College football’s top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2020 season

18. Mark Stoops – Kentucky

• 2020 Salary: $5 million

Mark Stoops is the epitome of taking advantage while the iron is hot. He signed a new contract with the University of Kentucky coming off their first 10-win season since 1977. The Kentucky Wildcats are obviously a basketball school. That’s why John Calipari is making $9.2 million per season. The basketball team has 38 NBA Draft picks in the 10 years Calipari has been there. It’s right on the team’s front page.

Stoops was able to fall under the radar while he broke the Wildcats football program down and build it back up in the shadows. Then, out of nowhere, they beat Florida. In 1986, Kentucky beat the Gators 10-3 in the regular season. Then, they lost 31 games in a row against the University of Florida. That is until Stoops got his Kentucky team to play some ridiculous defense, and future NFL prospect Josh Allen (the defender not the quarterback) stripped Feleipe Franks to basically end the game.

Obviously, Stoops got his current salary, a salary to goes up exponentially every season until he’s a $6 million in 2024, for more than just one game. However, the Wildcats winning that game makes their season.

Last season, Kentucky took a step back and only won eight games. He has the famous last name, and that obviously helps with his recognition, but Kentucky was the right opportunity for Mark Stoops, and he eventually proved them right. Now, they are paying for a top-tier coach, and he needs to prove he can do that year in and year out.