The University of Kentucky has long been a basketball school. The Wildcats have the most all-time victories and best winning percentage in men’s college basketball and have won eight NCAA Tournaments. Meanwhile, the football program hasn’t seen similar levels of sustained success. Kentucky did win a football national title in 1950, but that was 75 years ago. The school’s all-time record is hovering right around .500, and it’s only been ranked at the end of the season twice in the past 40 years. The coach of both of those ranked finishes? Mark Stoops, who’s led the Wildcats since 2013.

This season, Kentucky has gotten off to a rocky start. The team is sitting at 2-3 and just lost 35-14 to Georgia. Kentucky is still looking for its first SEC win this year after finishing 1-7 in last season’s league play. Midway through his 13th season, Stoops is 79-76 overall and a brutal 28-65 against SEC competition.

After a Lexington radio station reported that Stoops has talked with the university about negotiating a buyout, the coach quickly shot down those rumors. He said, “There’s zero chance I’m walking away.” It might not be a bad decision, though—a buyout would prove to be incredibly lucrative.

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Stoops signed a new contract in 2022 that runs through the 2031 season. He’s one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, making $8.6 million in annual salary plus incentives. As his deal is currently structured, he would get a buyout worth 75% of the money remaining on his deal.

Assuming Stoops’s salary is paid evenly throughout the year, he’s still owed a little over $5 million this season. Combined with the rest of his contract, he’s on track to earn $56.6 million through the 2031 season, plus any potential incentives for performance bonuses.

Let’s say Kentucky parted ways with Stoops this week. Taking 75% of his remaining salary puts the value of a buyout at $42.4625 million. That’s a pretty good financial windfall to go away.

The Wildcats have finished 10-3 and ended the season ranked twice under Stoops, in 2018 and then again in 2021. Last year, Kentucky vacated the wins from the 2021 season as a penalty for offering impermissible benefits to 11 players.

Aside from the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, which was full of funky schedules, injuries, and player opt-outs, the Wildcats had winning seasons each year from 2016 through 2023. But last season was a bumpy one as the Wildcats stumbled to a 4-8 finish. With this year looking equally tough, the rumbles about Stoops will likely only grow louder.

Stoops is adamant he won’t walk away. However, the university may end up making that decision for him.