The Kentucky Wildcats are officially in need of a new head coach for their football team. The school announced early on Monday morning that Mark Stoops will be fired after his 13th season as head coach. With no time to waste in the coaching search, there are a few names to watch for.
The Wildcats have been rumored to have two candidates at the top of their list. Those two names are Ohio State’s offensive coordinator Brian Hartline and Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Will Stein. While both of these names would be terrific hires for Barnhart and the Wildcats program, there are still some other options who could be a fit for the job.
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According to Pete Nakos of On3, the following coaches have had “notable traction” in this coaching search:
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UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen
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Texas A&M Offensive Coordinator Collin Klein
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Former West Virginia Head Coach/Current Texas Analyst Neal Brown
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Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle
Brown served as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator in 2013-14 under Stoops, is a Kentucky native, and played football at UK under Hal Mumme.
Klein is a former Kansas State quarterback who’s been the OC for Texas A&M over the past two seasons. He previously was the Kansas State OC from 2022-23.
Mullen is believed to be one of the higher-ranked candidates for UK, but he’s not believed to be in the top two.
As for Candle, he’s been the Toledo head coach since 2016 and would bring significant Ohio recruiting ties to UK, a focal point of the Mark Stoops era.
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With the Wildcats’ coaching search in full gear, it will be interesting to see whether Barnhart takes a gamble on someone with no head-coaching experience or plays it safe and hires someone with veteran experience.
For now, it looks like the hire will be Stein or Hartline, but if things fall through, the four names mentioned above will be worth watching.
