Here’s what we know so far about Will Stein’s first Kentucky football staff
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sloan reported as OC; Pat Biondo and Pete Nochta named to support staff
- Several Stoops-era assistants depart; Anwar Stewart could remain under consideration.
- Staff completion and coordinator hires prioritized to secure transfers and recruiting.
Will Stein is back in Oregon helping the No. 5 seed Ducks prepare for their first-round College Football Playoff matchup with No. 12 seed James Madison, but his work continues in building his first Kentucky football staff.
UK has yet to confirm the hire of any assistant coaches, but the Herald-Leader has confirmed through sources that former LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan is joining Stein’s staff in the same role. Oregon director of recruiting strategy Pat Biondo will be Stein’s chief of staff at UK, and Louisville director of recruiting Pete Nochta will serve in another support staff, roster-management role.
“We’re going to create great culture for our guys, hire an elite staff,” Stein said at his introductory news conference. “I have some of the best coordinators in the country that are going to follow along. … Trust me, everybody wants to work with Will Stein. Everybody wants to work at the University of Kentucky.”
Of the holdovers from Mark Stoops’ last Kentucky staff, only defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, a former Wildcat player who coached perhaps the best position on the roster in 2025, appears to still be in the running to remain at UK. Stewart, tight ends coach Derek Shay and wide receivers coach L’Damian Washington all attended Stein’s introductory news conference, but Shay has since resigned amid reports he is joining the staff at Texas A&M. Washington’s contract was also removed from UK’s office of legal counsel website Tuesday, signalling he is unlikely to return.
Former UK defensive coordinator Brad White has been hired in that same role on Jon Sumrall’s first Florida staff. Former UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan was hired Wednesday as assistant head coach for offense at Mississippi State. Former UK offensive line coach Eric Wolford is reportedly joining Lane Kiffin’s new LSU staff in that same position.
Longtime UK director of football operations Josh Pruitt, who followed Neal Brown to Lexington as a graduate assistant on Stoops’ first staff, is among the support staffers who remain in place to help Stein’s balancing act between Kentucky and Oregon this month.
Initial reports that UTSA offensive coordinator Justin Burke was joining Stein’s inaugural staff appear to have been premature. Burke, the former Lexington Catholic, N.C. State and Louisville quarterback, played with Stein at Louisville and worked with him as an analyst at UTSA.
“I’m gonna let Justin and Will handle all that situation,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor told the Herald-Leader when asked about Burke’s status in an interview last Friday. “Until there’s ink on a piece of paper, I’m not gonna comment on it.”
Burke could still find a role on Stein’s staff, but it will not be as offensive coordinator. Sloan will be the Wildcats’ primary play-caller with Stein continuing to have a significant role in offensive game-planning.
“Trust me, I know Will well enough,” Traylor said. “He will not be too far removed from that. He’s just going to oversee everything. He’s got to. That’s what the head coach does. … You’re still sitting down together, scripting third-down-and-7, third-down-and-4-to-6, third down-and-1-to-2. We’re all scripting that together. If you think (Stein) doesn’t have a vote on which order that’s going to go, you’re crazy.
“But he does trust Joe. He does trust Joe. Him and I have known Joe for a long time. Joe is really bright. Another good young coach.”
Burke does have experience coaching tight ends, a spot opened with Shay’s move to Texas A&M. He also served as special teams coordinator at UTSA in 2022 and at South Florida from 2017 to 2019.
CBS Sports reported Tuesday morning former Florida running backs coach Jabbar Juluke was a target for the same position on Stein’s UK staff but noted later that day that Juluke was also a candidate for the Texas running backs job opened when former UK player and assistant coach Chad Scott was fired Tuesday.
With Sloan in place, it makes sense that more news has trickled out on possible offensive assistant coach hirings.
Meanwhile, there has been little news on the defensive coordinator search.
Former Louisville coach Charlie Strong, whom Stein played for at Louisville and later worked for at Texas, has been floated behind the scenes as a candidate for the job. Strong is currently the defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is unlikely to be available until the end of the NFL season. The Buccaneers are tied for first in the NFC South with four games left in the regular season.
Strong, who has head coaching experience at Louisville (2010-2013), Texas (2014-2016) and South Florida (2017-2019), would fill an important role as a veteran mentor for Stein in his first head coaching job, but he has not worked as an on-field college assistant since 2022 when he was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Miami. It is unclear if the prospect of working for his former quarterback is enough to lure him back to college football. He worked as a defensive analyst at Alabama in 2023.
(UPDATE: Multiple national reports emerged Friday that Stein was hiring Texas A&M defensive coordinator Jay Bateman for that role at Kentucky.)
Filling roles on the staff as quickly as possible will be important for Stein’s 2026 roster-building efforts.
The transfer window is open for current Kentucky players due to the coaching change. It will open for all other programs on Jan. 2. As of Wednesday morning, only one current Wildcat (backup linebacker Landyn Watson, who needs a waiver to continue playing next season) has announced plans to enter the portal.
This story was originally published December 10, 2025 at 10:35 AM.