Kentucky Owes Mark Stoops $38 Million To Fire Him. They Can't Afford It, And Now Everyone Is Trapped.

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Judge to UCLA: You have an obligation to play at the Rose Bowl through 2044

A judge just denied the Rose Bowl's attempt to keep UCLA locked in place.

Sort of.

The Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch reports Judge James C. Chalfant ruled against Rose Bowl Operating Co. and the City of Pasadena in their bid for a temporary restraining order that would've stopped UCLA from exploring other stadium options while litigation plays out.

The reason?

No emergency.

But here's where it gets interesting:

The judge made it crystal clear that UCLA has "an obligation to play at the Rose Bowl through 2044" and acknowledged there would be "irreparable harm" if they leave.

When UCLA's attorney tried arguing the relationship with the Rose Bowl was "breaking down," Judge Chalfant wasn't having it:

"I don't know why UCLA can't just show up and play football at the Rose Bowl. You don't need to talk to them at all."

Translation: Honor your contract. Play your games. Work out your drama later.

What's next?

Nima Mohebbi, attorney for the Rose Bowl Operating Co. and the City of Pasadena, says they're filing a preliminary injunction motion to compel discovery - and they've already submitted a Public Records Act request to investigate UCLA's plans.

Meanwhile, UCLA's tone-deaf leadership seems genuinely shocked that fans reacted negatively to the idea of abandoning one of the most iconic venues in college football.

It turns out that people care about tradition.

Who knew? [LINK] [LINK]

Maryland AD Jim Smith just gave the most non-answer answer possible.

When asked about Mike Locksley's job status, Smith said: "He's gonna coach against Illinois, then he's gonna coach against Michigan, and then he's gonna coach against Michigan State. We got a chance to win three games and go to a bowl game. We can't make a decision right now. That'd be silly. We'll determine at the end of the year where we are."

Translation: I have no idea what I'm doing.

Per Inside MD Sports' Jeff Ermann, the pressure is mounting—but Smith's hands are tied:

• Locksley's buyout is $13M

• An unusually large number of schools are searching for coaches this cycle

• Firing him could send Maryland's talent-loaded freshman class straight to the transfer portal

• The fanbase has lost patience with the lack of progress and big wins

But here's the kicker:

Maryland doesn't have the boosters to make a move.

The football program's revenue ranked 42nd nationally and second-to-last among Big Ten schools. Unlike programs where deep-pocketed donors step up with cash when they want a coach gone, Maryland fans' "collective mouth doesn't match its wallet."

And if the Terps don't act?

Attendance could crater even further. SECU Stadium was already dead last in the conference this year—and empty seats next season could make the revenue problem even worse.

Smith inherited a fanbase that wants change.

However, he lacks the necessary funds, boosters, or leverage to make it happen.

So instead, he's buying time.

Three more games. Then we'll see. [LINK]

Baylor AD Mack Rhoades is out.

Effective yesterday.

Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reports "new allegations surfacing this week regarding Baylor AD Mack Rhoades are related to a violation of the faith-based university's policies and practices."

Baylor isn't saying much - calling it a "personnel matter and an ongoing investigation."

But the dominoes are already falling:

• Bears Deputy AD/COO Jovan Overshown and Executive Senior Associate AD Cody Hall have been appointed as Co-ADs

• Rhoades has stepped down from his roles with the College Football Playoff, both as chair and as a member of the selection committee.

• The CFP Management Committee moved fast, naming Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek as the new selection committee chair and adding Utah AD Mark Harlan as the Big 12's representative.

When a power player takes a "leave of absence" this abruptly, especially at a faith-based institution, it's rarely good news.

The question now isn't whether Rhoades is coming back.

It's what comes out during the investigation. [LINK]

USC knows how to run a victory lap.

After last weekend's fake punt conversion went viral, the Trojans decided to lean into the chaos, and they did it perfectly.

Watch what happens when two players wearing #80 jerseys walk into a coffee shop.

The prank is simple:

• Both guys are wearing the same number

• Nobody knows which one actually ran the play

• Confusion ensues

It's a masterclass in capitalizing on a moment.

