The SEC is undoubtedly the powerhouse of college football. This is where teams produce players like Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson. However, the path to greatness in the SEC isn’t that easy; it takes an impeccable coaching staff, foundational decisiveness, and a recruitment game. And even then, there’s no guarantee of success in any way. No matter how much you plan, a team as obscure as Vanderbilt will crush you (as demonstrated by Vanderbilt’s victory over Alabama) and force you to start over. So, what should coaches do in these high-stakes situations? Perform well or face dismissal, as one of the program’s coaches appears to be on the verge of doing.

Well, it is none other than Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops. Who, it seems, may be relieved from his duties after failing to show major progress with the Wildcats even after his 13th season. SportstalkJ, who appeared on the YouTube channel ‘College Football Addiction,’ provided the update, “Stoops is probably on the hottest seat right now after coming 4-8, and there’s a lot of disgruntled up there in Kentucky. He still owed a lot of money, but he may want to retire a little bit early. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did just for wanting to spend time with his family, and that he strikes me as the type of guy we’ll see.” And it’s not even a surprise now that speculation regarding his potential departure from Kentucky is in the air. This is because…

First and foremost, he had the second-worst 2024 season in the SEC behind MS State, where Kentucky finished 4-8 overall. And, even from a program like Kentucky, where there may not be expectations of winning the championship or the SEC for that matter. Still, according to Kentucky’s standards, a 4-8 finish is very disappointing. That is because they finished the season at 7-6 in 2023 and even in 2022. So, going from two consecutive winning seasons to finishing 4-8 is utterly poor, and that’s the sentiment in Kentucky’s fans, too. But even in the potential firing of Stoops, there’s a $45 million hurdle that may not make things that simple.

Well, for context, the Wildcats had renewed their contract with Stoops in the 2022 season; that was to keep him in Lexington for long. However, the contract not only made Stoops one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. But also had several clauses that will make life very difficult for Wildcats in the future. So, what are the clauses?

While the original contract remained largely the same, the significant changes came with the introduction of an expensive buyout. In this clause, if Stoops were to be fired at Kentucky, he would be paid upwards of $4.5 million if discontinued in the first year, $4 million if discontinued in the second year, and $3.5 million if done in the third year. While that may not look very expensive for Coach Stoops, the clause also stipulated terms that made firing him very expensive.

First and foremost will be the payment Kentucky will give Coach Stoops upon disengagement. That meant the college would pay 100% of the payment due of his remaining payment of the contract duration if terminated within one year. Furthermore, it was 80% and 60%, respectively, as the time period left in the contract became shorter and shorter. So, it means that if the team decides to actually terminate him at the end of the 2024 season. That would mean that the team will pay almost $44 million to the coach in instalments. And, to reach the 60% slab, Kentucky will have to wait another 2 years to fire him. So, what does it mean for him now?

Future prospects for Mark Stoops

Well, SportstalkJ provided potential speculation about whether Mark Stoops would consider another role (for instance, OC or DC) since firing him would be very expensive for the team. “I agree with those other things that it’s hard to believe that no coach got fired this year, but it’s so expensive to fire coaches these days. I think he would just retire, and I don’t see him hanging on as a coordinator. He strikes me as a type that would retire early. I know his brother did, and I just… there are health reasons, too. Their father died on the field, I believe, from a heart attack, and I believe that made the Stoops realize, you know what, maybe we shouldn’t push it.” The statement essentially means we could see Coach Stoops stepping down voluntarily. So, would that mean Kentucky is not paying him so much?

Well, for starters, the statement is not conclusive because we have not heard anything official. So, can we probably see him stepping down or both parties agreeing to a mutual termination settlement? That’s just a possibility, but a possibility that would ease the concerns of both parties in an amicable way. But if both parties decide to stay for a bit longer, he would need to plan the 2025 season in such a way that would improve on his 2024 exploits. But how can he do that?

For starters, he must address the problem of conceding penalties in crucial games. Because it really didn’t help his cause when Kentucky threw away almost 12 penalties in a disappointing loss to Vanderbilt. The game showed much deeper flaws in Stoops’ strategy that ranged from missing a field goal to pointing to special team errors. Furthermore, they need to increase their efficiency in yards gained per down, which is a very huge concern. Overall, there’s a lot to do for Stoops if he stays in Kentucky, and who knows, we may well see a turnaround in the next season after all.