According to Chip Brown of Horns247, the Texas Longhorns have hired former Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops as a special assistant. On3’s Chris Low has since confirmed.

Stoops was fired by Kentucky following the 2025 season after 13 years in Lexington. His coaching career will continue, though, heading to Austin to work under Steve Sarkisian.

You have to imagine Stoops will spend most of his time working with the Texas defense. His background before becoming a head coach came there, specifically defensive backs. It’s the position Stoops was deployed at during his own playing days at Iowa. A rise through the coaching ranks came because of work with DBs, eventually becoming Arizona and Florida State‘s defensive coordinator before landing the Kentucky job.

Stoops ended his tenure at Kentucky two games over .500 at 82-80. Seven winning seasons came for the Wildcats under their long-time head coach. The highs came in 2018 and 2021 when UK rattled off 10 wins, something the program had previously done only twice before Stoops arrived. Consistent postseason appearances became a thing too, making six straight from 2016 to 2023 — also the longest streak Kentucky has ever seen.

However, going 4-8 and 5-7 in back-to-back seasons was enough for athletic director Mitch Barnhart to pull the plug. On3 | Rivals’ KSR provided a report on the buyout, saying Stoops will receive over $37 million over the course of two years.

While Stoops collects that money, at least some time will be spent on the 40 Acres. Texas is bringing a new-look defense to the field in 2026 thanks to some coaching changes. Stoops figures to play a role, even if it’s behind-the-scenes.

More on Texas defensive staff entering 2026 season under Steve Sarkisian

Texas did undergo some defensive staff changes this offseason. Pete Kwiatkowski is no longer the DC, a surprise move to many. Sarkisian, instead, brought in Will Muschamp to take over. Muschamp is a former SEC head coach himself and worked with Kirby Smart at Georgia in recent years. After some time away from the college game, Muschamp returns to Austin.

Another familiar face was brought back into the program alongside Muschamp. Blake Gideon originally left Texas as the safeties coach to be the Georgia Tech defensive coordinator. Now, the former Longhorn player assumes the role of passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach. Another hire that you have to imagine Sarkisian is pumped about heading into the 2026 season.