Most programs would've posted a highlight reel and called it a day. USC turned its fake punt into a content machine, milking the attention, keeping the conversation alive, and reminding everyone that college football is supposed to be fun.

This is how you build a brand in 2025.

You don't just make plays on the field.

You make plays off of it, too. [LINK]

DEEP DIVE

The $38 Million Trap: How Kentucky Football Handcuffed Itself to Mark Stoops

Inside college football's most expensive coaching standoff

Here's what nobody tells you about college football contracts:

The moment you sign them, you're married.

And just like a marriage, when things go south, getting out is expensive—really expensive.

Kentucky is learning this lesson the hard way.

Mark Stoops, the Wildcats' all-time winningest coach, is sitting on a contract that would cost Kentucky nearly $38 million to terminate. Not spread out over years. Not offset by his next job. The full amount is due within 60 days.

And here's the kicker: Kentucky can't afford it.

So Stoops stays. The fans grow angrier. The losses pile up. And everyone is trapped in a relationship nobody wants to be in anymore.

This is the story of how one contract, signed at the peak of success, became college football's most cautionary tale.

The Deal That Changed Everything

Let's rewind to November 11, 2022.

Kentucky football was flying high. Mark Stoops had just passed Bear Bryant to become the program's all-time wins leader. The Wildcats were 39-20 since 2018. They'd posted their second 10-win season in four years - something Kentucky had only done twice in its entire history before Stoops arrived.

Nebraska was calling. Auburn was interested. If Kentucky didn't act fast, it'd lose the best coach it'd had in generations.

So, athletics director Mitch Barnhart and university president Eli Capilouto made Stoops an offer he couldn't refuse: $9 million per year through 2030, making him the sixth-highest-paid coach in college football.

The buyout terms? Brutal. If Kentucky wanted out, they'd owe Stoops 75% of his remaining salary—paid in full within 60 days.

At the time, it seemed like a no-brainer.

Today? It's an albatross.

The Curse Activates Immediately

According to Mark Story at the Lexington Herald-Leader, the curse began the very next day.

Literally 24 hours after the contract was signed, Vanderbilt, who had lost 26 straight SEC games, stunned Kentucky 24-21 in Lexington.

The loss was so embarrassing that Kentucky didn't even announce the contract extension in the traditional way. Instead, they quietly posted it on the university's legal counsel webpage. No press conference. No fanfare. Just a dated-but-never-released statement buried on the website.

Two years later, the NCAA would vacate Kentucky's entire 10-3 season from 2021 due to rules violations, stripping even more shine from Stoops' resume.

Since signing that extension, Kentucky has gone 14-19 overall and 6-19 against power conference opponents.

The "curse of the Stoops contract" was born.

The Problem With Paying for Past Performance

Here's what happened:

Before the 2022 extension, Stoops was viewed as the guy "doing more with less" at historically challenged Kentucky. He was the overachiever, the program builder, and the coach who maximized limited resources.

Then Kentucky paid him $9 million a year.

Suddenly, the narrative shifted. Now he was being compensated like an elite coach—like someone who should be competing for SEC championships and making New Year's Six bowls.

But Kentucky hasn't made a Sugar Bowl. They haven't won the SEC East. And since getting paid like a top-tier coach, Stoops' teams have regressed toward the mean.

This is the fundamental tension in college athletics compensation:

You pay coaches for what they've already accomplished, then expect them to do even more. And when they don't, you're stuck with a contract that reflects their peak value, not their current performance.

The Buyout That Makes Firing Impossible

Let's talk numbers.

If Kentucky fired Stoops today, they'd owe him approximately $38 million—the full amount due within 60 days of termination.

Compare that to James Franklin at Penn State, whose $49 million buyout is paid in installments through 2031 and can be offset by his next coaching salary.

According to Jon Hale at the Herald-Leader, Kentucky's structure is uniquely punishing. Most schools spread buyouts over time. Most schools include offset language. Kentucky did neither.

Why?

Because in 2022, Barnhart was terrified of losing Stoops. He wanted to send a message to other programs: Back off. He's ours.

The message worked. Stoops stayed.

However, Kentucky is now learning the downside of such aggressive deal-making. They're financially trapped with a coach whose teams have won just 42% of their games since signing the extension.

Barnhart's Loyalty Problem

Mitch Barnhart has been Kentucky's athletics director since 2002.

He's known for two things: patience and loyalty.

These traits made him a hero when he stuck with Stoops during the program's early rebuilding years. They made him look wise when Stoops started winning 9 and 10 games.

Now? Those same traits are being questioned.

Darrell Bird of CatsPause.com describes Barnhart's "fierce loyalty and incomprehensible patience in an age of instant gratification." He argues Barnhart's principles are "non-negotiable" and notes the AD's support "only seems odd because it's becoming rarer these days."

But here's the uncomfortable question Kentucky fans are asking:

At what point does loyalty become stubbornness? When does patience become paralysis?

Barnhart gave both Stoops and former basketball coach John Calipari contracts with massive, program-crippling buyouts. Calipari's buyout would have been $34 million - until he bailed Kentucky out by leaving for Arkansas on his own.

Stoops isn't doing Kentucky the same favor.

And unlike Calipari, who at least won a national championship, Stoops has never won the SEC East. Never made a New Year's Six bowl. Never finished in the top 10.

The Math That Doesn't Add Up

Here's Kentucky's impossible equation:

Option 1: Fire Stoops, pay $38 million within 60 days, hire a new coach (probably $7-8 million per year), build a new staff, and hope he's better.

Total immediate cost: Approximately $ 50 million to reset the program.

Option 2: Keep Stoops, hope he turns it around, and pray you're not wasting years of development for young players like quarterback Cutter Boley.

Total cost: Unknown, but potentially more expensive in lost momentum, recruits, and fan support.

Kentucky is facing significant new expenses from NCAA settlements and stadium projects. According to reporting, the university doesn't have $38 million sitting around to fire a football coach, no matter how much fans demand it.

So Stoops stays.

Not because he's winning. Not because fans support him. Not because he's the right coach for the job.

He stays because Kentucky can't afford to fire him.

The Only Way Out

There's one scenario where Kentucky makes a coaching change:

Stoops negotiates down his buyout.

According to Hale's mailbag, this comes down to two factors:

1. How much appetite does Stoops have to continue weathering fan negativity if results don't improve?

2. How concerned is Stoops about preserving his legacy at Kentucky?

Stoops has publicly stated there's "no quit" in him and called buyout rumors "100% false." He's made clear he's not walking away from money he's owed.

But if Kentucky limps to a losing record, misses a bowl game, and the fan base turns fully toxic?

Maybe Stoops decides he'd rather preserve what goodwill remains and negotiate a softer landing. Maybe he takes $20 million instead of $38 million and moves on with his reputation somewhat intact.

It's the only realistic path forward.

Because Kentucky can't fire him. And Stoops doesn't seem inclined to quit.

What This Means for College Football

The Kentucky-Stoops situation is a cautionary tale for every athletic director watching.

Here's what they should learn:

1. Never structure a buyout that's due immediately. Spread it over time. Build in offsets. Give yourself financial flexibility.

2. Don't pay for past performance. Stoops earned his extension based on his performance in 2021 and 2022. But contracts should reflect future expectations, not past achievements.

3. Loyalty is a virtue until it becomes a liability. Barnhart's patience worked when Stoops was building. It's backfiring now that the program is stagnant.

4. The SEC is unforgiving. What looked like breakthrough success at Kentucky (10 wins, top-10 rankings) wasn't sustainable against the elite competition in the conference. Paying Stoops like an elite coach didn't make him one.

5. Contract structure matters as much as dollar amounts. Kentucky didn't just give Stoops a lot of money. They gave him a contract that makes him functionally unfireable.

What Happens Next?

As of mid-November 2025, here's where things stand:

Barnhart publicly backed Stoops on November 12, stating the program is "taking steps forward." Players have rallied around their coach. Key defensive contributors are out for the season with injuries, giving Stoops built-in excuses for poor performance.

Kentucky's remaining schedule includes winnable games against Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee Tech, as well as tougher matchups against ranked Vanderbilt and Louisville.

