Zach Yenser returns to coaching in the NFL

It was a wild two months for Zach Yenser. He received a contract extension shortly after the regular season to remain at Kentucky for the 2024 campaign. About six weeks later Mark Stoops made an about-face and relieved Yenser from his coaching duties.

After two years in Lexington, Yenser is returning to the NFL. The former San Francisco 49ers assistant offensive line coach will make the move to Houston. According to Aaron Wilson, Yenser will join Cole Popovich as one of two Texans’ assistant offensive line coaches.

The name Popovich might ring a bell for Kentucky fans, and not just because he’s related to the Spurs coach. Jon Sumrall hired Cole Popovich to coach the Troy offensive line in 2022. Some Wildcats lobbied to bring Popovich to Lexington when they initially hired Yenser to replace Eric Wolford. Yenser played college football at Troy and got his first coaching job at the small Alabama school as a graduate assistant.

Zach Yenser’s first year at Kentucky was a new low for the Big Blue Wall. The Wildcats allowed more sacks than any other Power Five football program and the rushing attack ranked 13th in the SEC. Yenser’s group improved last fall, paving the way for runners to average 4.9 yards per carry (4th in the SEC) as Kentucky allowed the second-fewest sacks in the conference. However, the offensive line recruiting operation showed little signs of optimism under Yenser’s leadership.

“I was a little surprised. That was the first I heard of it. Coach said he was going to make a change,” Yenser told Larry Vaught after he was let go. “The timing is a new one for me. I signed an extension in December and got whacked in January. But nothing in this business totally surprises me.

“Mark (Stoops) told me he was doing this for the future of the program and he didn’t like how we played in the bowl game and how the future of the room was going. He didn’t initially tell me he was bringing Wolf (Eric Wolford) back. I just assumed he was because Wolf was no longer on the Alabama staff.”

Eric Wolford will begin his second stint as the Kentucky offensive line coach when spring practice begins on Tuesday, March 19.

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