Kentucky tight ends coach Derek Shay is headed to Texas A&M

The coaching carousel spin is not stopping. As new head coach Will Stein begins to build his first full staff in Lexington, a potential retain candidate is moving on. Kentucky tight ends coach Derek Shay is staying in the SEC.

Texas A&M is looking for a new offensive coordinator after losing Collin Klein to Kansas State. Will tight ends coach Christian Ellsworth follow him to the Little Apple? We are not sure who that will be yet but we do know that Shay will be on that offensive staff in College Station. Football Scoop is reporting that Shay will be leaving Kentucky for an opportunity on Mike Elko’s staff. The role was not specified.

Derek Shay is an Cerro Gordo, Illinois, native who became his collegiate career playing offensive line at Western Illinois. The player would eventually transfer to Eastern Illinois where he would graduate with a education degree in 2013. But his coaching career would begin before Shay earned that diploma.

Shay served as a student assistant at his alma mater from 2011-13 for three seasons until graduation. From there, Shay landed at Bowling Green in 2014 and worked as a graduate assistant under head coach Dino Babers and offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert. After one season in the MAC, Derek Shay started a high school coaching career working for powerhouse program Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central in 2015. Shay would spend two seasons there serving as a co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before landing a notable job in the high school football space.

IMG Academy is a prep school in Florida that recruits top prospects from all over the country to come play at their school. The national powerhouse consistently pumps out blue-chip recruits. Shay spent two seasons working with some of the best offensive line prospects in high school football before heading back to college football.

Derek Shay left IMG Academy following the 2018 season to coach offensive tackles and tight ends at McNeese State under head coach Sterlin Gilbert. The relationships established at Bowling Green led to a full-time opportunity for Shay but the coach stayed in the FCS for just one season as Gilbert left McNeese to become the offensive coordinator at Syracuse under Babers.

Shay landed at LSU and spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working for head coach Ed Orgeron. Shay worked with tight ends for two years in the Bayou. After Orgeron was fired, Shay moved to Missouri where he spent time on staff with Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan as a senior offensive analyst. That led to another one-year run as a on-field coach.

Shay joined Charles Huff’s Marshall staff in 2023 and worked as a tight ends coach for a Thundering Herd squad that played in the Frisco Bowl. Shay then decided to reunite with Hamdan when he landed the play caller gig at Kentucky.

After Vince Marrow bolted for a front office job at Louisville just months before the 2024 season ended, Shay was promoted to tight ends coach and filled that role in 2025. Now he will be working for a fourth SEC program in six years in 2026.

There was some coaching overlap with Will Stein and Derek Shay. Gilbert was the offensive coordinator at Texas in 2016 when Stein was a quality control assistant. Shay was a prime candidate to return to Lexington for another season but it looks like the tight ends coach is moving on.

All eyes now turn to UTSA offensive coordinator Justin Burke. The former Lexington (Ky.) Catholic quarterback appears to be the top candidate to fill the tight ends coach position for Stein.

***The latest on Will Stein’s staff build (Dec. 9 update at KSBoard)***

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