In his 12 years as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, Mark Stoops has seen a lot of success. 

During the past eight seasons, Stoops has helped his football program advance to eight straight bowl games, winning four. He even finished 12th in the AP poll back in 2018.

But this year has been a fork in the road. With his Wildcats sitting at 4–6 on the year, Stoops is in must-win mode to keep the bowl-eligible streak alive. Not only will Kentucky have to beat No. 3 Texas in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, but they must also take down Louisville in the final regular-season game of the year.

Stoops started his career in 1990 as a graduate assistant for Iowa, his alma mater. He played defensive back for the Hawkeyes for four years before taking a two-year coaching stint in Iowa City. Then in 1996, after a short stint at Nordonia High School as the athletic director and defensive coach, Stoops returned to Division I football, coaching defensive backs at South Florida.

He would remain a defensive back coach at various programs before taking over as the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Wildcats. In 2009, Stoops moved to Florida State as the defensive coordinator, where he would remain for three seasons.

Then Kentucky football found its guy. After the Wildcats finished 2–10 in 2012, the head coach at the time, Joker Phillips, was let go after three seasons. Stoops stepped in, and has become  the longest-tenured coach in Wildcat history, now in his 12th year in his position.

In his first head coaching role in his career, Stoops has accumulated a Wildcat record of 71–77. The Ohio native was awarded the SEC Coach of the Year in 2018 and has seen seven winning seasons as the frontman for the Wildcats. In 2022, Stoops became the head coach with the most wins in Kentucky football history, passing the legendary Bear Bryant in week two of 2022 with 61 total wins to his name at the time.

In his tenure, Stoops has coached players like Will Levis, now the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, Josh Hines-Allen, a defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Wan’Dale Robinson, a receiver for the New York Giants. In total, there are 25 players on NFL rosters who have played college football for Mark Stoops. 

Stoops has two big games coming up on his schedule to close out the 2024 season. Kentucky has its work cut out for it as it needs to win out to become bowl-eligible and sitting in its way are No. 3 Texas and Louisville.