Will Stein set to hire former LSU offensive coordinator in same role at UK
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Joe Sloan will be Kentucky's offensive coordinator; Justin Burke’s role uncertain
- Sloan coached LSU QBs, led recruiting of multiple four-star Louisiana signees.
- Will Stein will direct offensive game planning while delegating play-calling.
Will Stein’s first Kentucky football offensive coordinator will not be the assistant coach reported to be joining the staff earlier this week.
Instead, former LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan will hold that title, a source confirmed to the Herald-Leader Friday. ESPN was the first to report the news of Sloan’s hire.
Sloan is best known as the quarterback coach at LSU during Jayden Daniels’ 2023 Heisman Trophy season. He spent the past two years as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator but was fired along with LSU head coach Brian Kelly in October.
His first season as LSU offensive coordinator in 2024 saw the Tigers rank 25th nationally in yards per game (431.5), but the offense struggled in 2025 with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier playing through an abdominal injury that eventually ended his regular season early. Sloan was fired on Oct. 27, one day after the school fired Kelly.
With Stein expected to still play a heavy role in Kentucky’s offensive game planning after leading one of the most explosive offenses in the country for three seasons at Oregon, Sloan’s most important role for Kentucky might be as a recruiter.
The 247Sports database credits him as the lead recruiter on 10 four-star signees during his four seasons at LSU. All but one of those four-star pledges was from Louisiana, where Sloan has coached since 2013. He previously served in a variety of roles at Louisiana Tech, spending his last two seasons there as offensive coordinator.
Sloan’s pending hire adds confusion about the role of former Lexington Catholic quarterback Justin Burke, who was reported to be joining the staff shortly after Stein was hired by Kentucky. Burke, who was a teammate of Stein’s at Louisville, worked with Stein at UTSA then replaced him as offensive coordinator there when Stein went to Oregon.
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor suggested in a signing day news conference Wednesday that Burke had not yet made up his mind about where he wanted to coach next season.
“There’s tons of speculation going on out there,” Traylor said. “Justin will have a decision to make on what he wants to do and when he wants to do it and where he wants to do it. So, I’m going to keep that between Justin and I.”
While Sloan will serve as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, it would be a shock if the Wildcats ran anything other than the offensive scheme Stein has used at Oregon.
In an interview with UK radio play-by-play man Tom Leach on Wednesday, Stein said he did not plan to call offensive plays at Kentucky.
“I want to be completely engulfed in the game and making sure I’m best for our defensive coordinator on third down, best for our special teams coordinator to make sure we’ve got all 11 guys on the field on a punt return or an extra point,” Stein said. “I’m not convinced that my offensive expertise, which I do believe is one of the best in the country, is going to be best in that situation where I can’t be completely focused on being the offensive coordinator and play-caller.
“I will be highly involved in the offense every single day in game-planning and preparation. We’ll just have somebody else saying the play call into the microphone.”
Stein and Sloan have not worked together previously, but it appears UK’s new coach will have plenty of familiar faces on his first staff, regardless of whether Burke ultimately joins it. Stein is hiring former Oregon staffer Pat Biondo as his chief of staff and reportedly is bringing former Louisville teammate Pete Nochta, current U of L director of recruiting, to the support staff as well.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM.