats until 2031. According to his contract, he is paid $9 million a year, with the initial buyout being $4.5 million, decreasing by $500,000 every year of his contract. The first deduction came in July 2023. Thus, his current buyout is still $4 million and won't get down to $3.5 million until July 2024.

If Stoops leaves on his own, he would have to pay that buyout. To fire Stoops would create a whole bunch of other caveats and could entitle the university to pay up to 80% of the remainder of his contract. There are exceptions to this, but it is steep. As of now, that's in the $40 million range. There are ways the University can get out of this, but it has to do with Stoops securing another job.

The wild part of this story is that he signed this big contract extension the day before a frustrating loss to Vanderbilt University in 2022. The fans are growing restless because of another loss to Vanderbilt, an entirely avoidable one. Kentucky beat themselves more than they allowed Vanderbilt to beat them. They had 105 yards worth of penalties, two botched field goals, and couldn't convert any points when they were six inches away from a touchdown.

Stoops does not seem to be the coach who can take Kentucky any further than they currently are, which is a middle-to-bottom SEC team. He is 5-8 coming out of a bye week and 2-10 in his last SEC home games. Not being able to win at home is a Cardinal offense, especially when fans show up in huge numbers. And Big Blue Nation is beginning to ask for a chance.

The buck stops at Stoops, and he knows it. In his post-game comments, he remarked about how disappointed he was in himself and his staff. Fans are pointing out that it's a consistent problem, a yearly problem, and thus, many think he's no longer the man for the job. However, if you want out of that big contract, it'll take $4 million.