How worse can it get for Mark Stoops in Kentucky? Maybe his decade-long tenure with the Wildcats is coming to an end. Last season’s 4-8 (1-7 in SEC play) record already had him on the hot seat. Then, he went on to lose his longtime friend who’s arguably the most beloved assistant coach for the fanbase. And obviously, recruiting is going to go downhill now concerning the athletes’ revenue share. After all, UK is a primary basketball program and the football recruiting genius is gone. What’s there to pitch?
It hit like a brick for every UK fan when Vince Marrow left. But it’s not just about him leaving. It’s how and why he left that’s stirring debate. KSR’s Matt Jones didn’t mince words when he said, “Throw in the long term friendship between the two men and literally going to coach for UK’s biggest rival and it’s pretty terrible result for Stoops.” This isn’t just about broken friendships. This is about Mark Stoops letting one of the best staffers in the program slip away, and fans are pointing fingers right at him. So what happened?
When Connor O’Gara spoke out in a new episode on Saturday Down South on June 11, things got clearer but a whole lot messier. According to him, this wasn’t just a heat of the moment breakup. “From all indication this goes back to Stoops listening less and less,” he said. “To me with all things recruiting and a lot of these personnel decisions that have come about when Stoops rehired Eddie Gran in 2021 to that role, that special assistant to the head coach which can just be anything in a lot of different ways really i mean that’s what this comes down to apparently.” And this is where it stings.
NCAA, College League, USA Football 2024: Kentucky vs Tennessee NOV 02 November 2, 2024: Dylan Sampson 6 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball and is tackled by Jamon Dumas-Johnson 2 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the NCAA football game between the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the University of Kentucky Wildcats at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville TN Tim Gangloff/CSM/Sipa USA Credit Image: Tim Gangloff/Cal Media/Sipa USA Knoxville Neyland Stadium Tennessee United States NOxUSExINxGERMANY PUBLICATIONxINxALGxARGxAUTxBRNxBRAxCANxCHIxCHNxCOLxECUxEGYxGRExINDxIRIxIRQxISRxJORxKUWxLIBxLBAxMLTxMEXxMARxOMAxPERxQATxKSAxSUIxSYRxTUNxTURxUAExUKxVENxYEMxONLY Copyright: xCalxSportxMediax Editorial use only
Vince Marrow wasn’t just a tight ends coach. He was making $1.3 million a year, maybe not exactly coordinator money but it “is the most money that any non-coordinator assistant in the SEC was making” as O’Gara pointed out. And he earned every bit of it. “If you know Marrow, you know that his duties, as we always talk about duties more important than title, his duties went way way beyond that,” the host added. “He put out a ton of fires internally. He found diamond in the rough recruits like Benny Snell and Lynn Bowden. I know he was a huge part of getting Wan’Dale Robinson to come back to Kentucky, very much a part of what allowed Kentucky to establish the identity that they established in the late part of the 2010s.”
But while titles also matter, respect matters even more. When Vince Marrow’s recruiting calls started getting overruled, when Eddie Gran’s opinions began trumping his, something cracked between him and Mark Stoops. Matt Jones added to the tension saying “I think he has been frustrated for a while… I am not surprised he is leaving. While I am slightly surprised it was the Cards now, I think he was very close to going to Louisville a couple of years ago. Something must have happened.” Nick Roush of KSR also reported, “Marrow’s first choices were no longer always the program’s first choices.” That kind of sidelining can break a bond especially when it’s a bond that helped build Kentucky’s rise. Now, another heartbreak is that UK isn’t even getting anything on losing their top dog.
Louisville plays wise to deliver Mark Stoops a double blow
A double blow because Mark Stoops didn’t just lose Vince Marrow to Louisville but their arch rival aren’t going to pay them anything for the steal. “Kentucky doesn’t even get any sort of kickback because the poach fee would have only existed if Marrow had taken an onfield role elsewhere,” O’Gara added. “But because he’s taking this general manager position and not being a position coach or coordinator or something like that, then Louisville doesn’t have to give Kentucky anything which is another tough pill to swallow.” That’s what makes this next-level petty. A veteran Kentucky coach, frustrated and demoted in influence, joins the rival for free and the man that let it happen has to stand there and take it.
Paul Finebaum lit the match, saying, “This is an absolute body blow to Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program. This was already a football program that was bleeding. The last two years have been abysmal for Mark Stoops, so this could not have come at a worse time.” Now Kentucky’s stuck with Mark Stoops who has a very expensive buyout contract even if they want to part ways. But that safety net might be tearing soon. As FoxSports’ Aaron Torres put it, “Him leaving – let alone for their biggest rival – is a pretty good indication that he doesn’t expect Mark Stoops to be in town much longer.”
This isn’t just about a staff shake-up. It’s about power shifts, broken loyalty, and a major SEC storyline that could define the coming years in Kentucky football which might not longer see Mark Stoops in it.
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