Mark Stoops Denies Kentucky Contract Buyout Rumors, 'There's No Quit In Me' After Loss
Things are trending in the wrong direction for Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops, but he was quick to dispel any rumors that he discussed a possible buyout with school officials.
"I'd hate to give anything like that legs," Stoops told reporters following Saturday's 35-14 loss to Georgia. "There's zero chance I'm walking away. There's no quit in me, so that's unequivocally 100 percent false. Anyone who tells you that is lying."
ESPN relayed that a Lexington radio station reported Stoops approached Kentucky officials to talk about a possible buyout. ESPN also reported that Kentucky would owe the head coach 75 percent of his remaining salary if it fired him.
Stoops, who is in his 13th season as the Wildcats head coach, is making $8.6 million per year plus incentives on a contract that runs through June 2031.
The 2013 season was Stoops' first as the Kentucky head coach, and the program showed notable improvement after it went 2-10 that initial year. In fact, it won 10 games in 2018 and again in 2021, which marked the first double-digit win seasons for the Wildcats since 1977.
However, those 10 wins in 2021 were vacated, which means his official record in the position is 69-76.
The vacated wins also marked the start of a downfall, as Kentucky went 7-6 in 2022, 7-6 in 2023 and 4-8 last season. It also went 1-7 in SEC play during the 2024 campaign, which was its worst mark in the league since Stoops' first season.
Kentucky is now 2-3 overall and 0-3 in SEC play this season. While it lost to Ole Miss by just a single touchdown, it dropped games against South Carolina and Georgia by a combined 43 points.
With Vanderbilt playing at a higher level in recent years, it isn't a stretch to suggest the Wildcats are the worst current program in the SEC. There may also be something of a ceiling on what the program can accomplish in such a loaded conference and as a school that traditionally favors basketball as a national powerhouse.
Yet Stoops remains as the longest-tenured current coach in the SEC and is apparently not interested in talking buyout at all.
