Kentucky football entered the 2025 season with Mark Stoops at the helm for his 13th season as the head coach.
Stoops, the longest tenured coach in program history, has accomplished more than any coach at Kentucky. However, since the turn of the decade, things have seemed to stall out.
In 2024, Kentucky reached a low point, finishing 4-8, marking the worst finish since Stoops’ first season in 2013.
The sharp decline has polarized the fanbase, some fans still believe in him, others have already seen enough. Stoops is under contract through the 2031 season with a steep $40.5 million buyout per his contract, making it tough to know if his seat is hot at all.
Regardless, the 2025 season is crucial for Stoops to regain the belief of any fans who might’ve lost it.
One of the most important voices for a program is its fanbase, and this what they had to say about the state of the program:
Ron Farris
Ron has been a UK football fan since he was a teenager, holding season tickets throughout Stoops’ entire tenure.
“We need to get him out of here as soon as they can pony up enough money,” Ron said.
He mentioned that the players are getting paid a lot of money, wishing that money would go towards Stoops’ buyout.
Ron acknowledged that Stoops could redeem himself with a winning season, but he’s not optimistic.
“I just don’t see it happening this year, I mean, we’ll be lucky to win one game in the SEC,” Ron said.
Ron already has his eyes on a replacement. He said if he were Mitch Barnhart for a day, Jon Sumrall, former Kentucky linebacker and co-defensive coordinator, would hear from him.
“First thing that morning when I got my coffee, he’d (Stoops) be gone, and he’d (Sumrall) be in,” Ron said.
Isaac Farris
“My first-grade teacher took me up under her wing because I was acting up in class,” Issac said. “She took me to my very first UK game back then, I was a blown away little first grader.”
Issac, now in his early 60s, is a regular at Kroger Field, attending all the home games.
Before the games, he uses his DJ equipment to play music for tailgaters in the parking lot.
He believes Stoops isn’t fully responsible for the recent struggles, pointing towards the revolving door at the offensive coordinator position.
“These kids can’t learn on the fly, they need a stable program,” Isaac said. “Every year, a different offense is kind of hard to master.”
He believes in Stoops, but thinks consistency from the staff behind him is what it will take for the program to start trending upwards again.
Chuck Cropper
Cropper has been a Kentucky football fan since the late ‘70s. He made it clear that he still supports and believes in Stoops.
“I’m not willing to get rid of him,” Cropper said.
He believes the blame for the decline over the past few years lies beyond Stoops and his staff, rather in the ever-changing landscape of college football in the NIL era.
“I think his biggest problem is money,” Cropper said. “All the teams are kind of struggling to figure out what’s going on here, especially in the SEC.”
Cropper believes this issue spans beyond just the dollar amount the football team is afforded to bring in players. He feels the transfer portal makes it difficult to build a team with some semblance of consistency year after year.
“It’s impossible to build a team in one season, and that’s what you’re asking all these coaches to do right now,” Cropper said. “You get your star quarterback, and you try to get players around him, and then next year they all leave for more money.”
All of these fan opinions were gathered through the first three home games of the season and will be updated when Kentucky returns to Lexington.
Kentucky currently sits at 2-2 through the first four games with a road trip to take No. 11 Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 4, with kickoff set for noon ET.
