TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Mark Stoops turned a Florida State defense that was ranked 100th in the Football Bowl Subdivision into one of the best in the nation in just three years.
Now Stoops faces his next challenge as new coach at Kentucky, a program coming off three consecutive losing seasons under Joker Phillips and one that has struggled against Southeastern Conference powers for decades.
"Mark's passion has been evident in the way he coaches and in his love for the game of football," Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart said. "Our desire to get better defensively and continue to expand our recruiting base helped guide us to Mark.
"He comes from a coaching family and has been in big games and big atmospheres throughout his career. That has prepared him for this opportunity to become head coach at Kentucky."
This is the first head coaching job for Stoops, who has served as defensive coordinator at Arizona and Florida State. He will be formally introduced at a news conference on Sunday.
"I want to thank (Kentukcy) president (Eli) Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart for this opportunity," Stoops said. "I promise the faithful of the Big Blue Nation I will be focused and driven to create a positive, winning atmosphere for the program and an environment that all of Kentucky can be proud of.
"I want to thank (head coach) Jimbo Fisher and Florida State University for allowing me to be the defensive coordinator at Florida State. It has been three of the greatest years of my life. I am grateful for the support of all Seminole fans as we focus on the ACC championship."
Stoops will coach Florida State during Saturday's ACC Championship Game against Georgia Tech. Fisher said he is focused on this week and has not considered who will be the defensive coordinator for the Seminoles' bowl game.
The Seminoles allowed 30 points a game in 2009, the last season that Mickey Andrews coached the defense. But Fisher took over for Bobby Bowden in 2010, and hired Stoops.
In Stoops' three seasons, FSU defense improved dramatically — 18 points allowed per game in 2010, 15 in 2011 and 15.1 this season.
"I'm happy that he was my defensive coordinator and I hope he has a lot of fun in Kentucky and he'll be a great head coach," Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner said. "I'm definitely going to follow him. Hopefully everything works out for him."
Florida State is second nationally in total defense (249.4 yards per game), fourth in rushing defense (85.1 yards per game), sixth in passing defense (164.3 yards per game) and seventh in scoring defense (15.1 points per game).
The Seminoles have been successful despite the loss of All-American defensive end Brandon Jenkins, who suffered a foot injury in the season opener, and talented corner Greg Reid, who was dismissed from the team on Aug. 1. Florida State also lost Tank Carradine to a knee injury in the loss to Florida last week.
"It's a complement to them that he got the shot because of how they played and how he coached them," Fisher said. "... He's a hard worker. He cares about what he does. He's very diligent about what he does. He truly loves coaching."
Stoops has previous coaching stops at Wyoming, Houston, Miami and Arizona. As Miami's defensive backs coach from 2001-03, he mentored Ed Reed, Philip Buchanon, Kelly Jennings, Brandon Merriweather, Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph and Sean Taylor. The Hurricanes also won the national title in 2001.
Mark's brother, Bob, is the head coach at Oklahoma and another brother, Mike, is on the Sooners staff and was also the coach at Arizona when Mark was the Wildcats' defensive coordinator from 2004-09.
