Texas officially announced the addition of former Kentucky HC Mark Stoops to Texas' coaching staff for 2026, and he brings more than just the "Stoops" name to Austin.
Throughout his tenure with the Wildcats, especially over the past four to five years, he's been known to be a real stickler when it comes to penalties. Though Kentucky has had some rough patches in the team penalty department, they haven't been anywhere near where Texas has been the last two seasons.
For example, the Wildcats only averaged 5 penalties per game in 2025, good for 26th in the league. Texas, on the other hand, averaged a whopping 8.58 penalties per game last season, which ranked 132nd out of 134 qualified teams.
NEWS: Texas is adding former Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops to its staff, @Clowfb confirms🤘https://t.co/3EOPXmyGoO pic.twitter.com/SPCzmSPQUy
— On3 (@On3) March 2, 2026
That is mind-blowingly bad and something that consistently killed the Longhorns' momentum on multiple big drives in 2025, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.
Arch Manning and the offense were consistently taking one step forward and two steps back between the "20's" over the first five to six games of the year. Once Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood finally got the offensive penalties somewhat limited, the defensive penalties began to skyrocket. The number of times that a Texas defensive lineman jumped offsides on 3rd down last season was sickening.
Specifically against Mississippi State in 2025, Colin Simmons essentially handed the Bulldogs THREE extra offensive drives because he jumped offside in short-yardage situations.
The Longhorns will have absolutely no chance of being successful, especially in the College Football Playoffs if they can't be more disciplined.
Yes, Stoops has always been known to be a pretty good defensive-minded coach, but his uncanny ability to stop his teams from committing penalties is undoubtedly the main reason why he was added to the coaching staff on Monday.