Murray State head coach Dean Hood, a former Kentucky assistant, retires from coaching

When Kentucky football hosts Murray State next fall, the Racers will come to Lexington with a new head coach.

On Monday, the Murray State football program announced that Dean Hood, who has been the team’s head coach since 2020, is retiring from coaching. Hood was previously Kentucky’s special teams coach from 2017-19, also serving as the outside linebackers and defensive backs coach during his tenure at UK.

“It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to have served as the head football coach of the Murray State Racers for the last four years,” Hood said in Murray State’s press release. “I have been extremely blessed to have worked with so many outstanding young men and coaches who have made a huge impact on this University, team and community. To say my time here in Murray was special is an understatement.

Murray State defensive coordinator Dillon Sanders has been named the Racers’ interim head coach.

A statement from Director of Athletics @NicoYantko on @racersfootball Head Coach @CoachDeanHood.#GoRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/4uSmfHzhof

— Murray State Racers Athletics (@MSURacers) January 1, 2024

Hood also spent eight seasons as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky from 2008-15. He posted a 55-38 record while in Richmond, including a 44-19 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. EKU made it to the NCAA Divison I Football Championship three times under his guidance (2008, 2011, 2014). Hood was named OVC Coach of the Year once with the Colonels (2008) and led EKU to a pair of OVC championships (2008, 2011).

From there, Hood spent two seasons as the assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the Charlotte 49ers before taking a job at Kentucky. After three seasons with the Wildcats, he returned to a head coaching gig with Murray State where he went 15-25 across four seasons (2-9 in 2023) with a 10-16 mark against conference opponents. During his first season in charge in the COVID-impacted 2020 campaign, Murray State went 5-2 while only playing teams from the OVC. It was enough to earn him his second OVC Coach of the Year award.

Kentucky is set to host Murray State on Saturday, Nov. 16.