Bush Hamdan and Brock Vandagriff (Vicky Graff Photo)
Barring an injury, Brock Vandagriff is going to be Kentucky’s starting quarterback when the season starts.
The Georgia transfer has only limited playing experience and some have wondered if the addition of Rutgers transfer Gavin Wimsatt might have indicated some uncertainty about Vandagriff since Wimsatt has experience as a starting quarterback.
However, UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan emphasized during an appearance on Andy Staples On3 that Vanderbriff is No. 1 on the depth chart.
“He’s a consummate pro,,” Hamdan told Staples. “He’s just one of those guys, he’s about his business. He loves the position, in and out.
“He’s been coached tremendously well at Georgia. So you know, system wise, there’s probably a lot of similarities, maybe some change in verbiage.”
Hamdan worked with Vandagriff in spring practice and again in the offseason and sees a mature player who loves playing football.
“It’s a guy who had to wait his turn, and things maybe haven’t happened exactly how he’s wanted them to, but there’s certainly some perspective there. There’s some grit there,” Hamdan said.
Hamdan also praised the way UK coach Mark Stoops handles the football culture at Kentucky.
“It starts with how you treat people. I think that he’s got a culture of efficiency. He’s got a culture where he’s gonna hold people accountable but treat people right. It’s impressive,” Hamdan told Staples.
“I think that’s one of the biggest selling points I have here. There’s been numerous guys (coaches) that have had opportunities to leave but it’s not only the longest-tenured SEC coach but it’s the longest-tenured SEC staff and the loyalty they’ve had to him.”
One Response
Stoops has had Brad White for awhile now and Marrow has been here 12 years as well. I think our recruiting will continue to get better every year. When you have continuity on the staff you recruit better. Recruits see were other recruits go. Lynn Bowden is a prime example. He was well known in Ohio during his high school days. Kids that were in middle school then are seniors now. They remember Bowden coming to Kentucky and being the star. Thats a good thing because we get alot of guys from Ohio. I think we have more players from Ohio then Kentucky. I could be wrong but it seems like we get more Ohio kids every recruiting cycle. Ohio is a much bigger state than Kentucky. Football is king their. One of my best friends is from lake Orion Michigan. If you think the Kentucky and Louisville rivalry is big? It has nothing on the Ohio State Michigan rivalry. I don’t know of another rivalry that is as big or bigger than that. Maybe Texas and Oklahoma. They love football more than anything. Kentucky Louisville is a big in state rivalry but it’s only statewide. When your have 2 big states that hate each other I’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve done more recruiting in Michigan which is great. If we could get 4-5 great recruits out of Michigan and the same out of Ohio each cycle then more people in that state open their eyes to Kentucky football. Whenever I used to tell people in Michigan that I was a Kentucky fan in football they would laugh at me. Now Kentucky is getting more and more respect from them schools. We are getting quality players from their state and when they are all SEC and all American like Deone Walker it opens the cities eyes up. Kentucky is the most north SEC school weve got Ohio now we need to take Michigan. That is the key to recruiting better and getting guys that want to play in the SEC