When Mark Stoops was hired at Kentucky in 2012, athletic director Mitch Barnhart made things clear at his introductory press conference. The Wildcats needed to improve on defense.
The previous defensive coordinator at Arizona and Florida State came to Lexington with a strong track record on that side of the ball. After a slow start, things took off in 2018 when the Wildcats finished sixth nationally in scoring defense (16.8). Once defensive coordinator Brad White took over in 2019, the Wildcats have a top-five yards per play allowed finish in the SEC to go along with a pair of top-five scoring defense finishes in the league.