Former Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops has remained out of the public spotlight since he was fired in December, but many of his assistant coaches have already landed new high-profile jobs.
New UK coach Will Stein kept only one Stoops assistant, defensive line coach Anwar Stewart. Seven of the other 10 recruiting assistants from last season have already found new jobs. Former linebackers coach Mike Stoops, Mark’s older brother, and former safeties coach Frank Buffano are the only coaches from that group yet to announce plans for 2026.
Former UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is already on his second job since being fired at UK. Mississippi State hired Hamdan as its associate head coach for offense and wide receivers coach in December, but he lasted just more than two months at that position before accepting an NFL coaching job as the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach last week.
With Hamdan in the NFL, he is unlikely to get a chance to coach against his former employer anytime soon.
Several other Stoops assistants will have the chance to play Kentucky as soon as this fall, though.
Here’s a look at where the 2025 Kentucky football assistants will coach next season.
Bush Hamdan
After his brief stop in Starkville, Mississippi, Hamdan made the jump to the NFL, where he will serve on new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley’s staff. Hamdan will work with Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who is a disciple of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. Hamdan previously worked for Shanahan as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Former UK offensive line coach Zach Yenser, who spent two years at UK in 2022 and 2023, is also on the new Dolphins staff.
Brad White
After eight years at Kentucky, the last seven of which were spent as defensive coordinator, White will coach against the Wildcats for rival Florida this fall. At Florida, White reunites with close friend and former UK linebacker and assistant coach Jon Sumrall. Considering Sumrall quickly targeted White to be his defensive coordinator and White’s UK contract was set to expire in June, it is possible White would have made the same decision even if Stoops had been retained by UK. White will return to Lexington to face UK on Nov. 14.
Eric Wolford
Stoops’ decision to bring Wolford back to Kentucky as offensive line coach in 2024 was not a popular one after his controversial departure two years earlier, but Stoops maintained his fellow Youngstown, Ohio, native was the best option to rebuild UK’s struggling line despite any personal hard feelings about his previous departure. Wolford’s second stint at UK was a mixed bag, but the offensive line was improved in 2025. That season combined with Wolford’s reputation as a strong recruiter was apparently enough to earn him another SEC opportunity with Lane Kiffin hiring him for his first LSU staff.
Chris Collins
In a signal of Collins’ growing importance at UK, Stoops promoted him to co–defensive coordinator before the 2024 season. He lost that title after the UK coaching change but will continue to work closely with White as safeties coach on Sumrall’s Florida staff. Collins worked primarily with cornerbacks at Kentucky. Former UK safety Cam Dooley followed Collins and White to Florida through the transfer portal.
L’Damian Washington
Washington was one of three Stoops position coaches to stay in Lexington through the early days of the Will Stein era, but he eventually accepted a job as wide receivers coach at Ole Miss. Washington, who received rave reviews in one year at Kentucky for both his recruiting and work developing a group of young wide receivers, looked like a strong candidate to be retained by Stein before that decision. One of those young receivers, freshman Cam Miller, followed Washington to Ole Miss through the transfer portal.
Derek Shay
After one year as a quality control coach for Kentucky, Shay was promoted to tight ends coach last summer after longtime Stoops assistant Vince Marrow left for Louisville. Shay’s promotion coincided with improvements at the position as he oversaw a breakout season from sophomore Willie Rodriguez. Like Stewart and Washington, Shay was on hand for Stein’s introductory news conference and initially looked like a candidate to remain on the new staff. Instead, he accepted a job as tight ends coach at Texas A&M, where he helped the Aggies land coveted UTSA tight end transfer Houston Thomas, who had initially been linked to Kentucky. Stein and Kentucky will play at Texas A&M on Sept. 19.
Jay Boulware
In his three-year stint as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Kentucky, Boulware was perhaps best known for abandoning the program’s previous success with Australian rugby-style punters. He was also instrumental in bringing running back Seth McGowan, one of the few bright spots for the 2025 Wildcats, to Lexington. Boulware will continue to coach running backs for West Virginia next season, but he will not serve as special teams coordinator. With Boulware gone, it appears Stein is bringing the Australian punter line back to Kentucky.
Dean Hood
The former EKU and Murray State head coach spent two separate stints at UK working for Stoops. First, he spent three years as special teams coordinator, also coaching outside linebackers and safeties. After his four-year stint at Murray State, he returned to Lexington as director of player development in 2024. Hood will return to an on-field role next fall as safeties coach at Marshall. There, he will work with defensive coordinator Brad Lambert, who spent 2025 as a defensive analyst and nickel backs coach at Kentucky.
Mike Hartline
There were reports shortly after the coaching change that Stein planned to keep Hartline, the former Kentucky QB who spent 2025 as an offensive quality control coach working closely with the Wildcat quarterbacks, but Hartline instead chose to join his brother Brian’s inaugural South Florida staff. There, Hartline will work as quarterbacks coach.