Count me as one who likes the hire of Bush Hamdan as Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Hamden, 38, is in the age range that should enable him to connect with players he is coaching and recruiting — and today that is even more important than ever with the NIL and transfer portal impacting so many decisions that college athletes make.
He has 15 years of coaching experience that includes both college and the NFL. I like the NFL connections UK has had on Mark Stoops’ staff but I think it was time to get a college guy back running the offense and that is what Hamdan seems to be.
He has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at his alma mater, Boise State, which tied for the 2023 Mountain West Conference regular-season championship and then won the league championship game against UNLV. The Broncos were second in the MWC in scoring offense and third in total offense.
But he is no stranger to Southeastern Conference play, another reason I like him. He has been on staffs at Missouri and Florida and knows the level of elite talent he will face almost every week against SEC teams. He was also quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2017.
“I’ve known Bush for a few years and spent some quality time with him in 2021,” Stoops said in a release from UK. “Since then, I’ve followed his career and have been very impressed by him. He’s coached under Chris Petersen, Steve Sarkisian and Eli Drinkwitz, three coaches I have a ton of respect for, and I think he’s a rising star in the coaching profession.”
I think he could be too. I think back to when UK brought in Hal Mumme as head coach. I thought he was a rising star while others wondered who he was. I think it is the same with Hamdan. Casual fans might not know a lot about him but those in the college football world really like what he has done.
He was receivers coach at Missouri in 2020 and 2021 and then quarterbacks coach in 2022. Hamdan was on staff when Missouri ranked 32nd nationally in passing offense in 2020.
“We are very excited to join the Big Blue Nation,” Hamdan said. “I’ve really admired coach Stoops over the years and everything he’s done to build this program. It’s an exciting time to be at Kentucky and be back in the SEC. I can’t wait to get started.”
He has also coached at Colorado, Maryland, Sacramento State and then Florida in 2012 when the Gators went 11-2 with him as receivers coach. Four of his players went on to the NFL — Andre Debose, Quinton Dunbar, Frankie Hammond and Solomon Patton.
He moved to Arkansas State in 2013 as co-offensive coordinator and the team won the Sun Belt Conference before going to Davidson as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2014.
Hamdan joined coach Chris Petersen’s staff at Washington — he played for Petersen at Boise State — in 2015 and was promoted Hamdan to wide receivers coach/pass game coordinator the following season when the Huskies won the Pac-12 and reached the College Football Playoff.
He spent the 2017 season with the Falcons as quarterbacks coach and Matt Ryan was sixth in the league in passing yards (4,095) before returning to Washington as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for two seasons (2018-19). The Huskies won the Pac-12 in 2018 and registered 3,337 yards passing, the fourth-most in school history.
He has collegiate playing experience, which I think helps a coach, and was a two-time team captain at Boise State. The Broncos went 35-4 in his last three seasons.
Football is also in his genes. His brother, Gibran, played quarterback at Indiana and in the NFL where he spent time on the active rosters at Washington, San Francisco and Seattle while also earning NFL Europe MVP in 2006 with the Rhein Fire.
6 Responses
Looking forward and see what he can bring on the table.
He has had success everywhere he’s been. If Stoops will leave him alone, he will most likely be successful here too.
I agree he needs as much freedom as possible. I’m loving some of the sets he was running at Boise state.
I am buying in big time as well. Just hope that Stoops relaxes the previous leashes he has apparently had in play.
I think he is a little more detail oriented than Liam Coen. I’m very excited about this hire he is a great recruiter and plays a spread offense which I personally love. We will see some 4 receiver sets which should be perfect when our receiver room is very deep. With a improved offensive line and a better qb I think we have a shot at surprising more teams this year than in years past. Plus we should run 15-20 more plays a game which should help the defense stay off the field and stay rested. I think this is gonna end up being a grand slam hire. I just hope he will stay at least 2-3 years because it seems like he travels often. I think he genuinely appreciates the opportunity because Kentucky is paying him 3x more than Boise was paying him. He brought in the #1 qb in the transfer portal. Maybe that qb will transfer to Kentucky after this year seeing that he’s a redshirt freshman. Let’s Go Catssss
Great research Larry!