Mark Stoops did not wait around to find a replacement for Vince Marrow. A little more than 24 hours after his move to Louisville became official, Kentucky announced that Derek Shay will be the Wildcats’ next tight ends coach.

“We are fortunate to have someone already on our staff who has coached tight ends at a high level and led those rooms successfully,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said in a statement.

“He is familiar with Coach (Bush) Hamdan’s system and I’m very confident in his abilities. His versatility, football IQ, and on-field toughness will be a valuable addition to our offense.”

Shay is familiar with Hamdan’s system because it’s not the first time the two have coached together. They first interacted when Shay was a member of the Missouri support staff, working alongside Hamdan. Shay is one of the only people Hamdan brought with him to Kentucky. He sat next to the offensive coordinator in the booth throughout the 2024 season.

In between stints with Hamdan, Shay served as the tight ends coach at Marshall in 2023. He also coached in the LSU tight end room as a GA. That’s where his high-major coaching career began, a year after the Tigers won the National Championship.

“Derek is a very knowledgeable coach with an outstanding work ethic. Our players and coaches at LSU loved him—not just as a coach, but as a man,” said former LSU head coach Ed Oregeron.

“He’s an outstanding recruiter with tireless energy and a passion for developing young talent. Additionally, he’s a great family man who brings character and integrity to everything he does. The University of Kentucky is getting a great one. He’s a great hire.”

Shay has a lot of talent to work with this fall. The Wildcats took two transfers, Henry Boyer (Illinois) and Elijah Brown (UCF), who can be road-graders in the run game. Willie Rodriguez showed a ton of promise during his freshman season and true freshman Mikkel Skinner was the highest-ranked player in the Wildcats’ 2025 recruiting class. Rodriguez and Josh Kattus have worked with Shay for the last 16 months, and the latter is fired up to see Shay in a more prominent role.

“We get to see every day how Coach Shay operates and the intensity he brings, and we are excited to have him leading our room. He knows our system inside and out, and he’s incredibly passionate about the game and coaching. Adding him to our room is a seamless transition.”

You can hear more from other players and coaches who worked with Shay as he takes the next step in his coaching career.

Derek Shay Coach Record