Potential candidates for Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator position

With Liam Coen heading back to the NFL after one season in Lexington and Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, KSR’s Adam Luckett has compiled a list of potential candidates for the open position in Mark Stoops’ coaching staff, including one in particular that is very, very intriguing.

Bush Hamdan (Missouri QB coach)

• 36 years old
• Play-calling experience at Washington
• Multiple years served under both Chris Petersen and Eliah Drinkwitz

A former Boise State quarterback, Bush Hamdan was a finalist for the Kentucky offensive coordinator position last year joining Coen and Joe Moorhead. Hamdan has both quarterback and wide receiver coaching experience, and even spent one year at Florida under Will Muschamp. The assistant coach was promoted by Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz after last season to coach quarterbacks full-time. Hamdan a legitimate recruiter at both Washington and Missouri.

Brian Brohm (Purdue Co-Offensive Coordinator, QB coach)

• 35 years old
• 4-year NFL playing career
• Has been Jeff Brohm’s No. 2 for six seasons

Another candidate from Kentucky’s last OC search, Brian Brohm does not have any play-calling experience, but the former All-American at Louisville (Ky.) Trinity has been his older brother’s top man at both WKU and Purdue. Brohm has helped put together several strong passing offenses at Purdue as the Boilermakers have averaged over 300 yards passing per game in four consecutive seasons. On the recruiting trail, Brohm has helped bring in multiple blue-chip quarterbacks to Purdue.

With strong ties to the state, being a former star quarterback at Louisville, Brohm would help head recruiter and tight ends coach Vince Marrow further lock up the in-state recruiting scene. However, Purdue has been very pass-heavy, and the Brohms haven’t been able to create an efficient rushing attack in the Big Ten, something that won’t work for Mark Stoops at Kentucky.

Spencer Whipple (Arizona Cardinals assistant WR coach)

• 32 years old
• NFL experience
• Mark Whipple pipeline

Mark Whipple is now the offensive coordinator at Nebraska after helping develop Kenny Pickett at Pittsburgh. Before that, the 64-year-old coach had two stints as the head coach at UMass (1998-03, 2014-18). In Amherst, both Liam Coen and Kentucky wide receivers coach Scott Woodward played for Whipple.

Spencer, Mark’s son, joined the UMass staff in 2014 and spent five seasons coaching quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends. During four of those years, Whipple was on staff with Woodward before moving onto the NFL. The youngest Whipple has been with the Arizona Cardinals for three seasons and has experience coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers.

Major Applewhite (South Alabama offensive coordinator)

• 43 years old
• Nick Saban’s stamp of approval
• Extensive power conference experience

After Nick Saban took over at Alabama, the hall of famer named 28-year-old Major Applewhite his offensive coordinator. The former Texas signal-caller only lasted one season in Tuscaloosa, is an impressive stamp on any coaches resume nonetheless.

Applewhite spent six more seasons at Texas and eventually became the head coach at Houston for two seasons. From there, Applewhite became an analyst at Alabama where he worked alongside Mike Stoops. Applewhite got a chance to run an offense again in 2021, but the Jaguars have had some struggles. Applewhite is someone with extensive big-time college experience who has some ties to the coaching staff at Kentucky.

T.C. McCartney (Cleveland Browns offensive assistant)

• 32 years old
• Kyle Shanahan tree
• Grandson of Colorado head coach Bill McCartney and son of Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese

After walking on at LSU, T.C. McCartney was a graduate assistant under Les Miles in 2011 and moved to the NFL in 2014. The rising coach spent three seasons working directly under Kyle Shanahan and was the quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos in 2019 before spending the last two seasons with the Cleveland Browns. There is very little college experience, but McCartney has ties to the Shanahan tree which produced Sean McVay.

Scott Woodward (Kentucky WR coach)

• 36 years old
• Liam Coen’s No. 2
• Mark Whipple tree

After Liam Coen was brought on, the first move the new Kentucky offensive coordinator made was to bring someone with him that he could trust. That happened to be his former UMass teammate and backup quarterback.

Scott Woodward was brought over from Pittsburgh, where he worked under Mark Whipple to be a quality control coach at Kentucky. Woodward soon became an on-field assistant and worked with the wide receivers, a position with little to no consistency before 2021 in Lexington. Kentucky’s huge season on offense had plenty to do with his coaching as Coen’s guy in the box.

The current Kentucky assistant did coach quarterbacks at UMass in 2017 and was big-time coaching wideouts for Kentucky in 2021, including Wan’Dale Robinson. He was a quality control coach less than a year ago, and this might be too big of a step forward at this time so quickly.

Troy Walters (Bengals WR coach)

• 45 years old
• NFL experience with extension of Sean McVay coaching tree
• Former Power Five coordinator

Troy Walters is a former wideout at Stanford who spent multiple years in the NFL. After retirement, Walters immediately jumped into the coaching scene and has spent time at Texas A&M, NC State and Colorado. Walters became Scott Frost’s offensive coordinator at UCF and followed him to Nebraska — Walters did not call plays at either spot. After a four-year stint, the parties separated and Walters joined Zac Taylor’s coaching staff with the Cincinnati Bengals. After one year with the assistant wide receiver job, Walters got promoted in 2021 and helped guide the AFC North franchise to the Super Bowl.

Adding Walters would allow Scott Woodward to shift over to quarterbacks and have a bigger role in the offensive operation. The NFL assistant has had plenty of recruiting success and knows the operations of a big-time program despite having no play-calling experience. Add in the extended connection to the Rams, which could be attractive as Zac Taylor was an assistant coach under McVay before heading to Cincinnati.

Dan Mullen

• 49 years old
• Strong rushing attacks out of spread with proven QB development
• SEC experience

Just stay with me on this. The former Mississippi State and Florida head coach is currently unemployed. After doing some work with the SEC Network during the College Football Playoff, it looks like television is his future until another Power Five head coaching opportunity comes along.

However, what if Mullen wants to jump back into the SEC now? Kentucky might want to take a swing.

Gone would be the under-center rushing attack, but Mullen consistently had one of the SEC’s top rushing offenses at both Mississippi State and Florida. Throughout his career, the former Urban Meyer assistant flashed strong quarterback development with the ability to have success with multiple skill sets.

Adding Mullen is a total long shot, but it would seem to make some sense with a quarterback like Will Levis who would seem to thrive in that spread downhill rushing scheme. Mullen could quickly try to exact some revenge on Florida during the Kentucky’s week two contest at The Swamp.