Tony Washington Jr. joins Kentucky staff as familiar faces say emotional goodbyes

Will Stein hasn’t coached a game yet at Kentucky, but the staff churn around him hasn’t slowed down. Over the weekend, the Cats added another key defensive piece while saying goodbye to two assistants who helped shape the program over the last few years.

According to Pete Thamel, Kentucky is set to hire Tony Washington Jr. as the new defensive ends/outside linebackers coach, bringing him over from Ohio State, where he worked with the defensive line this season.

Washington’s résumé checks all the boxes you’d expect from a modern SEC position coach. He’s worked at UCLA, Oregon and Nebraska, and fans may remember him best from his playing days in Eugene, when he turned one of Jameis Winston’s strangest fumbles into a scoop-and-score in the Rose Bowl. That play helped send Oregon to the first College Football Playoff title game, and it’s exactly the kind of opportunistic mindset Kentucky hopes he can instill on the edge.

More importantly, Washington already has a working relationship with new defensive coordinator Jay Bateman from their time on the same staff at Army. That familiarity should help Kentucky’s front-seven transition go a little smoother as Stein and Bateman put their own stamp on the scheme.

Chris Collins heads to Florida with a heartfelt message to BBN

On the back end, Kentucky is losing a steady, respected voice. Defensive backs coach Chris Collins is off to Gainesville, joining Jon Sumrall’s Florida staff after five years in Lexington.

Collins’ goodbye message to BBN read like a man who genuinely poured into the place leaving Jeremiah 29:11 as his start to his statement:

“GOD, THANK YOU FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS HERE IN LEXINGTON, KY. OUR FAMILY HAS TRULY ENJOYED AND GROWN FROM EVERY PART OF THIS JOURNEY, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND EVERY MOMENT IN BETWEEN.

TO THE BBN: WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL. THANK YOU FOR WELCOMING US WITH OPEN ARMS AND FOR THE INCREDIBLE SUPPORT YOU'VE SHOWN.

…TO MY PLAYERS: WE LOVE YOU, MEN. I AM PROUD OF THE WORK WE'VE DONE TOGETHER AND THE GROWTH YOU'VE MADE, ON AND OFF THE FIELD. CONTINUE PURSUING THAT NEVER-ENDING PATH TOWARD GREATNESS IN LIFE.”

Collins’ room helped send multiple defensive backs to the league and kept Kentucky competitive on the back end in a conference that lives and dies through the air. Now he reunites with Brad White, who also landed in Gainesville, giving Florida a very familiar SEC East brain trust on defense.

L’Damian Washington lands at Ole Miss

On offense, former wide receivers coach L’Damian Washington has also found a new home, heading to Oxford to coach the receivers for Ole Miss under new head coach Pete Golding, per reports relayed in coaching circles.

Washington walked into a tough situation at Kentucky. He inherited a wideout room that didn’t have a clear WR1 after Dane Key followed former assistant Daikiel Shorts Jr. to Nebraska. The room was in flux most of the year. That showed up early in the season, but Washington’s work helped stabilize a young, wide-open group that still put together solid production across the board.

Now he gets a fresh start in a place that has made a living off explosive receiver play. For Kentucky, it means Stein and new WR coach Joe Price will be building out their own identity with a room that has snaps, but not a lot of entrenched hierarchy.

Why Kentucky football's defensive staff just got a new voice on the edge

Taken together, the moves underline how quickly Stein is reshaping the building. Washington Jr. gives Bateman a trusted voice on the edge. Collins’ departure opens the door for a new defensive backs coach who fits this staff’s vision. Washington’s exit at receiver clears the runway for Price to bring the UTSA flavor that helped produce multiple productive wideouts in 2025.

The throughline: this is Stein’s operation now. The names on the doors are changing, but the message is pretty simple. He wants edge coaches who’ve lived big moments, recruiters who can sell his version of Kentucky football, and teachers who can get his system installed fast.

For BBN, it's a fresh start. For Stein, it’s the cost of building the staff he believes can thrive in a new SEC and a new era of revenue sharing and roster management.