Has Texas A&M Found a New Head Coach?

COLLEGE STATION, TX — Texas A&M may have found their next head football coach.

Texas A&M is expected to make Mark Stoops their next head football coach after firing Jimbo Fisher. The Stoops name is extremely familiar in Texas as Bob Stoops coached at Oklahoma from 1996 to 2016 then again as the interim head coach of the Sooners in 2021. Mark Stoops is Bob’s younger brother and was most recently at Kentucky, a job he’s held down since 2013.

Mark Stoops has a 73-64 record as a head coach and is 4-3 in bowl games or the playoffs. He also won SEC Coach of the Year in 2018.

Hired in 2017, in six seasons with Texas A&M, Fisher was 45-25 and in 2021, signed a gigantic 10-year contract extension that had $95 million guaranteed. Since Fisher took over, the Aggies have not made the college football playoffs or even won the SEC West. The Athletic explained in detail that the A&M athletics department will be paying Fisher millions for the next 10 years as part of the buyout.

Jimbo and Stoops have actually worked together when Stoops was Fisher’s defensive coordinator at Florida State before leaving for the head coaching job at Kentucky.

Stoops pending employment hasn't been confirmed by Texas A&M. Up and until media reports appeared about Stoops' pending hire, he wasn't even on the radar of USA Today.

Texas A&M lost to LSU in Baton Rouge Saturday, 42-30. It was the tenth consecutive loss on the road for the Aggies. Here is Stoops discussing his possible job in College Station: