Plenty has changed within the Kentucky football program since Stone Saunders committed to the Wildcats back in August. Most notably, Liam Coen, his primary recruiter and longtime friend of the Saunders family, was still the offensive coordinator.

But now, as of Feb. 3, Coen is in Tampa Bay. He’s set to call plays for the Buccaneers in the NFL this coming season after a not-so-pretty departure from Lexington for a second time. Replacing Coen at Kentucky is Bush Hamdan, who was the offensive coordinator at Boise State in 2023. Hamdan produced a high-scoring offense in Idaho that averaged over 32 points per game this past fall.

The 6-foot-1 Saunders, who says he’s now up to 215 pounds, has remained committed to Kentucky in spite of the coaching change. The class of 2025 three-star quarterback has been communicating with Hamdan over the phone since Hamdan was officially hired on Feb. 14, but it won’t be until later this month that the two finally meet face-to-face.

“He just seems like a great guy,” Saunders, who will visit UK on Saturday, March 30 for spring practice, told KSR. “I’ve just got to know him as a person really over the phone. He’s gotten to know me. But it seems like we’ve got a lot of morals that match up and principles, so I’m excited to go down, see his offense, and see them practice and all of it.”

Naturally, Saunders had some questions when Coen moved on from UK. But he hasn’t wavered on his commitment. That being said, Saunders’ visit at the end of the month will be important in making sure he’s still on the same page with Hamdan and Kentucky as a whole.

“Obviously when a change like that happens there’s gonna be second thoughts, but I’ve talked to Bush a couple times, he seems great, so I’m gonna go there,” Saunders added. “I’m still committed to Kentucky so I’m gonna go there, check it out, see what Coach Bush’s playbook looks like, and go from there.”

Another thing that’s changed for Saunder since he made his pledge to UK over the summer was the addition of some friendly competition. Just last week, the Wildcats picked up another quarterback commit in three-star Brennen Ward. Both Saunders and Ward are currently high school juniors. They’re ranked No. 443 and No. 640, respectively, in the On3 Industry Ranking.

Although Saunders (from Pennsylvania, recruited by Coen) isn’t familiar with Ward (from Ohio, recruited by Vince Marrow) right now, Saunders says he knew all along that Kentucky’s plan was to bring in two quarterbacks for the 2025 recruiting cycle. He’s welcoming the challenge, too.

“They told me that they were gonna need two quarterbacks in my class anyways, so I already knew that coming in when I committed,” Saunders said. “But I’ve been a competitor my whole life so if you want to come be in the quarterback room I have no problem with it. I’m excited to get there and compete. I’ve heard about Brennen and he seems like a good guy so we’ll probably get along and I’m ready to just go compete wherever I go.”