Latest news with #MarkStoops
Miami Herald
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
2025 SEC Head Coach Rankings: Preseason College Football Preview
This SEC isn't exactly in a transitional period with its head coaches, but this should be a volatile 16 programs and 15 fan bases - Vanderbilt just likes to screw things up once in a while - that want lots and lots of wins, things don't always work like everyone coaching hot list things are for later, but going into the season, almost everyone is under immense pressure. Coaches like Oklahoma's Brent Venables, Kentucky's Mark Stoops, and Auburn's Hugh Freeze must have great years. The ones handling the projected powerhouses - Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, LSU's Brian Kelly, and Steve Sarkisian of Texas - aren't in any danger of being sacked, but they can't all win the national championship. But beyond all the overhype and unrealistic expectations, just how good are all these head coaches?All of them are great in their own way, Who's hot, who's not, who has the wins in the tank, and who has the right combination of past glory and present upside? Going into the season - and we'll readjust after the campaign - our preseason head coaching rankings are ...- Predictions of every SEC game 16 Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State Career FBS Win %: 16.7 FBS Wins: 2 Winning FBS Seasons: 0 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 1 Average Wins Per Season: 2.00 % Seasons With Winning Record: 0.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 16 Top offensive coordinator at UCF, Ole Miss, and then Oklahoma 15 Brent Venables, Oklahoma Career FBS Win %: 56.4 FBS Wins: 22 Winning FBS Seasons: 1 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 3 Average Wins Per Season: 7.33 % Seasons With Winning Record: 33.33% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 12 2016 Broyles winner (top assistant); beat Texas in 2023 14 Clark Lea, Vanderbilt Career FBS Win %: 32.7 FBS Wins: 16 Winning FBS Seasons: 1 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 4 Average Wins Per Season: 4.00 % Seasons With Winning Record: 25.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 15 Took Vanderbilt to its first winning season since 2013 13 Mark Stoops, Kentucky Career FBS Win %: 51.3 FBS Wins: 77 Winning FBS Seasons: 7 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 12 Average Wins Per Season: 6.42 % Seasons With Winning Record: 58.33% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 7 2018 SEC Coach of the Year; six winning seasons in last eight 12 Sam Pittman, Arkansas Career FBS Win %: 49.2 FBS Wins: 30 Winning FBS Seasons: 3 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 5 Average Wins Per Season: 6.00 % Seasons With Winning Record: 60.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 14 Longtime star offensive line coach; 3-0 in bowl games 11 Hugh Freeze, Auburn Career FBS Win %: 62 FBS Wins: 93 Winning FBS Seasons: 9 FBS Conference Championships: 1 Total FBS Seasons: 12 Average Wins Per Season: 7.75 % Seasons With Winning Record: 75.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 9 2011 Sun Belt Coach of the Year at Arkansas State; 6-2 in bowls 10 Shane Beamer, South Carolina Career FBS Win %: 56.9 FBS Wins: 29 Winning FBS Seasons: 3 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 4 Average Wins Per Season: 7.25 % Seasons With Winning Record: 75.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 13 Three winning seasons and bowl appearances in first four years 9 Billy Napier, Florida Career FBS Win %: 65.6 FBS Wins: 59 Winning FBS Seasons: 4 FBS Conference Championships: 2 Total FBS Seasons: 7 Average Wins Per Season: 8.43 % Seasons With Winning Record: 57.14% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 11 Went 33-5 with two top 16 finishes in his last three seasons at Louisiana 8 Mike Elko, Texas A&M Career FBS Win %: 63.2 FBS Wins: 24 Winning FBS Seasons: 3 FBS Conference Championships: 0 Total FBS Seasons: 3 Average Wins Per Season: 8.00 % Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 10 2022 ACC Coach of the Year at Duke; three winning seasons in three years of coaching 7 Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri Career FBS Win %: 66.7 FBS Wins: 50 Winning FBS Seasons: 3 FBS Conference Championships: 1 Total FBS Seasons: 6 Average Wins Per Season: 8.33 % Seasons With Winning Record: 50.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 8 2023 SEC Coach of the Year; 21 wins over the last two seasons 6 Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Career FBS Win %: 67.3 FBS Wins: 105 Winning FBS Seasons: 10.5 FBS Conference Championships: 2 Total FBS Seasons: 12.5 Average Wins Per Season: 8.40 % Seasons With Winning Record: 84.