Former Kentucky OL Coach Eric Wolford is going to LSU

Former Mark Stoops assistants are finding new homes. Brad White was the first to find a new job. He’s teaming up with Jon Sumrall at Florida. Eric Wolford was the next to find a landing spot, and he’s staying in the SEC.

In the middle of Will Stein‘s introductory press conference, reports surfaced that Eric Wolford will coach the offensive line at LSU. It will be Wolford’s fourth different SEC school since the pandemic. He logged multiple stints at South Carolina and did the same at Kentucky, with two years at Alabama in between.

There is no direct connection between Wolford and Lane Kiffin, but you can connect the dots. Kiffin is close with Mark Stoops, and Wolford worked under Nick Saban, the head coach who resurrected Kiffin’s career. A good word from the two was probably all Kiffin needed to hear.

Eric Wolford would not be described as “beloved” by the Kentucky football fanbase. The successor to one of the most beloved assistant coaches in the school’s history, John Schlarman, Wolford’s first season was an enormous success. Darian Kinnard became the school’s first Consensus All-American at offensive tackle since 1965, and the Wildcats were finalists for the Joe Moore Award during a 10-win campaign. At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Wolford went on a recruiting trip and never returned to Kentucky.

Coaches leave schools all the time. It’s a transient profession. However, the manner in which Wolford left for Alabama enraged Big Blue Nation and Mark Stoops, which made it all the more perplexing when Stoops re-hired him ahead of the 2024 season. That 2024 season was a disaster, but Wolford did an exceptional job of finding reinforcements in the transfer portal to create a competent front line in 2025.

There are plenty of Kentucky football fans who are glad to see Wolford go. They aren’t completely rid of him. Wolford and Kiffin will bring LSU to Kroger Field in the 2026 season.

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