Texas Football head coach Steve Sarkisian hired Mark Stoops as a special assistant, according to Horns247.com. Stoops, head coach of Kentucky for 13 years, was reportedly pursued by Texas A&M after the firing of Jimbo Fisher in 2023.
Stoops was hired as the head coach of Kentucky in late 2012 after nearly two decades of collegiate coaching experience. First a defensive back coach before becoming a defensive coordinator, Stoops was considered a defensive mastermind. He was the defensive back coach for the legendary 2001-2002 Miami Hurricanes teams that made two National Championship games, winning one, with star safety Ed Reed earning unanimous All-American honors under Stoops’s tutelage.
While at Kentucky, Stoops helped lead a historically unremarkable program to 10 wins twice in his 13-year tenure, a feat the school has accomplished just four times. However, after two consecutive losing seasons and a vacated 2021 season due to allegations of illegal benefits, Stoops was fired at the end of the 2025 season.
Sarkisian has hired recently-fired head coaches in the past to serve in a special assistant role, with Horns247.com saying Stoops will serve in a role similar to Paul Chryst and Gary Patterson. Horns247.com also reported that Stoops and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp “have a lot of respect for each other.”
Stoops was a top target in Texas A&M’s head coaching search after the 2023 season, when the Aggies ultimately decided to hire Mike Elko. Some reports indicated that Stoops was even offered the role, but the offer was rescinded after pushback from fans, boosters and/or regents.
Two years later, and Stoops is indeed moving to Texas, only to coach a rival Longhorns squad as an assistant rather than an Aggies team as head coach.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Former Texas A&M HC target hired to rival staff
Reporting by Sam Allred, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
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