Former Kentucky quarterback Maggard joining Stoops' support staff

A voice that has become familiar to Kentucky fans for the past couple of seasons breaking down football players and plays is leaving his many media posts to go back to the locker room.

Freddie Maggard, a part of the Cats’ pregame football broadcast, a regular on the “Monday Morning Quarterback” segments with the voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach, and a writer for Kentucky Sports Radio, is giving all of that up to join Mark Stoops’ support staff.

The former quarterback at Kentucky from 1988-91 will serve as Kentucky’s new director of player development, Maggard confirmed to the Herald-Leader.

The position, the brainchild of Stoops, has not been formally defined, but will include character development, community engagement, helping players find internships and future employment as well as alumni relations.

Maggard will draw on his expertise from doing similar work for the Kentucky National Guard as well as his past military experience to help prepare players for the future. Some of that development will include social media usage, branding, financial planning and more. Maggard also could serve as a liaison between former Kentucky players and the current players and staff.

His hire is one of several happening for UK football as Stoops works to bulk up the support staff.

Kentucky officials confirmed on Wednesday that Stoops has hired E.K. Franks as its new director of recruiting. Franks previously served as director of player personnel at Florida. He also was a recruiting director for Bret Bielema at Arkansas. Footballscoop.com first reported Franks’ hire.

Franks, a Kansas State graduate, has a wide range of experience, including previous jobs as an assistant coach, strength coach, academic counselor and as a director of minority relations, according to his bio from his time at Arkansas.

This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Former Kentucky quarterback Maggard joining Stoops' support staff."