LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky hired former San Francisco 49ers assistant Rich Scangarello as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach to replace Liam Coen, who returned to the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams as OC.
The 25-year coaching veteran at the collegiate and NFL levels spent 2021 as the 49ers’ QBs coach during their run to the NFC Championship game with Jimmy Garoppolo behind center. Scangarello, 49, served the team in the same capacity in 2017-18. He joins fellow former San Francisco assistant Zach Yenser, who was hired last week as the Wildcats’ offensive line coach.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops called Scangarello one of the country’s best QB coaches and appreciated his interest in the position. Stoops added, “We have hired two coaches from one of the best organizations in all of sports. I couldn’t be more excited about where our program is headed.”
Scangarello said he was excited to coach at Kentucky and in the Southeastern Conference and said Stoops’ belief in a pro-style system “felt like the right opportunity for me and at the right time.”
Scangarello also was the Denver Broncos’ OC in 2019 and has also worked with the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and then-Oakland Raiders. His 15 years of college experience include stops at Wagner College, Northern Arizona, Idaho and UC-Davis.
Coen left after one season with the Wildcats, who went 10-3 with a Citrus Bowl win last fall behind an improved and balanced offense (425.15 yards per game) that ranked eighth in the SEC.
