New Kentucky football coach: Top 5 best candidates if Mark Stoops is fired

Kentucky's Mark Stoops is the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, but after a second straight season without a bowl appearance, it's fair to wonder if that will continue. The Wildcats are just 3-13 in league play in the last two seasons and Stoops's run of success at Kentucky seems to have come to a screeching halt. If the Wildcats elect to move on, here are five major candidates they could nab.

Will Stein, Oregon OC

Stein has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon under Dan Lanning since 2023. He's from Kentucky, and his father played for the Wildcats. Stein played at Louisville and has worked his way up the coaching chain as a top offensive mind. He's only 36 years old, has significant ties to the state and school, and would bring instant credibility on offense.

Brian Hartline, Ohio State OC

A similar approach might bring Hartline to the Bluegrass state. Hartline's brother, Mike, was a quarterback for the Wildcats from 2007 to 2010. Brian was a standout at Ohio State who had a nice if injury-shortened NFL career. He has only coached at Ohio State, but has been an offensive coordinator there for the past three seasons. He began calling plays in 2025 and at just 39 years old, he's an excellent recruiter and a promising young mind. He could keep Kentucky involved in Ohio, which has been a rich recruiting ground for UK in recent seasons.

Dan Mullen, UNLV head coach

Mullen, on the other hand, is an established head coach who won 10 games at Mississippi State once and did so twice at Florida. He's now 10-2 at UNLV and might be making a move back to the SEC. Mullen rose to prominence as the offensive coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer. His career record is 113-63. The only negatives are that Mullen would likely command a hefty salary and the 53-year old has been out of the SEC for a few years and might require some help in the NIL realm. But plenty of people in Lexington have been after Mullen for a long while.

Neal Brown, Texas assistant/former West Virginia head coach

This won't be the most popular pick, but if the search drags on, Kentucky might consider Brown. He played at Kentucky, was Stoops's first offensive coordinator at UK, and has some lengthy experience at Troy and West Virginia. Yes, he was fired at West Virginia, but he was 37-35 there and reached four bowl games in six years. West Virginia was 4-8 this year under Rich Rodriguez. Before West Virginia, Brown was 35-16 at Troy and has spent his year since firing as an assistant to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. Another year of image rehabilitation would probably help, but stranger picks have worked out.

Glenn Schumann, Georgia DC

There's been little talk here, but replacing Stoops might be best accomplished by following the same basic template as hiring him-- find a top defensive coordinator without head coaching experience and plug him in. Schumann has done a great job at Georgia and was a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama. But Kirby Smart isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and if nothing else, Schumann might welcome a chance to establish himself as a head coach in the SEC.