Steve Sarkisian finally has a Stoops brother on staff.
Five years after the Texas Longhorns head coach opted against hiring Mike Stoops as the program’s linebackers coach due to potential public backlash, a report emerged on Monday from Chip Brown of Horns247 that former Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops is joining Sarkisian’s staff as a special assistant to the head coach.
Other outlets confirmed the news early Monday evening.
Stoops reportedly accepted a buyout of close to $38 million in early
December after he was fired from Kentucky after 13 seasons and two consecutive losing campaigns in Lexington, finishing as the program’s longest-tenured coach and all-time wins leader with an 82-80 record. From 2016 to 2023, the Wildcats went to eight consecutive bowl games, winning four straight. The 10-win season in 2018 was the first for Kentucky since 1977.
Like his older brothers, Stoops is known as a defensive mastermind after growing up in Youngstown, Ohio and playing defensive back at Iowa. After a stint as a graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes, Stoops got his first break as a defensive backs coach for the Hurricanes in the early 2000s.
Mark hired his younger brother to serve as the defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2009, then serving in the same role under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State for the next three seasons before taking over in Lexington.
As the special assistant to Sarkisian, Stoops will likely aid with self scouting the Texas offense and defensive game planning for new Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp by scouting opposing offenses.
