Longtime college football defensive mind Mike Stoops, brother of Oklahoma legend Bob Stoops, has found his next destination, and it's not a third stint with the Sooners.
Zach Berry of On3's The Ole Miss Spirit reported on Wednesday that Ole Miss added Mike to its defensive staff for the 2026 college football season. Mike was looking for a new job after his brother, Mark Stoops, was fired as Kentucky's head coach. Mike had been the Wildcats' inside linebackers coach the past four seasons under his brother.
Mike Stoops’ next stop is one of Oklahoma’s SEC rivals
A return to Oklahoma seemed like a real possibility for Mike, not only considering his ties to the Sooners, but also his long history with OU head coach Brent Venables. The two were co-defensive coordinators together at OU under Bob Stoops for five seasons from 1999 until 2003, when Mike left to be the head coach at Arizona. The two led one of the best defenses in OU history in 2000 as the Sooners won the national title.
After seven years at Arizona, Mike returned to Oklahoma in 2012 as associate head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach again under Bob. Venables left OU that same season to be the defensive coordinator at Clemson, where he was for nine years before returning to OU as head coach to replace Lincoln Riley.
Mike served as defensive coordinator under both Bob and Riley before Riley cut ties midseason in 2018. Mike was then a defensive analyst at Alabama for two seasons and defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic for one season before joining his brother, Mike, at Kentucky in 2022.
Venables has a history of hiring former co-workers. Mike's lengthy experience would have made him a solid fit for a defensive analyst role for the Sooners, but instead, he'll eventually be plotting against OU before the Sooners and Ole Miss meet in Norman on Nov. 14 as annual SEC rivals.