Stoops Hoping for 'Seamless Transition' on Offense

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops really liked what offensive coordinator Liam Coen did with the UK offense last season. So, when Coen decided to go back to the NFL, as offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, Stoops wanted to keep going down the same path.

Stoops involved Coen in the search for his replacement. And the two landed quickly on Rich Scangarello, the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. Scangarello would continue to run the same Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVey type of offense that Coen employed during his one season in Lexington.

“Could not be more thrilled to announce Rich Scangarello as the offensive coordinator,” Stoops said on Tuesday. “It’s pretty remarkable that we were able to attract a coordinator of his caliber. He has extensive experience in this system. Very excited about Rich and the experience that he brings.”

For Stoops, it was essential to keep continuity on offense for this coming season.

“It was very important,” Stoops said. “Continuing with the system we had in place for this year. Of course, there’s going to be some new twists, little changes. But in general, same system. They speak the same language, with Liam and with Rich. There’s some differences but it will be easy carryover.”

Stoops’ hiring of Scangarello was not the first time he had tapped into the 49ers staff this offseason. Earlier, Kentucky had hired Zach Yenser to coach its offensive line, pulling Yenser from the west coast to UK.

“When Liam was here and we lost our O-Line coach, the first book we opened was the 49ers,” Stoops said. “That’s the first place we go. He brought up Zach and it was a no-brainer to hire him as well.”

As for Coen, Stoops has no hard feelings in any way about him returning to the NFL. In fact, it’s much the opposite.

“He did a remarkable job. Very proud of the work he did here,” Stoops said of Coen. “Transformed our offense. Our guys believe in it.”

While he hoped Coen would stay for another season, Stoops knew that he could lose his offensive coordinator to the NFL, especially to the Rams, where Coen had previously worked under McVay. The UK head coach had a plan, in case Coen decided to go back.

“We had a good idea this could happen,” Stoops said. “It was fluid, I was keeping some guys in mind.”

And when the job did come available, Stoops was thrilled with the amount of interest there was in the position.

“It was remarkable the amount of candidates and the quality people that were interested in this job,” Stoops said. “It says a lot about our coaches and our team and the way they do things to attract the people that we did.”

Scangarello inherits an offense that returns quarterback Will Levis and running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., among others. Stoops and his staff are hoping that a seamless transition will lead to an even more potent UK offense in 2022.