Bush Hamdan Details Offense Following Spring Practice

The Kentucky offense is looking for a shot in the arm following drastic roster turnover. Only 14 scholarship players from the 2024 offense will be on the sideline in 2025, which made spring practice even more vital for offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan.

“It was really good to bring in the new players, mixed in with the guys who’ve been here, and put it all together,” the offensive coordinator told the Voice of the Wildcats on Friday’s edition of the Leach Report.

Hamdan is never one to dive too deep into the specifics, but we can take some of what he said about each position group in his lengthy conversation with Tom Leach.

Arm Strength is not an issue for Zach Calzada

There are two things you need to know about Zach Calzada. The seventh-year college football player has a ton of experience and a big arm.

“For Zach, it’s always going to come down to throwing as catchable a ball as he can. I think there was almost an adjustment for some of those receivers early on to the velocity that comes. Obviously, we all know the quarterback position, it’s more than just that,” said Hamdan.

“I think the biggest thing is just the experience factor. It’s a guy that’s played in this conference. He knows what, what to expect. We certainly like that the moment was not too big with this guy as a young player in this conference.”

Cutter Boley must stay the course

As important as Calzada is to this year’s offense, much of the future hinges on the development of second-year quarterback Cutter Boley. He received some significant snaps at the end of the 2024 season. The more snaps he gets, the better he’ll be when his number is called.

“The biggest thing with these young, talented quarterbacks that we’re seeing everywhere, is just stay the course,” said Hamdan.

“Sometimes that outside noise can be in their ear, but Cutter’s a guy who can’t take enough reps and snaps. He just needs more and more and more and more. And I think every week that goes by, he’s feeling more and more comfortable. It’s not just in this system, it’s just being a college quarterback. Towards the the end of his high school career, he started getting more meaningful snaps in a pro-style type system, but he’s done a great job. I think he understands what it’s going to take for him to get to that level, and he’s a guy that’s that’s got to prepare like he’s the one for when his opportunity comes”

Competition in the Kentucky Wide Receiver Room

Only four wide receivers who caught a pass last season will be on the roster in 2025. The massive turnover is giving players an opportunity to compete for snaps.

“I think there’s about six or seven guys that are all very capable. It’s going to be extremely competitive. It’s going to come down to their work ethic, their focus, who can make the plays when we need them to? There maybe not as many big names as we will have remembered from last year, but certainly going to be a really competitive, blue-collar type unit in that room,” said the Kentucky offensive coordinator.

Experience on the Kentucky Offensive Line

Rebuilding the offensive line was priority No. 1 for Kentucky in the transfer portal. Kentucky deviated from its past strategy of taking transfer portal players from power conference programs. Instead, they invested in all-conference players from the Group of Five. That experience was evident on day one. Even though they haven’t played much together, this is a mature group.

“It’s an extremely focused group and it’s an experienced group, and so we feel that is heading in the right direction,” said Hamdan. “There’s certainly challenges in New Age college football, as we all know, of building the depth, and making sure you have that in place for a long year. But I do feel strongly about the additions, more than anything, that the people we brought in have the right approach.”

It’s Proving Time for the Kentucky Running Backs

There is no clear-cut RB1 on this Kentucky football team. Even the offensive coordinator isn’t will to say who will get the green light first between the Cats’ top four running backs.

“You never know what you have till it kicks off,” said Hamdan. “Between (Dante) Dowdell, we brought in another transfer, Seth McGowan, Jason Patterson has done a really nice job. Jamarion (Wilcox) will continue to grow. I think all those guys have different skillsets, and we’ll just kind of see how they react to it when they get live in games”