Kentucky Defense Adds Ohio State Assistant

Another day, another new coach for Will Stein‘s first Kentucky football team. This time, the Wildcats are adding a coach to inject some chaos into the Kentucky pass rush.

Pete Thamel reports that Tony Washington Jr. will coach the Kentucky outside linebackers and defensive ends. This fall, Washington was an assistant defensive line coach for Ohio State. Under his watch, Arvell Reese has developed into an All-American and a future first round draft pick.

Washington previously crossed paths with Will Stein at Oregon, his alma mater. Washington was an assistant position coach who wore a few different hats for the Ducks between 2021-23. He also has a year of experience at UCLA and served as a graduate assistant at Nebraska from 2019-20.

The Los Angeles native played four seasons at Oregon from 2011-14 along the defensive line and totaled 158 tackles and 26 tackles for loss, including 14.5 sacks.

If there aren’t significant defections, Washington will step into a room that has some talent. Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace was exceptional against the run, and the defensive end also showed enough burst to create havoc in the pass rush. Lorenzo Cowan flashed at the end of his redshirt freshman season when the EDGE stepped in for Sam Greene. The USC transfer was playing his best football when he suffered a season-ending injury in November.

The 2026 Kentucky Football Coaching Staff

The only official addition so far is Will Stein. There’s not much clarity on where Justin Burke currently stands, but this is our projection for next year’s Kentucky football coaching staff.

Will Stein: Head Coach
Joe Sloan: Offensive Coordinator
Jay Bateman: Defensive Coordinator
Cutter Leftwich: Offensive Line
Justin Burke: Tight Ends
Joe Price III: Wide Receivers
Josh Christian-Young: Safeties
Anwar Stewart: Defensive Line
Mike Hartline: Offensive Analyst
Pat Biondo: General Manager
Pete Nochta: Director of Player Personnel

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