Bush Hamdan believes 'mistakes were made' with Brock Vandagriff's run game usage

Bush Hamdan and Brock Vandagriff at Kentucky football practice, via Elliot Hess, UK Athletics

Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is looking for a bounce-back season in 2025 after things got off the rails last fall. It all started to go wrong when first-year starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff suffered a shoulder injury in the Week 1 win over Southern Miss.

In that game, the Georgia transfer recorded five carriers for 35 yards but that injury and constant hits absorbed by playing behind a banged-up and inefficient offensive line led to a very bad season that also included a concussion injury for Vandagriff. The former five-star recruit decided to step away from football after the season.

Kentucky is going in a different direction at quarterback after the year with Vandagriff got off the tracks. Once again, this program went into the transfer portal to find a new starter (Zach Calzada) as redshirt freshman Cutter Boley grows within the system. Hamdan admits that last year was a learning experience for him as a play-caller and quarterback.

“I do think mistakes were made with Brock in probably early on and running him too much,” Hamdan said at Kentucky’s media day on Friday. “I certainly own that from a standpoint of in this league, that player is going to get hit enough and take his shots and we gotta be extremely smart in not adding to that.”

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The offense could never get right after their starting quarterback got hurt, expected tailback starter Chip Trayanum missed pretty much the whole season due to a hand injury suffered in fall camp, and the offensive line went through injuries plus subpar play. Kentucky will be looking to avoid those pitfalls this season.

Keeping the quarterback healthy is a top priority.

Bush Hamdan has talked openly about using the quarterback in the run game. The plus-one block advantage this gives an offense can help extend drives on third down and end red zone possessions in the endzone. But there is a give and take. Calzada is listed at 230 pounds and has recorded 708 non-sack rushing yards with 14 rushing touchdowns during his collegiate career at Texas A&M and Incarnate Word. The Cats will utilize the QB run game but they can’t have their starting quarterback suffering an injury early that could linger for the rest of the season.

The SEC arguably plays the most physical football outside of the NFL. The QB run game has obvious benefits but there is a clear balancing act needed in managing this usage. Kentucky will need to protect the player taking snap in its play-calling. Bush Hamdan is adjusting after learning a tough lesson in his first year as a full-time play-caller in this conference.