Brock Vandagriff is retiring from football

All signs pointed to the Kentucky football program going in a different direction at quarterback after the 2024 season. That was confirmed when Cutter Boley started the season finale, Gavin Wimsatt entered the transfer portal, and UK added Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada to the roster. Now what had been assumed about Brock Vandagriff was confirmed on Sunday afternoon.

The Lexington Herald-Leader’s Jon Hale confirmed that Kentucky quarterback is stepping away from college football with one year of eligibility remaining.

NEW: While Brock Vandagriff did not enter the transfer portal this month, he is not returning to UK.

After one season starting at Kentucky, he is retiring from playing football, Vandagriff confirmed Sunday through a UK spokeswoman. https://t.co/Z72rpeq27I

— Jon Hale (@JonHale_HL) December 29, 2024

Brock Vandagriff was a five-star high school recruiting in the 2021 cycle who was committed to play for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma before flipping his commitment to Georgia. The Peach State native spent three seasons in the UGA program and was Carson Beck‘s backup in 2023. Vandagriff entered the transfer portal after that season and started 11 games for Kentucky. Vandagriff finished the season with a 57.3 percent completion rate for 1,593 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Kentucky will have a new starting quarterback for the fourth time in four seasons in 2025. Calzada is the favorite to win that QB1 job after Will Levis (2022), Devin Leary (2023), and Brock Vandagriff (2024) filled the position over the last three seasons. The Wildcats now have four scholarship quarterbacks on the 2025 roster with Calzada being joined by Boley, Stone Saunders, and Brennen Ward.

Kentucky Football 2025 Transfer Portal Class

Player	Position	Former School	Year
Sam Greene	EDGE (6-1, 255)	USC	Redshirt Sophomore
Landyn Watson	LB (6-1, 239)	TCU/Marshall	Redshirt Senior
Joshua Braun	iOL (6-6, 338)	Florida/Arkansas	Super Senior
Alex Wollschlaeger	T (6-7, 305)	Bowling Green	Super Senior
Wallace Unamba	G/T (6-4, 330)	Florida Atlantic/New Mexico	Redshirt Senior
J.J. Hester	WR (6-4, 203)	Missouri/Oklahoma	Super Senior
Zach Calzada	QB (6-4, 200)	Texas A&M/Auburn/Incarnate Word	Super Senior
Henry Boyer	TE (6-6, 270)	Illinois	Redshirt Junior
Kendrick Law	WR (5-11, 201)	Alabama	Senior
Dante Dowdell	RB (6-2, 225)	Oregon/Nebraska	Junior
Jaden Williams	iDL (6-4, 290)	Wyoming	Redshirt Junior
Kevis Thomas	CB (5-11, 179)	Maryland	Junior
Evan Wibberley	iOL (6-5, 296)	WKU	Redshirt Junior
Kameron Olds	EDGE (6-4, 240)	Buffalo/Kent State	Senior

Kentucky Football Transfer Portal Tracker

The transfer portal is open for business and so far we know of 20 players who will be seeking out greener pastures this offseason.

• DL Keeshawn Silver (Committed to USC on Dec. 19)
• DB Avery Stuart
• LB Jayvant Brown
• TE Tanner Lemaster (Committed to Eastern Michigan on Dec. 22)
• TE Khamari Anderson (Committed to Arizona State on Dec. 22)
• TE Jordan Dingle (Committed to South Carolina on Dec. 18)
• OL Courtland Ford (Committed to UCLA on Dec. 17)
• OL Ben Christman (Committed to UNLV on Dec. 27)
• OL Dylan Ray (Committed to Minnesota on Dec. 21)
• OL Koby Keenum (Committed to Mississippi State on Dec. 22)
• DL Tommy Ziesmer (Committed to EKU on Dec. 15)
• WR Dane Key (Committed to Nebraska on Dec. 24)
• WR Barion Brown (Committed to LSU on Dec. 14)
• WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
• WR Brandon White (Committed to Hawaii on Dec. 28)
• EDGE Tyreese Fearbry (Committed to Wisconsin on Dec. 22)
• EDGE Noah Matthews
• EDGE Caleb Redd (Committed to Kansas on Dec. 20)
• RB Chip Trayanum (Committed to Toledo on Dec. 24)
• QB Gavin Wimsatt

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. Keep closer tabs on the Cats with our staff-only sticky thread on KSBoard, which will have updates on departures and targets throughout the offseason. Not a KSR+ member? Try it out today.