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 3 2 CUSA championships at FAU; four top 11 finishes; gave Ole Miss its first 11-win season 5 Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Career FBS Win %: 78 FBS Wins: 46 Winning FBS Seasons: 4 FBS Conference Championships: 1 Total FBS Seasons: 5 Average Wins Per Season: 9.20 % Seasons With Winning Record: 80.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 4 2023 Coach of the Year taking Washington to a CFP National Championship appearance; won 3 NAIA national titles and went 67-3 at Sioux Falls 4 Josh Heupel, Tennessee Career FBS Win %: 73.9 FBS Wins: 65 Winning FBS Seasons: 7 FBS Conference Championships: 1 Total FBS Seasons: 7 Average Wins Per Season: 9.29 % Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 6 2022 SEC Coach of the Year; four double-digit win seasons in seven years 3 Brian Kelly, LSU Career FBS Win %: 72.8 FBS Wins: 195 Winning FBS Seasons: 19 FBS Conference Championships: 3 Total FBS Seasons: 22 Average Wins Per Season: 8.86 % Seasons With Winning Record: 86.36% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 2 2009, 2012, 2018 Coach of the Year; 2 D-II national titles at Grand Valley State; all-time winningest coach at Notre Dame 2 Steve Sarkisian, Texas Career FBS Win %: 61.5 FBS Wins: 83 Winning FBS Seasons: 8.5 FBS Conference Championships: 1 Total FBS Seasons: 10.5 Average Wins Per Season: 7.90 % Seasons With Winning Record: 80.95% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 5 Two straight CFP semifinal appearances; 25 wins in last two years 1 Kirby Smart, Georgia Career FBS Win %: 84.7 FBS Wins: 105 Winning FBS Seasons: 9 FBS Conference Championships: 3 Total FBS Seasons: 9 Average Wins Per Season: 11.67 % Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00% 2024 Preseason Conference Rank: 1 Two national titles; 2017, 2021, 2022 SEC Coach of the Year; 8 straight top 7 national finishes- Previews of every SEC team © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops talks quarterback position
Coming off a 4-8 season in 2024, University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops says he feels very good about his depth at quarterback.
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
NFL rookie with six fingers signs for Carolina Panthers to complete against-all-odds journey to the league
NFL rookie JJ Weaver has signed for the Carolina Panthers, with the linebacker best known prior to his professional football arrival for having six fingers on his right hand. Weaver, who was born with polydactyly, a birth defect where a baby is 'born with extra fingers on their hand or extra toes on their foot,' per the Cleveland Clinic. About one in every thousand babies are born with polydactyly, with treatments differing based on where the extra digit is located. Weaver has six fully functioning fingers, with his gloves from his days at Kentucky made specially for his unique limb. Weaver was a star under Mark Stoops' Wildcats team in the stiff competition of the Southeastern Conference for six years. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound linebacker had an extra-long stay in Lexington with a redshirt year in 2019 and being granted an additional year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic. Weaver played for six seasons at Kentucky before getting his NFL opportunity in Carolina After going undrafted, Weaver originally was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers, but was waived earlier this year. His next chance at the NFL comes across the country in a more favorable situation, as the Panthers are an up-and-coming team looking to contend in the NFC South. Weaver now has an uphill battle to make the Panthers' 53-man roster, as he has around a month until the harsh cut, with less time around his teammates and Carolina's coaches than most. Yet, him impressing without making that cut could lead to future opportunities with other teams, including as a valued member of the practice squad. Weaver is one of three Kentucky players all time to be a captain in three separate seasons. Those leadership skills may translate to NFL success despite being born with six fingers on his right hand. The NFL does not have a rule on polydactyly, stating whether it gives Weaver a competitive advantage, or disadvantage, as did the NCAA. Now, it is just a matter of time to see whether the six-finger man can stick with the Panthers.
