Mark Stoops is joining the Texas staff as special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian, according to a report Monday from Chip Brown of Horns247.
The former Kentucky head coach is expected to fill the same role formerly occupied by Paul Chryst, Gary Patterson, and Neal Brown. Brown was a special assistant to Sarkisian last season, and vacated that role to become the head coach at North Texas.
Stoops concluded a 13-year run at Kentucky at the conclusion of last season, one that saw him leave the school as the winningest coach in Kentucky history. Sarkisian's Longhorns won both matchups with Stoops's Wildcats, a 31-14 decision in Austin in 2024 and a 16-13 overtime game in Lexington in October. Stoops went 72-80 on the bluegrass, with eight straight bowl appearances from 2016-23. His 2018 team won 10 games and finished No. 12 in the AP poll.
Of course, Stoops's connection to Texas is much more intimate than that.
He is the younger brother of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, who compiled an 11-7 record against Texas during his 18-year run from 1999-2016. Much of Stoops's success was when the Red River Rivalry ran its hottest, racking up five straight wins from 2000-04, with bot teams ranked among the AP top-12 in all five matchups. Bob Stoops has remained connected to the program since his 2017 retirement, including stepping in as interim head coach for the 2021 Alamo Bowl between Lincoln Riley's departure and Brent Venables's arrival as head coach; his son Drake played wide receivers for the Sooners from 2018-23.
Mark Stoops never worked for his brother at Oklahoma, for whatever that is worth. His expertise is in defensive back play, coaching the position at South Florida, Wyoming, Houston and Miami before becoming Mark Stoops's defensive coordinator at Arizona, and then Jimbo Fisher's defensive coordinator at Florida State. Stoops won two national championships as an assistant coach. Sarkisian recently brought Will Muschamp back to Austin to serve as defensive coordinator, as well as Blake Gideon as defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach after a year as Georgia Tech's defensive coordinator.
Interestingly, this is not Sarkisian's first attempt to bring a Stoops to Austin. He attempted to hire Mike Stoops as the linebackers coach on his initial Longhorns staff, but had to be talked/ordered out of hiring the former Sooners assistant. While Sarkisian wound up hiring Jeff Choate instead, Mark Stoops was his first choice.
Five seasons and 48 wins later, Sarkisian now has enough capital to bring a family member of former Public Enemy No. 1 to Austin.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.