The new Kentucky football coach grew up going to Commonwealth Stadium.

The school announced the move Monday morning, ending a 13-year run that transformed the Wildcats program but fizzled in recent seasons.

This was not an easy move for Kentucky.

Instead, his 13-year tenure — the longest in school history — reportedly is over.

This past Monday, Mark Stoops rolled in with swagger. Jeff Brohm looked like he’d been demoted to assistant chess coach.

What was supposed to be a hospital ward of a football game — the battered vs. the bruised, the limping vs. the listing — turned into something closer to a field clinic for the Cardinals in front of a crowd of 50,634 in L&N Stadium.

When Kentucky and Louisville limp into Saturday’s annual rivalry finale in L&N Stadium, the story isn’t just bragging rights, it’s bandwidth. Both teams have depleted rosters. This game is about who has the most left, on the roster and in the tank.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops is out of duct tape, out of defensive backs, and almost out of calendar. But he’s not out of this rivalry.

The old rivals stumble in like a pair of bar brawlers who forgot what they were fighting about.