Kentucky officially announces L’Damian Washington as new wide receivers coach

News broke over the weekend that Kentucky was expected to bring L’Damian Washington on board the coaching staff. That news has now been made official.

Washington was officially announced as the Wildcats’ new wide receivers coach on Tuesday afternoon. He replaces former WR coach Daikiel Shorts Jr., who left Lexington for the same job at Nebraska. Washington will come to Kentucky after spending the previous two seasons as the WR coach/pass game coordinator at South Florida.

“We are very excited to add L’Damian to our staff,” Head coach Mark Stoops said in UK’s press release. “I’ve known about him for a few years as he coached my nephew, Drake Stoops, at Oklahoma. So, I have gotten some really good intel on his coaching style. He is young, energetic, and can relate to our players. He has an amazing story of perseverance and I think he will be a great addition to our team.”

Washington, 33, is a native of Louisiana who played his college football at Missouri from 2009-13. He becomes the seventh wide receivers coach at UK under Stoops.

Welcome to #BBN, @DrWashington_.

📰🔗 – https://t.co/6giPVOIdoX pic.twitter.com/DkNCxCxTp1

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) December 17, 2024

After a solid professional career, Washington got his coaching start in the middle school ranks in 2019. He eventually joined the Oklahoma staff in 2022 as an offensive analyst and assistant wide receivers coach before making the move to South Florida in 2023. He played a role in developing Sean Atkins, a former walk-on, into a 1,000-yard receiver in 2023.

“I’m very proud to join the Big Blue Nation,” Washington said. “I’ve known the Stoops family for a while and being able to coach under one of the best head coaches in the country in Mark Stoops is an honor. I am also excited about working again with Bush Hamdan. Bush is one of the main reasons I got into coaching and he’s been a big influence in my life.  What else excites me is the opportunity to work with this talented group of receivers. I knew Ja’Mori Maclin from his playing days at Missouri and we have a lot of young talent returning in Hardley Gilmore, Rico Crowder, Fred Farrier and others. It’s an exciting time to be a Wildcat.”

As he mentioned in the quote above, Washington has worked with Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan in the past. He served as Missouri’s director of player development in 2020, the same season that Hamdan was the Tigers’ quarterback coach.