Kentucky has struggled in the 2024 college football season, losing crucial games to Vanderbilt, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, and Louisville. With the recent struggles, many fans favor firing or parting ways with head coach Mark Stoops. Although the last couple of years have been disappointing, I disagree with these fans, because Mark Stoops has done things with the Kentucky Football program that no other coach has been able to do for a very long time.

One of Stoops’ notable accomplishments is finishing two seasons with 10 wins, which only happened in two previous seasons in Kentucky history. Also, Stoops finished 2nd in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) East division twice, which had never happened under any other head coach in UK history.

The main reason for the fan outrage is the two straight 7-6 seasons with losses in bowl games in 2022 and 2023, and the 4-8 season in 2024. With their 4-8 record this season, Kentucky will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2015, and many fans consider that to be unacceptable. Also, Stoops has struggled in the SEC with only 3 conference wins in 2022 and 2023, and only 1 in 2024.

Although these are valid points, people forget how Kentucky football performed before Mark Stoops. The last five Kentucky coaches went to a combined 8 bowl games, which is the same amount that Mark Stoops has made in his tenure at Kentucky. Furthermore, Stoops has eclipsed the most wins in Kentucky Football history, meaning that he is the winningest coach Kentucky has ever had.

While former Kentucky football coaches like Tulane Head Coach Jon Sumrall and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen might seem intriguing as candidates for the Kentucky Head Coaching position, I think Mark Stoops is still the right guy for the job.