Key Points:
- College football has seen 12 FBS head coaches fired through nine weeks, including Billy Napier, Brian Kelly, and James Franklin
- Kentucky’s Mark Stoops now faces rising pressure after a 2–5 start and last year’s 4–8 finish
- Radio host Matt Jones said there’s an “85–90% chance” Kentucky will have a new coach next season
- Stoops’ $37 million buyout makes any potential move costly for Kentucky
- Wildcats host Auburn next in what could be a must-win game for both head coaches
College football certainly hasn’t been short of coaching changes through the first nine weeks of the season.
The sport has already seen 12 FBS coaches fired up to this point, with notable names including Billy Napier (Florida), Brian Kelly (LSU) and James Franklin (Penn State). Considering there are still a few more weeks left in the season, that number is also expected to increase dramatically, making for quite a difference from last year’s cycle, which saw just four coaches fired.
While it’s difficult to predict which coach will be next to go, there are a handful of names for whom it seems a matter of when, not if. One of those names is Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops.
He has been at the helm for 13 seasons, and while he led the program to 10-win seasons in 2018 and 2021, things have since soured. The team went 4-8 last season, and through eight games this season, is sitting at 2-5. Things have gone so poorly that Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio recently said that he thinks there is an 85-90% chance that Kentucky will have a new coach next season.
“Here’s where we are for the future,” Jones said. “I know this for…There’s rarely I’ll say certainty, I’ll say some certainty. I’d say we’re now at 85-90% chance we’ll have a new coach next year.”
Jones cited the fact that the fans seem to have lost faith, pointing to Kentucky’s 56-34 Week 9 loss at home to the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers, which was played in front of a half-empty stadium and saw a lot more orange than blue in the stands. While Kentucky is much more known for its prowess on the basketball court, Stoops is being compensated as much as some of the biggest names in the sport.
How much would it cost for Kentucky to fire Mark Stoops?
As we have learned with the other coaches across the country whose buyout prices are well over the $100 million mark, firing a coach is quite expensive. A sentiment that remains true for Stoops, as according to USA TODAY, he is being paid $9 million per season. A mark that has him the 13th-highest paid coach in college football.
If the Wildcats were to move on from him, his buyout would cost the program over $37 million.
The Wildcats will take on Auburn (4-4) on Saturday in a battle of coaches on the hot seat, as Hugh Freeze is also on thin ice. A loss for either program could very well end up being the last game that the respective coach is employed for, while a win may allow one coach to live to see another day.