What to know about Bush Hamdan, Mark Stoops’ new Kentucky football offensive coordinator

Mark Stoops has found his new offensive coordinator.

UK confirmed the hire of former Boise State offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan for the same position in Lexington Thursday. Hamdan replaces Liam Coen, who left UK for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator position this month.

“I’ve known Bush for a few years and spent some quality time with him in 2021,” Stoops said in a news release. “Since then, I’ve followed his career and have been very impressed by him. He’s coached under Chris Petersen, Steve Sarkisian and Eli Drinkwitz, three coaches I have a ton of respect for, and I think he’s a rising star in the coaching profession. We are excited to bring Bush and his family to Lexington.”

Hamdan, 38, will be Kentucky’s fifth offensive coordinator in five seasons and the sixth different coach to hold that title during Stoops’ UK tenure.

“We are very excited to join the Big Blue Nation,” Hamdan said in the release. “I’ve really admired Coach Stoops over the years and everything he’s done to build this program. It’s an exciting time to be at Kentucky and be back in the SEC. I can’t wait to get started.”

Here is what you need to know about the Wildcats’ new offensive coordinator.

Bush Hamdan was born in Kuwait

Hamdan’s path to an SEC coordinator position is almost certainly unlike anyone who has held that title before him.

Hamdan, who is of Pakistani and Palestinian heritage, was born in Kuwait. His family moved to the United States when the Gulf War broke out in 1990. According to the Kitsap Sun, Hamdan grew up in Washington, D.C., after his father, a nuclear scientist, began working for the U.S. government. Hamdan only started playing football after his older brother, former NFL quarterback Gibran Hamdan, began playing in high school.

In four seasons playing as a backup quarterback at Boise State, Hamdan attempted 36 passes in 20 games. Hamdan immediately started a coaching career as a student assistant at Colorado after his playing career ended. He then made stops at Maryland, Sacramento State, Florida and Arkansas State before landing his first offensive coordinator job at Davidson.

In 2015, Hamdan reunited with his college offensive coordinator, Chris Petersen, at Washington. He sandwiched two two-year stints at Washington around one season as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons. He served as Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019.

When Petersen retired from coaching after the 2019 season, Hamdan was not retained by new Washington coach Jimmy Lake. He spent three seasons as a position coach at Missouri — he also called plays for the offense late in the 2022 season — before returning to his alma mater as offensive coordinator in 2023.

Bush Hamdan’s offense boasts the type of balance Mark Stoops likes

Boise State ranked 26th nationally in total offense (436.1 yards per game) last season. That production was almost evenly split between run (214.9 yards per game) and pass (221.3 yards per game). The Broncos ranked seventh nationally in rushing yards per game.

“We feel like you have to be able to run the ball to win championships,” Hamdan told the Idaho Statesman last year.

Hamdan has credited his rushing attack to his year with the Falcons when he worked under now Texas coach Steve Sarkisian running the offense previously installed in Atlanta by Kyle Shanahan. That should lend some familiarity to Kentucky players since the Wildcats have run an offense developed from the Shanahan/Sean McVay coaching tree the last three seasons.

“The first thing that comes to mind is whether it’s a run or pass, you’re trying to make everything look the same,” Hamdan told the Idaho Statesman. “Every time there’s a midzone play being run, there’s a (QB) keeper off of that and a play-action pass off of that.”

The quarterback run game was a staple of Boise State’s offense last season with quarterback Taylen Green, who has since transferred to Arkansas, rushing for 436 yards and nine touchdowns on 78 carries.

That offense could be a good fit for Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff, a transfer from Georgia, due to his scrambling ability. Hamdan already has some familiarity with UK’s other top offensive transfer from the winter window: wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin, who he previously coached at Missouri.

Bush Hamdan previously interviewed at Kentucky

While Hamdan did not appear to emerge as a serious contender for the Kentucky offensive coordinator job until more than a week into the search, Stoops was already familiar with his work.

Hamdan was also a candidate for the job in 2020. Stoops eventually hired Coen, then assistant quarterbacks coach with the Los Angeles Rams, for the first time that winter, but apparently the impression Hamdan made lingered. Since that first interview with Kentucky, Hamdan has added experience in the SEC at Missouri. He reportedly took over play-calling duties from head coach Eliah Drinkwitz for the final four games of the 2022 season, overseeing a late-season improvement in the Missouri offense, before returning to his alma mater as offensive coordinator.

Much was made online about UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow following Hamdan on Twitter a few days into the current search, but the Herald-Leader was informed Hamdan did not interview for the job until late in the week. During a signing day news conference in Boise on Wednesday, he spoke about his excitement for the 2024 season in which the Broncos will build around returning star running back Ashton Jeanty and top transfer quarterback Malachi Nelson.

Where Kentucky football’s 2024 recruiting class finished in national rankings

How Eric Wolford’s new UK contract might protect Mark Stoops from being jilted again

New Wildcats quarterback Cutter Boley has a Kentucky football legend to lean on for advice

For colleges worried about losing their football coach, a former UK president had advice

Why Tim Couch might never have turned into a UK football legend in transfer portal era