Paul Finebaum Names Former SEC Coach Whose Program Grew Tired of Him

The Kentucky Wildcats are tired of just being regarded as a basketball school, and that's why they made the difficult decision this offseason to part ways with head coach Mark Stoops.

That decision signals something important. Kentucky is no longer content with being respectable in football. It wants to be relevant.

Stoops spent 13 years coaching in Lexington, where he compiled an 82-80 record. He will be remembered as the winningest coach in the program’s history.

However, his performance in the last four seasons has been disappointing. After achieving 10 wins in 2021, he followed up with two consecutive seasons of 7-6, and then struggled further with records of 4-8 and 5-7 in the most recent seasons.

That decline is what ultimately sealed his fate. At a place like Kentucky, sustaining success is difficult, but trending backward is unacceptable, especially after proving you can win at a high level.

He has since been replaced by Will Stein, who spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Oregon Ducks.

Under his guidance, the Ducks routinely had one of the best offenses in the sport and made two College Football Playoffs in that time span. He's also a Kentucky native, being from Louisville and playing at Louisville, giving him the knowledge of the area and how to recruit it.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops on the sidelines. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Stein represents a philosophical shift. Instead of leaning on stability and defense like Stoops, Kentucky is now betting on innovation and offensive firepower to raise its ceiling.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum revealed on his show, "The Paul Finebaum Show," that everyone in Kentucky seems to be excited for the Stein era and that the fan base had grown tired of Stoops.

"Right now, I think everybody is excited," Finebaum said. "I think it's more because he's young, he's energetic, he did a great job at Oregon, and like a lot of programs after 10, 12, 13 years, you get tired of a coach. Mark Stoops did a good job, but it just played out."

Finebaum’s point highlights a reality in modern college football. Longevity alone is no longer enough. Programs want upward momentum, not maintenance.

This is the reality coaches have to deal with. Kentucky has not been a great football program in its history, and Stoops is arguably the best the program has ever had. Despite that, the program wasn't progressing. They would have some good seasons here and there, but it wasn't consistent, and so a change was needed.

That is what makes this move both logical and risky. Kentucky fired its most successful coach ever without a guarantee that it could do better.

The question now is if the Wildcats are backing the football enough so that someone like Stein will have a chance to succeed. Was Stoops getting the most out of the program, or was he holding the program back?

That question will define Stein’s tenure. If the resources and support remain the same, then expectations should too. A new coach alone does not elevate a program. Investment does.

Despite that, change is sometimes good. You get a fresh voice, new ideas, and new excitement for a program trending the wrong way. That can sometimes be a good thing, and ultimately help Kentucky prove it's much more than just a basketball school.

Ultimately, this hire is less about replacing Stoops and more about redefining Kentucky football. If Stein succeeds, the Wildcats can finally shift the narrative around their program. If he doesn’t, it will reinforce the idea that Stoops wasn’t the problem, but the ceiling.

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