USA Today
17-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC football media days: Live updates for Day 4. Texas A&M, Missouri to speak
SEC football media days come to a close Thursday with Day 4 of press conferences and media availabilities in Atlanta. Expected to take the podium on the final day of "talking season" in the SEC are Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz, Kentucky's Mark Stoops, Arkansas' Sam Pittman and Texas A&M's Mike Elko — as well as three players from each team scheduled to speak with reporters in side breakouts. Following a late-season collapse — which consisted of going 1-4 after starting 7-1; falling out of the top 10; and removing itself from College Football Playoff contention — Texas A&M enters the 2025 college football season with considerable pressure to bounce back. Sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed is expected to enter his first full season as the Aggies' starting quarterback. Watch SEC Media Days live with Fubo (free trial) Missouri retooled its roster heavily through the portal with 22 transfers, which included landing former Penn State dual-threat quarterback Beau Pribula and former Georgia five-star EDGE rusher Damon Wilson III. Elsewhere, Arkansas looks to build off its strong 2024 campaign and Kentucky looks to improve from an underwhelming 4-8 season. USA TODAY Sports has live updates and coverage from the final day of SEC football media days in Atlanta, follow below: SEC football media days: Day 4 speakers schedule Here's a look at the schedule for Day 4 speakers at SEC football media days: All times Eastern Where are SEC football media days in 2025? The 2025 SEC Football Media Days are being held at the College Football Hall of Fame and the Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park in Atlanta. What channel is SEC media days on? SEC Network will nationally broadcast Day 4 of SEC football media days across the network's "SEC Now" and "The Paul Finebaum Show." ESPN2 will air one hour of the proceedings, from 8 p.m. ET until 9 p.m. ET. Streaming options include the ESPN app (requires a TV provider login) and ESPN+, which requires a subscription. Another option is Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to potential subscribers
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kentucky football's Mark Stoops is on ropes. But don't count him out in SEC
Kentucky football is in trouble. Mark Stoops is the only one who can save it, which may seem a bit ironic because he's been the coach for the past 13 seasons and is responsible for its current state. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-8 season last year and face the same SEC schedule that made them face three College Football Playoff programs last season in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee and two more programs that were on the periphery of an at-large bid in Ole Miss and South Carolina. In all, nine programs on UK's schedule played in a bowl game last season. Advertisement Having to go through the SEC gauntlet was among myriad reasons why plenty of Stoops' coaching peers and friends warned him not to take the job back in 2012: It's a basketball school. Its recruiting base is too shallow. Winning can't be sustained there. The Cats appear headed in the wrong direction, just as the program did back in 2012 when Stoops was hired, if he can't change course soon. The same reasons why he defied the naysayers back then are the same reasons why he could turn it around this season. Stoops saw enough potential in UK back then to take a chance. And entering a season in which the odds are once again stacked against the Cats might just be the place he needs to recalibrate what works in the program. Advertisement There are a number of memes circulating on social media of 'motivated' Mark Stoops, which initially was a sarcastic reference to an interview he had with Kentucky Sports Radio in the spring but has now morphed into a bit of a movement. The success he had — recording two 10-win seasons and taking the Cats to eight straight bowl games for the first time in program history — didn't come easy but was consistent enough to where Stoops may have gotten a bit too comfortable. He had some missteps like thinking his offensive coordinator was interchangeable. The Cats had a different OC in each of the past five seasons including new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen coaching in 2021, leaving for a year and returning in 2023 — before heading back to the NFL. Bush Hamdan's return as offensive coordinator will mark the first time since Eddie Gran held the position from 2016-2020 that UK has had the same OC in consecutive years. Advertisement Continuity matters, which is why just the optics of former associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow leaving to become the general manager at rival Louisville after being in Lexington for the entirety of Stoops' tenure was a tough blow. But if we've learned anything about Stoops in his decade-plus in Lexington, it's that the man from Youngstown, Ohio, wasn't raised to back down from a fight. He's landed a few punches of his own in recruiting after Marrow's exodus with 15 commitments including quarterback Matt Ponatoski, a two-sport star from Cincinnati. UK also flipped receiver Denairius Gray earlier this month after he originally committed to Auburn. What matters, of course, is that Stoops gets some of those wins on the field next season. Kentucky hasn't had back-to-back losing seasons since posting identical 5-7 records in Stoops' second and third years at the helm in 2014 and 2015. Advertisement He's got a greater challenge now, maybe even monumental given the schedule. Then again, it's not much different than the low expectations he faced when he first took over the program. Stoops had unprecedented success then. There's no reason to believe he can't go out and do the same thing again. Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@ follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at to make sure you never miss one of his columns. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky football: Mark Stoops might be answer to solve SEC struggles
