"I don't hold any animosity": Mark Stoops puts Vince Marrow split controversy to rest with crystal clear message at SEC Media Days

Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats faced a major setback in the offseason when Vince Marrow left the program to join rival Louisville Cardinals. Marrow had spent 12 seasons with the Wildcats as an associate head coach but decided to move to Louisville ahead of the 2025 season.

During the 2025 SEC Media Days, Mark Stoops was asked about his feelings regarding Vince Marrow's decision to leave the Wildcats. Stoops said,

"I think anybody that is making a decision to leave the program, I don’t think there's any, like, perfect way to do that, you know? So I don’t hold any animosity toward that at all, or toward Vince (Marrow)."

The veteran head coach continued,

"I greatly appreciate our friendship and what he has done to help us build this program for 12 years. And he was instrumental in a lot of ways."

Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow have a strong, long-standing relationship. Stoops joined the Wildcats on November 27, 2012, and one of his first decisions as head coach was to hire Marrow as a full-time assistant. He promoted the former tight end to recruiting coordinator a year later, and the two worked together to reshape the Wildcats' recruitment.

Marrow's performance attracted the attention of rival programs, and in-state rivals successfully recruited him, the Louisville Cardinals, before the 2025 college football season. Marrow will serve as the Executive Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting for the Cardinals.

What's next for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats?

Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats don't have the luxury of time to sulk over the departure of the much-beloved Vince Marrow. However, it has to sting a bit, considering that Marrow played a key role in recruiting most of the current stars on the Kentucky Wildcats' roster for the upcoming season.

Mark Stoops is fresh off leading the Wildcats to his second-worst campaign since taking over the job over a decade ago. The Wildcats fell to a 4-8 record and were clearly out of contention for a bowl game with several games remaining.

Speaking at the Media Days, Stoops acknowledged the road ahead. He said,

"After last season, obviously not a very good year for us, we had to take a hard look at that. For myself, we had eight consecutive bowl appearances. One of only three teams in the SEC to achieve that. It is not easy. So we had a really good stretch and had been really consistent. We know the great programs that are in this league. There are many of us that had a year off here and there."

Stoops continued,

"When you do that and have a bad year like that, I had to take a nice step back, analyze each and everything in our program, in our staff and our players. There is a lot of work to be done."

The Wildcats will aim to have a stellar training camp in preparation for the regular season. They'll begin their campaign with a game against the Toledo Rockets. Key games to highlight on the Kentucky Wildcats' schedule include, but are not limited to, matchups against Ole Miss, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida.

Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer