Kentucky will likely promote from within for new tight ends coach

Much has been said about the impact Vince Marrow’s absence leaves in recruiting. There’s another part of the equation: Kentucky needs a new tight ends coach.

Shortly after the news dropped on Monday afternoon, we shared a few names who could step into that role. Of course, C.J. Conrad came to mind. He started his coaching career at his alma mater and has been successful at a few stops since becoming a full-time tight ends coach. It’s pretty dang hard to recruit with an interim head coach, and he has four commitments, primarily recruiting Kentucky and Ohio.

The issue is that it’s June. The last time Kentucky had an abrupt change on the coaching staff over the summer, Mark Stoops promoted Scott Woodward to take Jovon Bouknight’s place as wide receivers coach. He will likely make the same move with the next tight ends coach. After all, Stoops is all about maintaining continuity, particularly this close to the start of fall camp.

On Wednesday’s edition of 11 Personnel, we shared a few possible names on the staff that would fit the role. Kevin Barbay coached tight ends a year ago while also serving as the offensive coordinator at Houston. Josh Estes-Waugh is another long-time staffer who has spent time working with the tight ends and quarterbacks.

There is one other potential candidate. Matt Jones confirmed that Derek Shay is the favorite to become the next Kentucky tight ends coach.

Shay was the tight ends coach at Marshall before joining the Kentucky football staff as an offensive analyst last season. He previously worked with offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan as an offensive analyst at Missouri. Following that season, he was a part of On3’s 65 Support-Staff Coaches You Need to Know.

If Shay does in fact receive the promotion, he will inherit a tight end room that has experience and plenty of promising young talent. Josh Kattus has three years of experience under his belt. The Wildcats took two transfers, Henry Boyer (Illinois) and Elijah Brown (UCF), who can be road-graders in the run game. Willie Rodriguez showed a ton of promise during his freshman season and true freshman Mikkel Skinner was the highest-ranked player in the Wildcats’ 2025 recruiting class.

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