Mark Stoops reportedly headed to Florida State
by Anthony Gimino on Dec. 11, 2009, under Sports
Mark Stoops
Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops has accepted the same position at Florida State, according to several media outlets, including the Tallahassee Democrat and ESPN.com.
Stoops, however, was at UA’s practice Friday afternoon and did not talk about his job situation when asked about reports of his agreement. Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, who will take over for coaching legend Bobby Bowden after the Seminoles’ bowl game, is in the process of hiring his coaching staff.
Earlier in the day, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops talked about the possibility of losing his younger brother to another job.
“It’s always tough,” Mike Stoops said. “Any time you have success, people are going to look at your coaches and they are going to have opportunities.
“It becomes a personal decision. Is it a better opportunity? That is where your family has to evaluate the situation. I am certainly going to help him if I feel that is a better career move.”
Mark Stoops, 42, also has been mentioned as a possibility for the head coaching position at hometown Youngstown State in Ohio. Mark has experience in the state of Florida, having served as the defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001-2003 before joining Mike Stoops at Arizona.
“I hope we don’t have to change,” Mike said Friday morning at a press conference, “but if we do, we’ve always been able to replace great coaches with other great coaches.”
The easiest move for Mike Stoops would be to promote linebackers coach Tim Kish to defensive coordinator. He held the position at Illinois (1997-2000), Ohio (2001) and Indiana (2002-03). Kish, who is one of UA’s top recruiters, has been with Stoops at Arizona throughout the past six seasons and is certainly well versed in the defense, which is largely the vision of Mike Stoops anyway.
