Mark Stoops

About

Mark Thomas Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an American college football coach and former player who is the special assistant to the head coach at the University of Texas. He most recently served as head football coach for the University of Kentucky from 2013 to 2025. Stoops is the all-time winningest head coach in the history of the Kentucky football program, surpassing former coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Stoops, one of six children born to Ron and Evelyn “Dee Dee” Stoops, attended Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, where his father was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator. He is the brother of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and former Arizona head coach Mike Stoops.
After graduating from high school, Stoops played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1986 to 1988.

Stoops was a graduate assistant coach at Iowa from 1989 to 1991. He later became the athletic director and defensive backs coach at Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio (1992–1995).
In 1996, Stoops was the defensive backs coach for South Florida.
Stoops served as the defensive backs coach for the University of Wyoming Cowboys from 1997 to 1999.
At Wyoming…