JackRay

Jack Ray enters his second season on Kentucky’s staff as an assistant special teams coordinator, working alongside special teams coordinator Parker Fleming and assisting in all aspects of the Wildcats’ kicking game.

In his first season at UK, he helped the special teams unit provide steady production and strong field-position play. It was highlighted by one of the nation’s top kickoff coverage groups as Kentucky finished No. 11 nationally in kickoff return defense, limiting opponents to just 16.25 yards per return.

Additionally, he tutored freshman Jacob Kauwe, who established himself as one of the SEC’s most reliable young placekickers. Kauwe connected on 13 of 17 field-goal attempts, including a perfect 6-for-6 from 40–49 yards, and drilled a season-long kick of 51 yards vs. Eastern Michigan. He was flawless on extra points, converting all 32 of his attempts, and finished the year with 71 total points (second on the team).

The punt and coverage units played a key role in flipping field position and winning hidden yardage. Punter Aidan Laros ranked sixth in the SEC and 30th nationally in punting, averaging 44.52 yards per punt.

Long snapper Alex McLaughlin was a model of consistency, recording 45 successful punt coverages and helping produce an average punt operation time of 2.04 seconds. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked third in the FBS, with 91.1 percent of his snaps delivered in under 0.9 seconds.

Ray came to Lexington in the summer of 2025 after serving as the co-special teams coordinator at Hawai’i the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was a graduate assistant at Washington State, a special teams analyst at Nevada and a student assistant at Arkansas Pine Bluff.

While on staff at Nevada, Ray helped the Wolfpack to three bowl games in as many seasons and served as the team’s interim special teams coordinator for the Quick Lane Bowl at the end of the 2021 campaign. He played a key role in film breakdown, scouting reports and practice and game evaluations during his time there.

Ray, a native of Discovery Bay, California, was a two-year starter at long snapper for Arkansas Pine Bluff from 2017-18. Before that, he was a linebacker and long snapper at Sierra College in Rocklin, California in 2016.

He is married to Jordyn Ray of Oakley, California.

Jack Ray’s Coaching Career