Mark Thomas Stoops is an American college football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. He played college football at Florida State University before becoming the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats in 2008. Originally from Louisville, Stoops teaches at the University of Louisville and was a standout player for the Cats. His success has spawned numerous assistant and starting coaches. In 2011, he was named the nation’s number one offensive lineman.
He is now in his second contract after taking over the job as defensive coordinator at Kentucky. The new contract could bring in up to $8 million. The previous contract called for Stoops to earn $6.75 million through 2022. That means he will make more than six million this year than he did in any of the previous years. He also has guaranteed extensions for winning seven and ten games. However, UK has not yet released his salary and is awaiting final signatures.
Before becoming a head coach, Stoops spent two seasons as a secondary at Florida State. In 2000, he became co-defensive coordinator at Houston. After his stint at Wyoming, he went to South Florida, where he helped launch the football program. As a result, Stoops has been rewarded handsomely. In 2016, he will make $6.75 million. The salary is a substantial increase from his previous contract, which brought him closer to the $8-million mark.
While working for a college football program, Stoops has already won three national championships. In 2000, he helped the Houston Cougars win the Big East title. Then, he served as the secondary coach at Wyoming for three years. In 1996, he was hired by Hayden Fry to be his graduate assistant at Iowa. In his first season at Kentucky, Stoops led the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl.
During his tenure at Florida State, Stoops was the defensive coordinator. He inherited a 108th-ranked total defense and turned it into one of the top defenses in the country. In 2012, he was second in total defense, allowing just 254.1 yards per game, and ranked sixth in scoring defense with 14.7 points per game. The Florida State defensive line dominated the SEC, with the only team that he lost to the Wildcats was South Florida.
The young Stoops brothers, who are in the college coaching fraternity, are brothers. His older brother Ron Stoops is the athletic director at Youngstown State, and his father is the head coach of Florida State. As a player, Mark Stoops played secondary for the University of Iowa. He also had a brief stint as a graduate assistant at Iowa before being hired as Kentucky’s head coach. As a graduate assistant, Stoops coached the Hawkeyes to four bowl games in his first season.
As a coach, Stoops has a proven track record. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Florida State University from 2010 to 2012. He inherited a team that ranked 108th in total defense in his first season, but turned it into a top-ranked defense in the nation under his tenure. In addition, the two brothers are brother-in-law, so they’re both well-versed in college football.
Mark Stoops was named the SEC’s most valuable player after Joker Phillips was fired. His first full-time job at UK was as a defensive assistant under former Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry. The Hawkeyes won the SEC in 1990, but lost all eight games in the SEC that year. In his second season, he was named the top assistant in the SEC. In his first year in Lexington, he won two games and made $1.8 million in salary.
Mark Stoops inherited a team that was ranked 109th in total defense and 107th in scoring defense. His team finished in the top 25 during his final two seasons and reached the Holiday Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl. While he had limited experience coaching defensive backs at his first job, he coached the secondary for three years at Miami. During his tenure as a head coach at the University of Miami, he led the Hurricanes to the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten title.
