Kentucky Football finds its new offensive coordinator in Justin Burke

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Now that Will Stein has arrived in Lexington, he’s hard at work assembling his first official coaching staff of Kentucky football.

It appears the first hire has been made.

According to Mike Craven of Texas Football, Kentucky is hiring UT San Antonio offensive coordinator Justin Burke as the program’s next offensive coordinator. Burke will replace Bush Hamdan, who is not expected to be retained by Stein after two seasons as the Wildcat’s offensive play-caller.

The report does not specify if Burke will call plays in Lexington, or if Stein will continue to do so as he did for the Oregon Ducks. Both coaches were actually quarterbacks at Louisville in college and were at UTSA together for several years when Stein was the offensive coordinator and play-caller. When Stein left for Oregon, Burke took his spot.

Burke began his college football career as a quarterback at NC State from 2006-07, then transferred to Louisville, where he spent the next three seasons (2008-10). Stein was a quarterback at Louisville from 2008-12, so he would have been teammates with Burke for three seasons.

A Kentucky native, Burke grew up in Lexington and even played for Lexington Catholic High School. After his playing career ended, Burke became a graduate assistant with the Cards.

After several stops as an offensive quality control coach, Burke got his first big break in 2017 when he became a special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at South Florida, a role he served in through the 2019 season.

Burke then became an offensive assistant at UTSA in 2020, was promoted to special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2022, and finally became the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in 2023 following Stein’s departure.

From 2024-25, Burke was the Roadrunners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. This season, his offense ranks 23rd in scoring offense, 44th in total offense, 37th in yards per play, is tied with Ole Miss for fifth in plays of 40+ yards (22), and is tied with Old Dominion in plays of 70+ yards (seven).

Stein’s first hire appears to be a solid addition to the program.

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