Mike Stoops will not join Kentucky’s coaching staff after all.

In January, Ryan “Scoop” Lemond shared that he was hearing that Mark Stoops’ brother might replace Dean Hood as an assistant coach, helping in the secondary and on special teams. In his press conference previewing spring practice this afternoon, Mark Stoops said his brother has decided to remain on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as a defensive analyst.

“I’ve taken my time with it, to be honest with you,” Stoops said of the tenth assistant coach spot. “I tried to hire my brother Mike and get him on staff and that’s not going to work out, by his choice. Mike chose to stay [at Alabama], he likes what he’s doing, the learning he’s doing and the work he’s doing with Nick [Saban] at Alabama. Mike’s a big picture guy, so the timing of this position and the capacity that it is, he decided to stay there and continue to recalibrate himself to come back as a coordinator, so he decided to stay. I’m working through that. Shouldn’t be long.”

Until a hire is made, Frank Buffano, the current Director of Football Operations, will assist Steve Clinkscale with the safeties in spring practice.