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, Stoops served under head coach Dana Dimel. When Dimel was hired at the University of Houston, he took Stoops with him to join the Cougars as co-defensive coordinator (along with Dick Bumpas) and safeties coach in 2000.
In February 2001, Stoops was named the defensive backs coach for the University of Miami Hurricanes, replacing Chuck Pagano, who left to go to the Cleveland Browns.
Mark's brother, Mike, was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats for the 2004 season. Mike later hired Mark as part of his staff.
On December 11, 2009, Stoops accepted the job as defensive coordinator at Florida State University.
While at Florida State, Stoops played against his brother Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops in 2011.
On November 27, 2012, Stoops was hired as the new head coach of the University of Kentucky football program, replacing former head coach Joker Phillips, who was fired after a 2–10 season. In Stoops' first season as the Kentucky Head coach, he went 2–10, followed by back to back 5–7 seasons.
In 2014, Stoops signed a contract extension that would last until 2019.
After a 0–2 start to the 2016 season, Stoops led the Wildcats to a 7–6 finish after that start and defeated their in-state rival, the eleventh-ranked Louisville Cardinals 41–38. Kentucky lost in the TaxSlayer Bowl to Georgia Tech 33–18.
The 2017 season featured ups and downs and the breakout of star running back Benny Snell. On October 28, Stoops led Kentucky to a 29–26 defeat of Tennessee. The victory over the Volunteers marked the first for Kentucky since 2011 and only the second time since 1984. The team finished with a 7–5 record in the regular season, losing afterwards in the Music City Bowl to Northwestern 24–23.
The 2018 season was a historic one for the Wildcats. Paced by Snell on offense and Josh Allen on defense, they snapped a 31-year losing streak to Florida, finishing 9-3–only the fourth time in school history that the Wildcats have won at least nine games. Kentucky defeated Penn State in the Citrus Bowl on January 1, 2019, giving the Wildcats their first 10-win season since 1977, and only their third in school history. Stoops was named SEC Coach of the Year, the first time a Kentucky coach had won the award since Jerry Claiborne in 1983.
The 2019 season was one of overcoming adversity. After a 2–3 start in which they lost all of their quarterbacks to injury, Kentucky turned to wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. to take over at quarterback. With a revamped offense focused on the running game, the Wildcats finished the regular season with a 7–5 record routing Louisville 45–13 on Senior Day. Kentucky capped the season with a thrilling win over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl, as the Wildcats scored the winning touchdown with 15 seconds remaining for an 8–5 finish.
The 2020 season, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Kentucky play a 10-game, All-SEC regular-season schedule. The high point was a 34–7 win at Tennessee, their first win in Knoxville since 1984. Despite a 4–6 record, Kentucky was still invited to a bowl game, specifically the 2021 Gator Bowl against No. 24 NC State. Stoops led Kentucky to victory in the Gator Bowl 23–21, making it three straight bowl victories for the team.