Mark Stoops proud of his 10 years at UK and wants his mother to be present when he breaks Bear Bryant’s win record

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Mark Stoops, left, already has more wins at UK than Rich Brooks did and only needs two more wins to become UK’s all-time winningest coach and pass Bear Bryant. (UK Athletics Photo)

Mark Stoops took over as Kentucky’s head coach in 2013 and is starting his 10th season with the Wildcats.

Now think about this. Florida has had four head coaches — and three interim coaches — in the same time period.

Will Muschamp (2011-14), Jim McElwain (2015-17), Dan Mullen (2018-2021) and Billy Napier (2022) have been head coaches at Florida during Stoops’ tenure at UK. D.J. Durkin (2014), Randy Shannon (2017) and Greg Knox (2021) have all been interim coaches.

Stoops said he doesn’t spend much time thinking about his longevity at Kentucky or on the verge of breaking Paul “Bear” Bryant’s career win mark at Kentucky.

“The 10 years in Lexington is something that I am proud of because I know how difficult it is. I know how difficult it is to walk into this league with the great coaching, with the recruiting, and starting like six feet below 14, then trying to climb that ladder as high as we can,” Stoops said Wednesday at the SEC Media Days in Atlanta.

“I am proud of that, and I appreciate the work. However, we’re not satisfied. We want to continue to grow. We want to continue to push it. Obviously some teams at the top of the food chain in the East and the West are doing some really special things. So you have to continue to elevate your game.”

Stoops noted he cannot control what other teams do or do not do. He can only focus his energy on improving the UK program.

However, he would like to have his mother present when he gets his second win this season to break Bryant’s record.

“For her to have two sons that have the all-time wins at Power Five programs, with Bob at Oklahoma, myself as Kentucky, that’s really the only focus I have, is on my mother to be able to be there and share in that moment,” Stoops said.

The SEC has a lot of new, or relatively new, coaches but Stoops said there is no secret formula to guarantee long-term success for any coach.

“I really looked at what we did. That’s continue to stay the course. Adapt and adjust when you can,” Stoops said. “I think all of us, you’re going to be accused of being hard headed at times. You have to stay to your core beliefs is the only advice I can give anybody.”

“To me it’s just being authentic, staying true to who I am, my core beliefs, what I know is right, but then also adjusting and adapting when you have to. For the longevity, you have to. You have to adapt and overcome any situation.”

2 Responses

  1. I gather he needs 2 wins to break Bryant’s win total, so if my math still works, he could get that win at Florida.

    Nothing would be sweeter to me than to get such a big one in Gainesville.

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