Cutter Boley is entering the portal, leaving Kentucky scrambling

There are transfer portal entries that feel like a roster change, and then there are ones that feel like the earth just shifted. Cutter Boley choosing to enter the portal falls in the second category. For Kentucky, this isn’t just losing a player, this is losing the identity of the quarterback room.

He told fans he was coming back, then Mark Stoops was fired and Will Stein was hired. You would think with Stein's background of developing Quarterbacks, he would have stayed. Joe Sloan even talked about how great it is going to be working with Cutter.

What started as “I’ll be back” slowly turned into uncertainty. Boley admitted he was stunned by the coaching change: “I’m still processing it… I think just moving forward, I’m trying to find the best place, wherever that may be.” And now, via Hayes Fawcett, we know that place won’t be Lexington.

Make no mistak, this is real and it’s a gut punch. Cutter Boley wasn’t just a player. He was the plan.

He was a hometown blue-chip, the in-state quarterback Kentucky finally got to stay home. He had three years of eligibility and the physical profile coaches dream about. The numbers weren’t perfect the 2025 season saw 15 touchdowns to 12 interceptions after replacing Zach Calzada, but the talent is obvious. The arm strength, the pocket presence, the flashes of command… it felt like something to build on.

He even wore shoes with all the former in-state QB's for the university when he took on Louisville, and now he won't be joining those guys as all-time Kentucky greats.

It felt like Kentucky had a foundation and now it is gone, it is not a betrayal by any stretch, but it does leave Kentucky scrambling on the eve of the portal opening.

It’s easy to be frustrated. It’s easy to say this is quitting or impatience. But it’s also fair to admit the context is messy.

• Boley watched Mark Stoops bring in Zach Calzada
• Calzada won the job before Boley took over
• Now Will Stein is expected to bring in another transfer QB, as he should. Competition is key at every position, and if you want to run from that, maybe you shouldn't be the starter.

That’s not a red flag entirely, that’s how football works now, but for a young player who already climbed that ladder once, it changes the landscape. The portal isn’t a backup plan anymore. It’s a lifeline. And a player with Boley’s ceiling is going to have options.

This isn’t about loyalty. This is about trajectory.

Pressure just found Will Stein

When Stein took the job, the immediate reaction was excitement: modern offense, creativity, someone who could attract quarterbacks. But now that excitement comes with urgency. Boley leaving changes the timeline. Kentucky must hit on a quarterback in the portal. There’s no gray area. Because the alternatives aren’t simple:

True freshman Matt Ponatoski is talented as a dual-sport athlete, but the MLB Draft could pull him away entirely. The room behind him is inexperienced. Year One for Stein can’t afford an identity crisis. And do you really want a true freshman starting under a year one head coach? It could be beautiful or it could be a disaster

That leaves one name hovering over all of this like a storm cloud: Austin Novosad.

So… does Novosad follow Stein?

This has been the rumor since day one. The Oregon connection is real. The system fit is real. The opportunity is real. But BBN shouldn’t confuse “makes sense” with “done deal.” Novosad is going to have options. He was a top-15 quarterback coming out of high school and he’ll be one of the biggest names in the portal.

Could this open the door wider? Yes. Does it guarantee anything? No. Does it raise the stakes? Absolutely.

This is where recruiting meets relationships. This is where a head coach earns the title. This is where Kentucky finds out what Will Stein really is.

The broader cost for Kentucky football

This isn’t just losing a quarterback. It’s losing a storyline. Kentucky finally had a developmental arc to point to, homegrown QB, building year by year, and now the narrative resets. Fans wanted the stability they never got with Devin Leary, Will Levis, Brock Vandagriff, instead they get a reset.

This was supposed to be the beginning of consistency. Instead, the rebuild just got steeper.

Kentucky didn’t get blindsided, it got reminded. This is college football now. Nothing is guaranteed, not even the future.

The reaction to this moment will say a lot about the direction of the program. If Stein lands a quarterback with real juice, aportal veteran or Novosad-level splash, the wound can heal fast. If Kentucky stumbles and scrambles? It risks losing much more than Boley. This is the first real pressure point of the Will Stein era. And it showed up before he even fully arrived.

BBN, it’s okay to hurt today. Just don’t stay there. The next answer has to come fast, and it will.

We’ll track every quarterback name, offer, and portal visit as it happens. Updates are coming, stay tapped in.