Kentucky
Kentucky football hires Derek Shay as tight ends coach: What to know about new assistant

Kentucky football: Mark Stoops addresses the team’s need for consistency
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops addresses the Wildcats’ need for consistency and is excited to see continuity with his players.
LEXINGTON — Mark Stoops didn’t take long to find his new tight ends coach. Nor did he have to look far.
Stoops, entering his 13th season as Kentucky football’s coach, named Derek Shay to the position Friday. The announcement came one day after Vince Marrow, who had served in the role for the first 12 years of Stoops’ tenure, switched sides in the Bluegrass rivalry, becoming Louisville’s executive director of player personnel and recruiting.
Stoops didn’t need to leave the Joe Craft Football Training Facility to find Marrow’s replacement: Shay already was part of the Wildcats’ staff.
Here’s what to know about Shay, UK’s newest assistant coach:
Shay has been part of UK’s support staff since March 2024. He worked as a senior offensive analyst/run game specialist the last 16 months.
Prior to joining Kentucky, Shay was Marshall’s tight ends coach (2023-24).
He also has worked for Missouri (senior offensive analyst; 2022-23), LSU (graduate assistant/tight ends; 2020-22), McNeese State (tight ends/offensive tackles; 2019-20), IMG Academy (co-offensive coordinator/offensive line; 2017-19), Warren Central High School in Indianapolis (co-offensive coordinator/offensive line; 2015-17), Bowling Green (graduate assistant/tight ends; 2014-15) and Eastern Illinois (student assistant/tight ends/offensive line; 2011-13).
An Illinois native, Shay started his college career at Western Illinois, where he played on the offensive line. He later transferred to Eastern Illinois. Shay received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois in 2013 and earned his master’s degree from LSU in 2021.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity that coach Stoops and (offensive coordinator) coach (Bush) Hamdan have given me,” Shay said in a statement. “There is a good mix of experience and young talent in the tight end room and I’m looking forward to coaching them. Additionally, being a part of the Big Blue Nation is truly an honor and I’m ready to get to work and represent this incredible fanbase in this new role.”
“We are fortunate to have someone already on our staff who has coached tight ends at a high level and led those rooms successfully,” Stoops said. “He is familiar with coach 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.”
“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.”
— Josh Kattus, Kentucky senior tight end
“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. 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.”
— Ed Orgeron, former LSU head football coach
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

Kentucky
This quote from former Wildcat Zvonimir Ivisic should frustrate Kentucky fans

One player on the final John Calipari team that fans loved to watch was Zvonimir Ivisic. The Croatian center came to Kentucky and had fans excited to see what he could do, but the NCAA didn’t deem him eligible for months.
Finally, ahead of the matchup with Georgia in Rupp Arena, Ivisic was cleared, and he put up some incredible numbers. Ivisic scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 3-4 from deep. This was combined with five rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and two steals.
After this, Ivisic had his moments, including 18 points against Alabama, and he had Big Blue Nation excited for the future. Obviously, the 7’2 center followed Calipari to Arkansas, and after a year in Fayetteville, where he averaged 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds, he hit the portal once again.
Ivisic followed his brother, Tomislav Ivisic, to Illinois, where he is set to play for head coach Brad Underwood. Yesterday, Ivisic told the media that he got contacts and proceeded to say, “I couldn’t see them rim for three years.”
This is a really bad look for Coach Calipari, knowing that he never thought to have his vision checked after two years with Ivisic. This should also frustrate Kentucky and Arkansas fans because it looks like Ivisic is going to have a massive season for the Fighting Illini, and he never reached his full potential in Lexington or Fayetteville.
Obviously, Ivisic still has some work to do on the defensive end of the floor, but he will be one of the better offensive bigs in college hoops. The mixture of him and his brother is going to give Illinois a solid frontcourt.
Obviously, the Wildcats are the team that sent Big Z’s brother home last season in the Round of 32, but this year, Illinois, with a lot of solid transfers, looks like a team that could surprise some folks.
Big Z played very well for the shorthanded Fighting Illini in their exhibition against Illinois State. Kentucky fans will likely be rooting for Ivisic this season now that he is out of the SEC because he was a fan favorite during his short stay in Lexington.
Illinois comes into the season ranked 17th overall, but they have a roster good enough to be one of the best teams in the Big Ten. The Ivisic brothers are going to be fun to watch this season as long as they aren’t playing the Wildcats.
Kentucky
Cutter Boley puts career day aside to focus on loss: ‘Should’ve come out of there with the win’

Kentucky‘s overtime loss to Texas came with a serious silver lining: Cutter Boley had his best game as a Wildcat, throwing for 258 yards on 31/39 overall with 45 rushing yards and a score on the ground. The redshirt freshman took some bad sacks and threw an ugly pick, but outside of a handful of youth-driven errors, the kid showed some real stuff.
His head coach thought he grew up right before our eyes against the toughest defense on the schedule.
“I’m very impressed with Cutter,” Mark Stoops said after the loss. “Very impressed because there was a couple of things early and we were coaching him and talking to him and he’s learning and staying positive and working very hard. The completion percentage, to go 31 of 39, it was impressive. I like to see that.
“We needed our completion percentage to keep on increasing and it’s doing that. He’s a big reason why. I thought he was very comfortable.”
It could’ve been a chance for Boley to pat himself on the back and celebrate the individual win as the future looks bright in Lexington with the Hodgenville native under center. Instead, Boley could only focus on being six inches short on the overtime goal line stand and letting the Longhorns head back to Austin with a win.
“It’s tough, we’re six inches away right there, and it’s tough not to get that done,” he said after the loss. “… It’s just tough when you come up short like that. We should’ve come out of there with the win for sure.”
Don’t confuse his frustration for pessimism, though. Boley is proud of the team’s progress and general trajectory as the puzzle pieces slowly start to come together. No matter the record at 2-4, confidence is high the Wildcats can figure things out before it’s officially too late.
There are still six games to be the team they believe they can be.
“Come back on Monday and take steps,” Boley said. “Everybody believes that confidence ain’t slacked at all. Just postgame, everything like that, everybody still believes. We just gotta keep coming to work and putting in the work. … I think that there’s obviously — a loss sucks, you know what I mean? But I don’t think that fazed anyone’s confidence at all.
“We know the team we got, we’re in here working every day.”
As for his own growth, he just feels he’s making the plays that come his way and playing within his ability. When the situation calls for a scramble, he’s going to tuck it and go. When he needs to take the layup, he drops it off to move the chains and live to see another day. Need a home run? He’s got that in him, too.
Whatever the coaches need him to do or however the game unfolds, he’s ready to adjust.
“Just trying to execute the play as it’s called. I feel like we came in with a really good plan .I was just throwing it to the open guy,” he said. “… Just taking what they give me, I don’t have to go out there and force things to happen, I don’t have to make crazy plays. I just gotta take what they give me and when I have to make a play, I’ll make a play.
“It just kind of comes naturally, just trying to execute the play that’s called and get it to the open guy.”
The coaches trust him to do that. Now it’s on the coaches to put him in position to succeed — and Boley’s offensive coordinator understands that.
“I think there’s something there with him, for sure,” Bush Hamdan said of Boley. “I think his confidence continues to grow, but we’re falling short. We’re not making those plays. I understand the criticism, it’s warranted, and we gotta get it fixed.”
Kentucky
Box score, MVP, and Twitter reactions to Kentucky’s painful loss vs. Texas

For the second straight year, Kentucky football found itself in a defensive slugfest that came down to the wire, but once again, the Wildcats fell to Texas, 16-13, in a game that mirrored last season’s heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Georgia.
It was another contest defined by grit, physicality, and missed offensive opportunities. Kentucky’s defense kept the game close from start to finish, holding a powerful Texas offense to just 16 points and forcing multiple key stops. However, the Wildcats’ offense struggled to establish consistency through the air and on the ground, leaving the defense with little margin for error.
The Wildcats tied the game at 10-10 with 12:04 remaining in the fourth quarter after redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley rushed in for a short touchdown. Later, kicker Jacob Kauwe nailed a clutch field goal to make it 13-13 and send the game into overtime, keeping Kentucky’s upset hopes alive, but falling short in overtime, 16-13.
Defensively, Kentucky continued to prove it can hang with anyone in the country. The Wildcats’ front seven were aggressive and disciplined, limiting Texas’ big plays and finishing with 45 tackles for loss and three sacks.
As for the offense, the MVP of the night was redshirt freshman Cutter Boley, who, despite his inexperience and one costly interception, showed poise under pressure. Boley finished 31-of-39 for 258 passing yards, adding 1 rushing touchdown and one interception. His composure and flashes of confidence were encouraging signs for Kentucky’s future.
While the loss stings, Kentucky once again showed that it belongs on the same field as college football’s elite programs. The defense is championship-caliber, but the offense still needs to find its rhythm and something that could make all the difference as the Wildcats continue through SEC play.
Next up, Kentucky looks to regroup and get back in the win column with a key conference matchup next weekend at Kroger Field against Tennessee
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