SAD NEWS:The head coach of Kentucky wildcats football has been fired today after facing with the…
The Kentucky Football offensive coordinator position is now in the hands of Bush Hamden, as he will replace Liam Coen as the next play-caller for Mark Stoops and the Wildcats after just one season at Boise State.
Hamden played quarterback at Boise State from 2004-08, right when the Broncos became one of the darlings of college football. He only attempted 36 career passes, but that experience of watching the game from the sideline helped get him prepared to be a coach there one day.
Hamden joined Colorado’s coaching staff in 2009 as a student assistant, then followed up his stint in Boulder with stints at Maryland as a quality control coach, Sacramento State as a tight ends coach, and then at Florida as a wide receivers coach. All of those took place from 2010-12.
His first coordinator gig came at Arkansas State as co-offensive coordinator/QB coach in 2013 and then left after one year to take the same position at Davidson in 2014.
2015-2016 marked the first time in his coaching career that he stayed in one place for longer than one season. In 2015, he took a job with the Washington Huskies as a quality control coach, then was elevated in 2016 to WR coach and passing game coordinator. That same year, Washington made their first trip to the College Football Playoff with Jake Browning at quarterback and future No. 11 overall pick John Ross as the main wideout threat.
In 2017, Hamden took a job as quarterbacks coach with the Atlanta Falcons, coaching up Matt Ryan just one season after Ryan’s 2016 MVP campaign. 2017 was a dramatic drop-off for Ryan compared to 2016, as he threw for only 20 touchdowns and tossed 12 interceptions on 4,095 yards and a 64.7% completion percentage. In 2016, Ryan’s MVP season, he threw for 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns, and seven interceptions on 70% completion percentage. It is worth noting that Hamdan arrived right after offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left to become the 49ers’ head coach, so that was a big reason for Ryan’s drop-off.
After just one season in Atlanta, Hamden made his way back to Seattle and took the offensive coordinator/QB coach job at Washington for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In his return to Washington, the Huskies went 10-4 in 2018 under coach Chris Petersen. Jake Browning threw for 3,192 yards and 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
