Kentucky has seen rapid coaching staff turnover since end of 2020 season

Mark Stoops and his Kentucky football program finally had their big breakthrough in 2018. The Wildcats won 10 games, finished inside the top-15, and saw both Josh Allen and Benny Snell Jr. set numerous program records. However, there were wonders if this program could do it again.

After Jon Sumrall joined the program from Ole Miss following the 2018 season, the organization quickly realized they were in great hands with Brad White handling defensive play-calling and Sumrall becoming a great developer and recruiter. Meanwhile, Eddie Gran was entering his fourth season as the offensive coordinator in Lexington.

However, that stability has now officially disappeared following the second double-digit win season in four years. The cost of winning has caught up to the Wildcats and now Stoops must prove he can reload by bringing in high-quality assistants following the late departures of Eric Wolford and Liam Coen one year after a major rebuild in the offensive room.

Offensive staff room won’t stop changing

As the COVID-19 shortened season came to a close, Mark Stoops realized that his program needed a facelift on offense. The think tank of Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw was not getting the job done as the Wildcats consistently had one of the worst passing attacks in the SEC. Making this move meant that Kentucky was overturning the entire offensive coaching staff.

With John Schlarman’s unfortunate passing, every position on offense needed to be replaced outside of tight end and wide receiver. The first hire occurred when Stoops tabbed Los Angeles Rams assistant Liam Coen as the next play-caller. After that, former South Carolina offensive line coach Eric Wolford took over the Big Blue Wall. Cincinnati Bengals running backs coach Jemal Singleton was then brought on.

However, only a few weeks passed before some more churn occurred.

Singleton headed back to the NFL after a short time on the job to join the Philadelphia Eagles. Stoops made a shrewd move and added Wisconsin assistant John Settle to replace Singleton. Jovon Bouknight was arrested in the summer and then demoted. Newly added quality control coach Scott Woodward was then made the new wide receivers coach. Kentucky would then win 10 games, sign a top-15 recruiting class, and see some more coaching staff turnover.

Nick Saban came calling for Eric Wolford, and the Youngstown, Ohio native has moved to Alabama. Sean McVay came calling after just one season, and Liam Coen is on his way back to the NFL.

Kentucky moved quickly and dipped into the NFL again to bring on Zach Yenser to lead the offensive line. Now Stoops must find his third different play-caller in three seasons on offense. A lot of change has happened on offense in the last 14 months, and it, unfortunately, does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.

Keeping Brad White was a huge win

Kentucky was unable to keep Matt House away from the Kansas City Chiefs, but Stoops was able to keep Brad White away from Brian Kelly. The new LSU head coach targeted Kentucky’s defensive coordinator, but a raise to $1.4 million was enough to keep the former Indianapolis Colts assistant in Lexington.

That was needed because the defensive room is very green.

Anwar Stewart was hired following the 2019 season after just one season as an on-field assistant at Appalachian State. After spring practice, Steve Clinkscale left the program last May to take the same role at Michigan. Kentucky responded by hiring Georgia State assistant Chris Collins who had zero Power Five experience.

On top of all that, Jon Sumrall left after three seasons to become the new head football coach at Troy. To add some much-needed experience, Mike Stoops came over after one season as the defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic. The former Arizona head coach and long-time defensive coordinator at Oklahoma provides a needed veteran presence to the room.

The defense is in better shape, but this side of the football has also been impacted by constant coaching movement.

Heavy churn does play a factor in recruiting

Oh, Michigan State also tried to make a run at Kentucky’s coaching staff. Mel Tucker pursued recruiting ace Vince Marrow, but the Wildcats kept the long-time staffer in Lexington. His work in Kentucky and Ohio will be the backbone of UK’s recruiting efforts, but the rest of the recruiting operation is in a fluid situation at the moment.

After Steve Clinkscale built a strong Detroit pipeline, Kentucky is still trying to keep that together. Jon Sumrall was a force in the Deep South recruiting Alabama, Mississippi, and South Georgia, but now that is a hole that must be filled. Eric Wolford was a versatile recruiter that did a lot of good things early for Kentucky in both Detroit and Metro Nashville. His production must now be replaced.

Brad White is starting to have some success in the Northeast and Scott Woodward has been a significant part of Kentucky’s recruiting operation in Nashville, but the Wildcats will need more contributions. The new offensive coordinator must effectively target and recruit the quarterback spot and do it immediately. Zach Yenser will need to replenish talent in the offensive line room sooner rather than later. Chris Collins and Anwar Stewart will be leaned on to make an impact in Metro Atlanta. Mike Stoops will be used in multiple areas to spot recruit.

As long as Marrow is in the program, Kentucky will have a high floor as a recruiting operation, but the rest of the staff will determine how high the ceiling can get. That arrow was pointing up until some of the recent departures and now we are entering more of a wait and see mode.

Cost of doing business

Business is good when you’re winning football games. However, other programs will start to notice that and will want a piece of that pie. Nearly every year, Nick Saban has to replenish a good chunk of his staff. After years of unbelievable stability, the same thing is now happening to Dabo Swinney at Clemson. Folks are starting to represent the job Mark Stoops is doing at Kentucky.

Since the end of the 2020 season, the Wildcats have lost nine on-field assistants and that included two offensive coordinators. Kentucky will be on both their third offensive line coach and third quarterbacks coach in three seasons in 2022. That is a rough go but just a consequence of success that teams have to deal with in college football.

Alignment is a buzzword used often in college athletics, and it was brought up after the season. The administration at the University of Kentucky has committed financial resources for Stoops to succeed. After requests, the head coach now has a bigger recruiting budget, assistant salary pool, and a renovated indoor practice facility on the way. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have also revamped Kroger Field and built a state-of-the-art football-only facility.

The Wildcats are committed to winning football games. Now the hope is that the deep salary pool can help keep competition somewhat away. However, attrition is a good thing and new minds with fresh ideas will never be a bad thing for a program. Kentucky just has to hope this is the last huge churn that the team will see for a while. It will be difficult for the winning to continue if quality assistant coaches are needing to be replaced this quickly.