Texas A&M is reportedly staying in the SEC to hire its next football coach, with Mark Stoops set to move over from Kentucky.

The 56-year-old Stoops is 73-64 in 11 seasons with the Wildcats, including 7-5 this season. He is Kentucky’s all-time winningest football coach, and will take the same path to College Station as the man he surpassed, Paul “Bear” Bryant.

GigEm247.com, and AggieYell.com are all reporting that Stoops’ hiring is essentially done. The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach and SI.com’s Richard Johnson and Pat Forde are reporting only that Stoops is the top candidate.

Stoops was asked about the Texas A&M opening after Kentucky beat No. 10 Louisville 38-31 on Saturday, but was evasive. He said he wished to “keep the focus and concentration on our team” after such a big win.

Stoops replaces Jimbo Fisher, who was fired Nov. 12 in the midst of his sixth season. Fisher went 45-25 at Texas A&M, but could never translate top recruiting classes into SEC West contention.

The Aggies will now be counting on that from Stoops, who never won the SEC East at Kentucky. However, he twice won 10 games with the Wildcats, something that had happened only once since Bryant left Lexington in the mid-1950s.

Stoops moving on from Kentucky might be bad news for Troy, as Trojans head coach Jon Sumrall has deep ties to the Wildcats. Sumrall, 22-4 in two seasons at Troy, played linebacker at Kentucky in the mid-1990s and was Stoops’ co-defensive coordinator before being hired by the Trojans.

Texas A&M and Kentucky are both bowl-eligible, so it’s not immediately clear who will coach either in the postseason. Elijah Robinson directed the Aggies — who are also 7-5 this season — in their final two regular-season games, including a 42-30 loss to LSU on Saturday.