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ESPN/SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum thinks Mark Stoops was better off staying at Kentucky than becoming the new football coach at Texas A&M.
Stoops announced about 1 a.m. Sunday that he was staying at Kentucky after he was contacted by Texas A&M and may or may not have been offered the job.
Finebaum went on the “Matt Barrie Show” on ESPN and admitted he just assumed Texas A&M had someone “lined up” when it fired Jimbo Fisher.
“My assumptions were incorrect,” he told Barrie.
Finebaum had concerns about whether Stoops could have met expectations at Texas A&M.
“I think what you have out there, is you have a lot of really proud people who have a piece of that program, and it’s a familiar story,” Finebaum said on the radio show. “I haven’t talked to (Texas A&M athletics director) Ross Bjork. I don’t really know what his mindset is, but I’m sure he’s trying to regroup because he’s the one who has put a lot of things out there about we’re not an 8-4 program.
“With Mark Stoops, Mark Stoops did a good job at Kentucky, but is that a preamble that he would do a good job at a higher-profile, much more difficult job than Kentucky? He exceeded expectations at Kentucky, but I think he’s better off staying where he is.”
Barrie said the new coach will feel the pressure to do more than Fisher, who left Florida State to take over at Texas A&M in 2018 and went 45-25 in 5 1/2 seasons before being fired this year. Stoops had two 10-win seasons at UK in that time frame while Fisher never won more than nine games and was 5-7 in 2022.
“You had better make sure that the guy you’re getting rid of, the one that’s coming in better be better,” Barrie told Finebaum. “You need to be 100 percent certain that the next head coach is better than the one you just fired.”
Texas A&M named Duke coach Mike Elko, a former Fisher assistant with the Aggies from 2018-2021, as its head coach Monday. He’s 16-9 in two seasons at Duke.
10 Responses
Don’t see this new guy being better than Fisher. He wasn’t even overly successful in a very bad conference. The ACC seldom has more than 3 teams that can play with the best in other conferences, now nearly every conference game he plays will be a tough win. I see this as just the start of a coaching carousel at A&M.
I agree 100%. Louisville 23, Duke 0. Cats 38, Dirty Birds 31. I believe Stoops was offered and said NO. Go look at Elko’s contract. It would have been a pay cut for Stoops. Elko has to get into the playoffs before any incentives kick in. Good Luck.
Finebaum is like everyone else..he has an opinion..right or wrong.
I totally agree and it’s just been a few years ago since
Finebaum gave Coach Stoops and Ky football any respect at all! I believe in Coach Stoops and staff and we’re finally a very competitive program that deserves respect and a program that worries teams that place us, that comes straight from other coaches and sports writers. Kentucky when playing balanced is proven to be a dangerous team! ❤️
Stoops is better off at UK, and he has elevated this program. I agree with know it all Finebaum this time, Stoops would have been in way over his head at Texas A&M, unless he could have hired a crack staff, especially the OC. A dangerous team? Tell that to the Georgia Bulldogs, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Missouri Tigers, the Tennessee Volunteers, or the South Carolina Gamecocks. What saved Stoops this year was the Louisville victory. Had UK gone 6-6 he would have been in deep DOO DOO!
UK fans better embrace Stoops because he’s the best they’ll ever be able to hire @ that program. He’s obviously overpaid but that’s what it’s going to take to keep him!
I’d say the fans at the game, including myself definitely embrace him and his staff and the players. It’s the ones that never go to a game aka arm chair QBs hehe. And the round ball fans that think we are only a basketball school.
What could be exiting is playing dUKe in a bowl game. Go Cats
Fine Baum is correct again. Full grind ahead Coach Stoops!
When is the last time A&M had a 10 win season Stoops had 2 while Fisher was coaching A&M. When is last time u won anything 50s or 60s. Dont act like you guys are so superior. Why hire Elko if u had Stoops, hes proven he can build a program Elko hasnt done nothing and hes off the Jimbo Fisher coaching tree, the hire makes no sense. Dont dog uk when u hvnt done anything in 60 yrs