Kentucky Offense will "be on the attack" under Bush Hamdan

Bush Hamdan arrived in Lexington this week. After getting his feet wet, Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator met with his new players and signed a contract on Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after the official announcement, he shared with the media his plan for Mark Stoops’ offense.

“This offense, we’re going to be on the attack. That’s all we’ve ever known,” Hamdan said.

The Cats’ new play-caller is leaving behind a Boise State offense that is returning eight starters, including Mountain West Player of the Year Ashton Jeanty. He also recruited QB Malachi Nelson from the transfer portal, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class. It was the most difficult decision of his career, but he can’t wait to work with the talented athletes in Lexington.

“Certainly I know the history of Kentucky: what the fronts look like, the physicality. I just saw those guys yesterday upfront, their size, really feel they can be an extremely competitive group in the SEC. But I’m really optimistic about some of these skill players,” said Hamdan.

“I’m not gonna get into specific guys, but I’m watching tight ends that can run, watching wide receivers in my opinion, that are elite type NFL type players and certainly excited about the quarterback room.”

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Kentucky will have No-Huddle Operation

The Kentucky offense did some things well in 2023. One clear aspect where they fell short was before the play. Getting plays in was a problem. Kentucky moved slowly and it was a big reason why only one FBS program ran fewer plays per game than the Wildcats.

Hamdan will instantly upgrade the pre-snap operation. Even though he has taken some things from his time in the NFL and incorporated them into the college game, the Wildcats’ base offense will be a no-huddle operation. Hamdan will use it 60% of the time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will play 100 mph.

When asked how he will implement his new offense, tempo is the second point in his plan.

“Week one is analyzing the roster. We know players win games. Get a good feel of what these guys can do and put them in the best position (to succeed),” Hamdan said.

“I think the second thing is variance in tempo. That’s been something over the course of the years, where we know there’s gonna be certain games where we got to play fast. We know there’s gonna be certain games that we got to play slower, control the clock. But it’s a pro-style foundation. It is. There’s a lot of continuity there. But there’s such an emphasis in our opinion, on creating explosive plays, and we got to do that with creativity. We got to do that with variance in formation and personnel. That is the focus.”

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