Mark Stoops hired by rival SEC team as special assistant, per report
· Yahoo Sports
The Red River Rivalry just got a little more interesting in 2026.
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The Texas Longhorns have hired former Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops to their coaching staff as a special assistant, according to a report from Horns247's Chip Brown. After serving as the head coach of the Wildcats from 2013 to 2025, Stoops is staying in the SEC in 2026, and he'll be on Steve Sarkisian's staff.
Of course, the name Stoops is legendary one for Texas' biggest rival, the Oklahoma Sooners. Mark's older brother Bob is the winningest coach in OU history, and an absolute legend in Norman. He was highly successful against the 'Horns during his 18 seasons at the helm of the Sooners, and now Texas has a Stoops of their own.
Mark was a defensive coordinator at Arizona and Florida State before getting the Kentucky job, and though he never coached at OU, he still has strong Sooner ties. His older brother Mike was Oklahoma's defensive coordinator from 1999 to 2003, and again from 2012 to 2018, with a stint as Arizona's head coach (where he hired Mark as his DC) in between. Mike had in turn been working for Mark at UK for the last four seasons as an inside linebackers coach, before taking a job on Ole Miss' staff for this upcoming year.
These developments mean that Bob's old team will see both of his younger brothers on the field in 2026. Mike and the Rebels will visit Norman on November 14th, while OU will face off against youngest brother Mark and the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas five weeks earlier on October 10th.
Bob was the head coach at Oklahoma from the 1999 season until his retirement after the 2016 season, and he has recently coached in both the XFL and UFL spring football leagues. He retired from coaching football this past December.
Ron Jr., the oldest of the four Stoops brothers, also followed their father into the coaching ranks. He mainly coached at the high school level, but he also coached as an assistant at Youngstown State.
As OU head coach Brent Venables prepares for a couple of SEC opponents that beat his team last year, he'll be game-planning against his mentor Bob's two younger brothers, two minds that have plenty of familiarity with the way he likes to do things.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Texas Longhorns hire Mark Stoops to serve on coaching staff