Kentucky insider reveals new details on Vince Marrow departure to Louisville

The Kentucky football program received a punch to the gut Monday afternoon when it was revealed that associate head coach Vince Marrow was leaving to become the general manager at Louisville. Marrow had been on the Wildcats’ staff since 2013, marking the entire tenure of head coach Mark Stoops.

Marrow played a key role in recruiting and roster personnel management at UK in addition to coaching tight ends. He will now focus solely on roster management with the Cardinals, who are the Wildcats’ biggest rival.

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio offered his insight on Marrow’s decision to not only leave for Kentucky, but to deliver such a dagger to the heart. He explained that while frustration has been building for a while and it’s not necessarily surprising that Marrow left, the timing and destination are a bit unexpected.

“Vince has been, and is, longtime friend of mine,” Jones wrote on X. “I think he has been frustrated for awhile. I am not surprised he is leaving. While I am slightly surprised it was the Cards now, I think he was VERY close to going to Louisville a couple of years ago. Something must have happened.”

Marrow is finalizing a three-year deal with the Cardinals. The longtime Kentucky associate head coach has been the primary recruiter for some of the Wildcats’ top recruits over the past decade. He held the titles of associate head coach, tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator and NFL Liaison.

Notably, there is a clause in Marrow’s contract that states that he will owe $200,000 per year left on his contract if he decides to leave for another college football coaching position. His new position at Louisville will be behind the scenes, not the field, avoiding that stipulation in his contract altogether.

As Jones mentioned, Marrow has had other opportunities to leave over the past few seasons but opted to remain in Lexington. In fact, current Louisville coach Jeff Brohm even made attempts to add Marrow to his staff when he was at Purdue.

That begs the question of what happened recently to make Vince Marrow finally take the leap. It is worth noting that Kentucky just finished 4-8 in the 2024 season for its worst record since Stoop’s first season. Meanwhile, Louisville won at least nine games in Brohm’s first two years at the helm.

Perhaps Marrow simply is jumping on a program that is trending in a more upward direction. But regardless, his departure leaves a big hole behind that the Wildcats will hope to fill quickly.