Three takeaways from UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s first press conference
Three takeaways from Bush Hamdan’s first press conference as Kentucky football’s new offensive coordinator on Thursday:
1. Hamdan made a good first impression
There are few more overrated phrases in sports than “winning the press conference.” Back in 1990, Bill Curry blew the audience away at the press conference introducing him as Kentucky’s new football coach. Curry proceeded to win just 26 games compared to 52 losses and was fired midway through his sixth season. Making a favorable initial impression is not nearly as important as winning games on the field.
That said, Bush Hamdan was impressive in his first meeting with the media. The 38-year-old is obviously serious about his job. He appeared well-versed on a variety of football subjects. Gave good answers. And showed a sense of humor. When asked whether he would be calling plays from up in the coaches’ box or down on the sideline, Hamdan replied, “I really enjoy coffee, so I like being upstairs.”
He owns a background that should make him relatable to his players. He’s been an offensive coordinator at both the Power Five level (Washington) and the Group of Five level (Boise State last season). He’s coached in the NFL (Atlanta Falcons) and the SEC (Florida and Missouri).
Judging by Thursday, Hamdan appears to be an excellent communicator. Now communicating with the press is a different animal than communicating with young athletes, but his experience and success as an offensive coordinator at least suggests he knows how to connect with his players. That is a skill as important as his play calls.
2. Hamdan wants to make offense “college-friendly”
I’m on record as being a strong supporter of Mark Stoops’ intent of bringing the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay style NFL offense to Kentucky. There was/is a downside to that, however. Well, not as much of a downside as an obstacle. College athletes are not professional athletes. (Not in theory, anyway.) They do not have the same amount of time or experience needed to study and master the complexities and verbiage of an NFL playbook as a professional athlete.
More than once Thursday, Hamdan used the phrase “college friendly.” He said that his intent is to take the NFL system he learned working with then Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and make it simple enough for college players to learn and execute. Since leaving the Falcons, Hamdan has done just that at both Washington and Boise State.
Plus, Sarkisian was working off the offense that Shanahan used as play-caller in 2017 to take the Falcons to the Super Bowl before leaving to be head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
I asked Hamdan what he learned that season that applies to his situation now, where his offense is similar to what Liam Coen ran but will have his fingerprints, much like Sarkisian ran Shanahan’s offense with Sark’s own fingerprints?
“The great marriage, if you will, between the run game and pass game,” Hamdan said, adding the idea of using similar formations to run all sorts of different plays, run or pass. “It left a huge impact on me.”
And that leads us to our third takeaway.
3. That marriage between run and pass
We know what Mark Stoops wants in an offense. He wants to run the football. His belief is that a strong run game fulfills the necessary SEC requirements of being physical and playing a complimentary brand of the sport. It was after Kentucky took that philosophy as far as it could go that Stoops saw the need for a tweak, for lack of a better word. The coach wanted not just a strong run game, but a balanced game. One that could throw the ball as well.
That’s why he hired Coen from McVay’s Los Angeles Rams in 2021. It’s why he hired Rich Scangarello from Shanahan’s 49ers when Coen returned to the NFL. Now after Coen’s second return to the NFL, Stoops has slightly altered his hiring approach, choosing a coach with primarily a college background, but with a similar foundation.
“I think the reason it’s a great fit,” said Hamdan, “is that there are a lot of similarities to what Liam did in Los Angeles and what we did in Atlanta.”
During his brief career, Hamdan’s offense has produced 1,000-yard rushers as well as 3,000-yard passers. The new OC said Thursday that Boise State used a primarily no-huddle offense 60 percent of the time last season. That should answer the critics who said UK’s pace of play was far too slow under Scangarello and Coen. Hamdan also said he believes a quarterback has “to get at least two first downs in a game with his legs.” He wants a QB who can throw, but can also run when needed. (Memories of Will Levis.)
None of this means anything if Hamdan fails to produce results, of course. The proof is in the pudding. Still, there’s enough carryover from what the Cats have done schematically these past three seasons to what Hamdan has done to make you think the marriage will work.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 2:57 PM.
