Texas' Steve Sarkisian adds former SEC head coach to staff as special assistant
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Texas' Steve Sarkisian adds former SEC head coach to staff as special assistant originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Steve Sarkisian continues to build up Texas’ football staff, adding a veteran presence with deep SEC ties.
According to Horns247’s Chip Brown, Steve Sarkisian has hired former Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops as a special assistant. The longtime Wildcats coach was fired following the 2025 season after 13 years at Kentucky, ending the longest head coaching tenure in the SEC at the time.
Stoops’ addition comes during an offseason of defensive transition in Austin. Former defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski departed, and Sarkisian brought in former SEC head coach Will Muschamp to run the defense. Stoops, whose background is rooted in coaching defensive backs, is expected to work closely with that unit and provide veteran insight across the defensive staff.
Before becoming a head coach, Stoops built his reputation as a defensive coordinator at Arizona and Florida State. At Kentucky, he inherited a two-win program in 2013 and engineered a turnaround that included a school-record eight consecutive bowl appearances. In 2022, a victory at Florida pushed him past Bear Bryant for the most wins in program history.
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The special assistant role is often viewed as “coaching rehab” for fired head coaches seeking another opportunity. It comes at the right time for all parties involved.
Financially, the move is low-risk for the Longhorns. Kentucky still owes Stoops $37.7 million over the next six years, paid quarterly, with no mitigation required.
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