Mark Stoops Has Strong Ties to Hawkeyes

Iowa Alum Leads Kentucky Against Alma Mater in Citrus Bowl

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops looks at a replay on the scoreboard during the first quarter against the LSU Tigers on Oct 9, 2021 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. (Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports)

IOWA CITY, Iowa - When Mark Stoops came to Iowa on his official recruiting visit, defensive coordinator Bill Brashier had his doubts.

“I walked by Bill’s office and he was talking to Mark,” recalled Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, then the Hawkeyes’ offensive line coach. “Later on we had a staff meeting after the recruiting weekend and Bill made the comment, “If this wasn’t a Stoops I would have sworn there’s no way this guy’s going to be a college football player.’ Mark looked like he was 15 at the time. Just a really young-looking high school senior. But Coach (Hayden) Fry had made his mind up on that one already, and certainly it panned out.”

Yes, he was a Stoops. Brothers Bobby and Mike preceded Mark at Iowa, earning first-team all-Big Ten honors. Mark made it a hat trick. The three brothers lettered a combined 10 times at Iowa, with 21 career interceptions.

“All three boys had tremendous careers here,” Ferentz said. “Not just good careers, tremendous careers.”

Ferentz, in his 23rd season as Iowa’s head coach, will complete a hat trick of his own on New Year’s Day when the Hawkeyes face Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. Mark Stoops is in his ninth season as the Wildcats’ head coach. He has coached his team to three straight bowl victories. Ferentz coached against Bob’s Oklahoma team in the 2011 Insight Bowl. He coached against Mike’s Arizona team twice, in 2009 and 2010. And now Mark will complete the cycle. 

“Obviously a team that is very close to myself and my family,” said Mark, the 2018 SEC Coach of the Year. “And I have such great respect for Coach Ferentz and the entire Hawkeye organization, and their players. I know how tough they are, and the way they play. I know it will be a great challenge, but it’s an exciting time.”

Though he coached on the other side of the ball, Ferentz said the Stoops family’s football DNA was obvious.

“All three were cut from the same cloth,” Ferentz said. “They all wore the same number, 41. They just looked at the game differently than most college players do. I think it was in their blood. Just something they grew up with.”

Their father, Ron Sr., was a longtime football coach at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio. A fourth son, Ron Jr., also has a coaching pedigree.

“I remember as a young child that we’d play a game on Friday night, then get in the car and drive 10 hours (to Iowa City) to watch my brothers play,” Mark said. “We’d get there in the morning, watch my brothers play, stay there Saturday night and then drive another 10 hours back home.”

Mark watched Bobby letter four seasons and earn first-team all-Big Ten honors in 1982.He was also team captain and finished with 10 career interceptions. Mike was also a first-team all-Big Ten pick in 1984, and had nine career interceptions.

Mark became a starter at strong safety as a junior in 1988, a year that changed the Stoops family forever.

Ron, Sr., was the defensive coordinator at Cardinal Mooney. On the night of Nov. 7, 1988, Mooney was playing rival Boardman. Ron, Jr., was coaching Boardman’s defense. Ron, Sr., felt chest pains in the fourth quarter, and needed medical assistance. He refused to leave until the game was over. Cardinal Mooney prevailed in three overtimes. He was put in an ambulance, and died shortly after. He was 54 years old.

The following Tuesday, as Iowa started preparations for a game at Michigan, Fry and members of his staff were in Youngstown for Ron, Sr.’s funeral. Brashier replaced Fry at Iowa’s weekly press conference. Ron, Sr., was buried with Mark’s No. 41 Iowa jersey.

Mark and Mike, a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1988, returned to Iowa City to prepare for the Wolverines.

“We got back on Wednesday, and I blew my knee out on Saturday (a 17-17 tie with Michigan),” Mark said. “That was about the end of my career. Back then, when you tore up a knee it was a little different than it is now. It’s still no fun. I had my fair share of injuries.” 

Fry gave Bob, Mike and Mark their first college coaching jobs after they finished playing at Iowa. Mark had been recruited by Barry Alvarez at Iowa. Nick Saban recruited him for Michigan State. And Glen Mason recruited him for Ohio State. The Hawkeyes were an easy choice. “I felt so comfortable with those coaches,” Mark said. “They were really like fathers to me during my time there. Great people.”

Mark knows that playing Iowa in the Citrus Bowl will have an emotional pull. 

“It will be different for me,” he said. “My father has my game jersey from the Hawkeyes in his casket. It definitely will mean something to me, different than anyone else I’ve played.” 

Bob Stoops was a candidate for the Iowa job in 1999, when Ferentz was hired. He won a national championship at Oklahoma, retired after the 2016 season and will be inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame this week. Mike is the defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic. And Mark just signed a contract extension at Kentucky.

“Mark has done an unbelievable job with that program for some time now,” Ferentz said. “He built it brick by brick.”

Brashier, who wondered if the fresh-faced kid could follow in his brothers’ footsteps, left an indelible impression on Mark during his time as a player and coach at Iowa. 

“He had an enormous impact on myself and my brothers,” Mark said. “An incredible man. He was a tough guy, old school, but also very caring and a very influential person in my life.” 

Mark marvels at the fact that Iowa has had just two coaches over the past 43 seasons.

 “It says a lot about Kirk and the people of Iowa and the organization to have the stability they’ve had,” Mark said. “What I remember about Kirk is kind of what you see now. Just an impressive man and impressive coach. He was always nothing but professional. I was on defense and he was the offensive line coach, but you just saw a man who was going to be successful.”