Brock Vandagriff's father confirms new Kentucky QB committed despite Liam Coen exit

The potential loss of Liam Coen as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky could have some significant effects on what the roster in Lexington, specifically the offense, could look like. However, the change on staff won’t change the mind of one Brock Vandagriff, the Wildcats’ quarterback addition out of the transfer portal.

Greg Vandagriff, Brock’s father, spoke with Jacob Polacheck at KSR+ on Friday following the latest update regarding Coen’s connection to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He said that their family isn’t letting anything, including this, affect their decision about UK for next season.

“The biggest thing is about who’s in the building,” said Vandagriff.

“Here’s what we would say: lions don’t worry about the opinions of sheep,” Vandagriff added. “We don’t worry about the sheep of the world.”

Vandagriff came out of the state of Georiga where he was a five-star prospect. He was the No. 22 overall recruit in the 2021 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He finished as the No. 4 QB in the class behind only Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams, and Sam Huard. He was the No. 2 player out of the state as well behind just OT Amarius Mims.

Vandagriff spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Georgia as a backup for the Bulldogs. In that time, he appeared in 13 games and completed 57.1% of his throws for 165 yards and two scores. He just couldn’t get on the field in Athens, though, behind Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck.

That led Vandagriff to decide to transfer this offseason. He spent just a few days in the portal before committing to play for Mark Stoops and Coen in Lexington. It was a significant addition for a program that has done well with transfer quarterbacks as of late.

“I liked Kentucky before I even talked with Coach Coen much just because of their offense,” Vandagriff said when speaking to local media for the first time on Thursday. “Coach Smart? He regards Kentucky pretty highly. We played them every year we were there at Georgia. He always spoke well about them, spoke well about Coach Stoops.”

“That was before I even had any conversations with either of them. Then being able to talk with him after I entered the portal and stuff,” added Vandagriff. “I already knew that their offense was really similar to what Georgia runs.”

The addition was an important for UK with Vandagriff as the No. 10 QB and No. 40 available transfer overall according to On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. He is one of the crown jewels of the Wildcats’ class from the portal that featured 10 additions and finished at No. 13 in On3’s 2024 Team Rankings.

It’s safe to say that Coen and his success with quarterbacks played a decent-sized role in getting Vandagriff to the bluegrass. Even so, his expected departure back to the NFL isn’t changing anything about his commitment according to his father.