New Kentucky Tight Ends Coach Makes Strong Early Impression

Over the last three decades, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more popular Kentucky assistant coach in any sport who was more popular than Vince Marrow. He was Mark Stoops‘ carnival-barker and lead recruiter, who was affable in any situation. Finding someone to replace that on short notice was impossible. It’s a good thing Mark Stoops just needed a tight ends coach.

Twenty-four hours after Marrow’s departure was official, Kentucky hired Derek Shay as his successor. The Wildcats didn’t need someone to be the face of their recruiting operation, but they already had a guy on staff with a lengthy resume who quickly showed he has some ‘crootin chops.

Less than ten days after getting the job, Shay secured a commitment from Lincoln Watkins. The three-star tight end took an official visit to Florida, but Shay was the closer for the Cats.

Shay arrived in Lexington ahead of the 2024 season as an offensive analyst. His focus was on the run game, and he spent time cultivating relationships with the tight ends.

“He has a lot of experience with the tight end position,” said Josh Kattus. “Obviously, he worked with tight ends at LSU, he worked at Marshall. He knows what he’s doing. He’s already taught us so much. I really like his coaching demeanor, and I think I’m really excited to get a full season under him.”

During his time at LSU, Shay was a graduate assistant who completed all of the tasks of a full-time tight ends coach, helping guys like Mason Taylor and Kole Taylor reach the NFL. Following a couple of years at LSU, he teamed up with Bush Hamdan on Missouri’s staff, then spent a year at Marshall before reconnecting with Hamdan at Kentucky.

“He’s a guy that Coach Hamdan and he work side by side anyway. Big picture scheme, a guy that Bush relied on, the communication that’s already been done. He’s already coached tight ends at a high level in a Power Five school,” said Mark Stoops.

“I love what I’m seeing there. He immediately, within a day or two of being promoted, at least verbally by me, hit the ground running, did amazing in recruiting. He’s done a wonderful job in the classroom, as well. I’m very excited about Derek.”

Shay inherits a room with an experienced leader and promising underclassmen. It’s his job to turn these positive early returns into consistent production.

“We got guys like Willie Rodriguez, who’s shown some glimpses of what he could do last year, and I’m very excited about his career here at Kentucky,” said Kattus.

“Henry Boyer is a really good blocking tight end that also shown that he can make some plays down the field in the spring. We got Elijah Brown, who has some experience playing at Bama, UCF, FAU, and then the freshman (Mikkel Skinner), who I think is super talented. I’m really excited to see what he does over the course of his career.”