If Kentucky sneaks to 6-6 and makes a bowl game, Stoops likely survives another year.

If they collapse and finish 4-8 or 3-9? The pressure intensifies. But unless Stoops agrees to walk away for less than he's owed, he's staying.

The most likely candidates to replace Stoops if Kentucky makes a change include:

• Jon Sumrall (Tulane) — Former UK player and assistant, consensus favorite

• Brian Hartline (Ohio State OC) — Elite recruiter with Kentucky ties

• Brent Key (Georgia Tech) — Proven program builder

• Will Stein (Oregon OC) — Kentucky native, rising star

But all of this is theoretical unless Kentucky finds $38 million or Stoops agrees to a negotiated exit.

The Bottom Line

Mark Stoops isn't a bad coach.

He's Kentucky's all-time wins leader. He took the program to heights it had rarely seen. He built something sustainable in Lexington.

But the contract Mitch Barnhart gave him in 2022 was a mistake.

It paid Stoops like an elite coach before he proved he could sustain elite results. It included buyout terms that make firing him financially impossible. And it handcuffed Kentucky to a coach whose best days appear to be behind him.

Now everyone is stuck.

Stoops is stuck coaching a fan base that wants him gone. Barnhart is stuck defending a decision that looks worse by the week. And Kentucky is stuck choosing between an expensive reset they can't afford and a gradual decline they can't accept.

This is what happens when you build a contract around fear: fear of losing your coach, fear of returning to mediocrity, fear of looking unambitious.

You don't just pay for success.

You pay for the possibility of failure.

And Kentucky is learning that lesson in the most expensive way possible.

Athletic Directors Are On The Hot Seat Too

Coaches get all the attention.

But here's what most college football fans don't realize: the person who hired that struggling coach is sitting in an office upstairs, sweating just as much. Maybe more.

Athletic Directors are the ultimate middle managers of college sports. They answer to presidents, boards, and boosters with checkbooks. They're responsible for budgets that would make Fortune 500 CFOs nervous. And when the football team goes 4-8, guess who gets the first angry phone call?

The guy who thought hiring that coach was a brilliant idea.

Here's why fans are finally paying attention to Athletic Directors.

Coaching contracts have exploded into the tens of millions. Buyouts are so massive they're essentially full guarantees. When an AD hands out a $95 million deal and the coach goes 6-6, fans want answers. When that same coach gets fired three years later and the school owes him $60 million, somebody needs to be held accountable.

And that somebody is the Athletic Director.

The scrutiny reveals an uncomfortable truth: some ADs are making catastrophic decisions. Others are getting backed into corners by meddling boosters and university administrators who think they know football better than the professionals. And in more than a few cases, ADs are getting absolutely played by agents who smell desperation and use leverage like a crowbar.

It's not always pretty.

Athletic Directors face pressure from every direction:

• Donors who think their $10 million contribution buys them a vote on coaching decisions

• University presidents who want to win championships without any negative headlines

• Conference realignment chaos that's turning college sports into a game of musical chairs

• NIL negotiations that feel more like hostage situations than recruiting strategies

• Facility arms races, where every school needs a $50 million football complex just to stay relevant

Some ADs navigate this chaos brilliantly.

Others are one bad hire away from updating their LinkedIn profiles.

That's where you come in.

We've spent years analyzing coaching pressure at Coaches Hot Seat. We know which coaches are feeling the heat, which ones have bought themselves another year, and which ones are already browsing Zillow in new cities.

But we want to hear from YOU about the athletic directors.

Who's making brilliant moves behind the scenes? Who's asleep at the wheel while their program burns? Which AD is one more catastrophic hire away from getting shown the door?

Vote below and let us know which Athletic Directors belong on the Hot Seat.

This isn't about firing predictions.

This is about identifying the decision-makers who are feeling the pressure, making questionable calls, or running out of rope with their stakeholders. The ADs who are sweating through their custom suits at donor dinners.

Your voice matters in this conversation.

College football doesn't work without great leadership at the top, and right now, some ADs are proving they're not up for the job.

Tell us who's on YOUR hot seat.

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