What you need to know about UK football spring practice: new faces, position battles and more

Kentucky football opens spring practice Tuesday. Here is what you need to know as the Wildcats start the next phase of preparation for a 2024 season that could say much about the future trajectory of the program.

Who are the new coaches and players for Kentucky football?

The most important storyline this spring is the installation of new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s scheme just more than a month after he was hired from Boise State to replace Liam Coen, but Hamdan will be far from the only new face on the practice field this spring.

New wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts was hired in December but will coach his new UK players for the first time this spring after observing during pre-Gator Bowl practices. New offensive line coach Eric Wolford is already familiar to some of his players after coaching at Kentucky in 2021, but the bulk of the players at his position were not on the roster the last time he was in Lexington.

Former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff headlines a group of 10 transfers who enrolled at UK in January. He will be joined by linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson (Georgia), safety Kristan Story (Alabama), running back DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum (Ohio State), quarterback Beau Allen (Georgia Southern), wide receivers Ja’Mori Maclin (North Texas), Fred Farrier (UAB) and Raymond Cottrell (Texas A&M) and offensive linemen Gerald Mincey (Tennessee) and Jalen Farmer (Florida) in the mid-year transfer class.

The only returning quarterback from last season is walk-on Shane Hamm. Former four-star quarterback Cutter Boley, who graduated early from Lexington Christian Academy to enroll at UK in January, is expected to back up Vandagriff as a freshman but will have a chance to impress Hamdan in the coming weeks.

Boley is joined by defensive backs Cam Dooley, Jiquavious Marshall and Terhyon Nichols, wide receiver Hardley Gilmore, offensive linemen Hayes Johnson and Aba Selm, running back Jason Patterson, defensive linemen Brian Robinson and Jerod Smith, inside linebackers Antwan Smith and Steven Soles and outside linebacker Jacob Smith as members of UK’s 2024 high school class who enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice. Several of those players made the trip to Jacksonville with Kentucky, but spring practice marks the first opportunity for them to work their way up the depth chart.

What starting jobs are up for grabs for Kentucky football?

Technically the quarterback job is open for competition, but no one around UK’s program has made much of an effort to pretend that anyone other than Vandagriff will start the season opener.

Trayanum might be the favorite to replace Ray Davis as UK’s No. 1 running back, but he will face competition from returners Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, Jamarion Wilcox and La’Vell Wright as well as Patterson. New starters will be needed at left guard and right tackle, but Wolford will also need to decide if he is satisfied with the play of returning right guard starter Jager Burton. Dylan Ray, Ben Christman and Farmer will factor in the guard competition while Courtland Ford, Malachi Wood, Ray and Mincey could see time at right tackle.

UK returns starters at nine of 11 positions in the base defense. Dumas-Johnson, a 2022 All-American and two-time national champion, might be limited this spring as he works his way back from a broken arm that ended his 2023 season at Georgia early, but he will replace Trevin Wallace to start alongside D’Eryk Jackson at inside linebacker.

The competition of note on defense comes with the battle to replace Andru Phillips at cornerback. Returners JQ Hardaway, Jordan Robinson and Nasir Addison are the leading contenders for now, but the freshmen should have a chance to make an early impression. If no one separates from the pack, UK’s coaches will have to consider adding another cornerback in the spring transfer portal window.

Who is using the extra year of eligibility to return to UK football in 2024?

The ripple effect of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic season is still being felt on college football rosters, including Kentucky’s. All players who were on a team that season were granted an additional year of eligibility.

Kentucky has benefited from that rule in recent years by returning veterans who would have otherwise exhausted their eligibility. That trend will continue in 2024.

Kicker Alex Raynor, center Eli Cox and outside linebacker J.J. Weaver will use the year for a sixth season of college football in 2024. Linebacker Daveren Rayner, defensive lineman Josaih Hayes and safety Zion Childress will play a fifth season in 2024 thanks to the rule. Left tackle Marques Cox will spend a seventh year on a college football roster after receiving a medical waiver to return in 2024.

When is the Blue-White spring game?

Kentucky is scheduled to practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through April 18. The Blue-White Spring Game will return to Kroger Field on April 13 after a one-year hiatus due to the stadium’s turf replacement last year. The scrimmage is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m., but UK plans to finalize the kickoff time the week before the game.

2024 Kentucky football schedule

Home games in all capital letters. Kickoff times and broadcast networks to be announced later.

April 13: BLUE-WHITE SPRING GAME

Aug. 31: SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

Sept. 7: SOUTH CAROLINA

Sept. 14: GEORGIA

Sept. 21: OHIO

Sept. 28: At Ole Miss

Oct. 5: Open date

Oct. 12: VANDERBILT

Oct. 19: At Florida

Oct. 26: AUBURN

Nov. 2: At Tennessee

Nov. 9: Open date

Nov. 16: MURRAY STATE

Nov. 23: At Texas

Nov. 30: LOUISVILLE

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