Jay Boulware named Kentucky running backs coach, special teams coordinator – UK Athletics | Daily News Byte

University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops has announced the hiring of Jay Boulware (pronounced BOWL-wear) as running backs coach and special teams coordinator.

“I am thrilled to add Jay to our staff at Kentucky,” Stoops said. “I know Jay from my time at Oklahoma with my brother Bob. I have always been impressed with him and his work ethic. He brings a wide range of experience coaching running backs and recruiting, along with his expertise and success with special teams. That’s what I was looking for in this position and Jay is well regarded in all areas.

Boulware, originally from Irving, Texas, brings a lot of success to Commonwealth as he has more than 25 years of coaching experience and has been a part of 16 teams that have advanced to bowl games. Most recently, he served as an offensive intern in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, working specifically with running backs including UK’s all-time leading rusher, Benny Snell Jr.

Prior to the Steelers, he served as the associate head coach and tight ends coach for special teams at Texas, helping the No. 19 Longhorns finish 7-3 overall and capture the Alamo Bowl title in 2020.

“I want to thank Coach Stoops for giving me this amazing opportunity,” Boulware said. “I have known and worked with the Stopes family for many years, and I have followed Mark’s career for a long time. I am honored to be on his coaching staff because I have the utmost respect for him and the work he has done at Kentucky. I look forward to helping him continue the success he has had in bluegrass.”

Prior to Texas, he spent seven years at Oklahoma, serving as special teams coordinator under then-head coach Bob Stoops from 2013-16 and Lincoln Riley (2017-19), as well as serving five seasons as running backs coach and two years As a tight end coach. Under his guidance, the Sooners’ special teams returned 10 touchdowns, one safety and three two-point PATs.

Boulware guided six of his running backs to 1,000-yard seasons at OU and had five of his running backs earn first- or second-team All-Big 12 honors with three players drafted into the NFL.

In 2019, Oklahoma’s offense led the Big 12 and ranked 14th nationally in rushing yards (204.2 ypg), along with fifth in the nation in yards per carry (5.95). The team played in the Peach Bowl (CFP Semifinal) Vs. Finished 12-2 overall with an appearance at LSU. Running back Kennedy Brooks earned second-team All-Big 12 honors, leading the team with 1,011 rushing yards and ranking ninth in the nation in yards per carry at 6.52. Brooks, Raymond Stevenson and Trey Serman combined for 1,911 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Additionally, Stevenson led the nation with an impressive 8.05 yards per carry.

The Sooners’ special teams rank in the top 40 nationally in kickoff return defense (33rd/19.21 ypr) and net punting (31st/40.16 ypp). Placekicker Gabe Brickic did not miss a field goal (17-of-17) or extra point (52-of-52), led the nation in field goal percentage and was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist.

Boulware heads a group of 2018 running backs that helped Oklahoma lead the nation in yards per carry (6.6). Brooks ranked third nationally with 8.9 yards per rush (minimum 9.0 carries per game) and was a USA TODAY Freshman All-American (1,056 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns), while Sermon rushed for 947 yards and 13 TDs.

Kicker/punter Austin Seibert, who was named Oklahoma’s first Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2018, finished his career as the all-time FBS scoring leader among kickers, as his 499 points set school and Big 12 records. . He was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.

The Sooners won the Big 12 Championship in 2018 and the Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinals) vs. Alabama finished the season with a 12-2 overall record and a top-five ranking in the national poll.

In 2017, Oklahoma led the Big 12 with 217.8 rushing yards per contest. Running back Rodney Anderson ranks 20th^m Ranked 26th in the nation in rushing yards per carry with 6.28, 13 rushing touchdowns and 35th with 1,161 rushing yards. The Sooners also won the Big 12 Championship that season, finishing the season no. 3 ranking and Rose Bowl (CFP Semifinal) Vs. Seen in Georgia.

Boulware oversaw one of the nation’s top running back tandems in 2015 and 2016, resulting in both Samjay Perine and Joe Mixon declaring for the 2017 NFL Draft. Perine, Oklahoma’s all-time rushing leader (4,122 yards), rushed for 2,409 yards and 28 TDs after moving to Boulware running backs coach, while Mixon rushed for 2,027 yards and 17 TDs in his final two years. Mixon also caught 65 passes for 894 yards and nine TDs.

Boulware’s 2015 punt unit led the nation with just 1.09 yards per return (12 yards on 11 returns). Austin Seibert was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist.

Boulware served as the tight ends coach at Oklahoma in 2013-14, helping former quarterback Blake Bell become a fourth-round draft pick, having never played before 2014.

On special teams, he mentored RB Alex Ross, who finished third in the nation in kickoff return yards (31.2 average) in 2014 and tied for second among FBS players with two kickoff return touchdowns.

Kicker Michael Honeycutt finished his career under Boulware as the all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma history with 450 points at the time, which ranks sixth in FBS history. Honeycutt made a career-high 12-record 75 field goals, set the Oklahoma single-season record with 24 made FGs in 2013 and was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist.

In the summer of 2014, he participated in the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Program with the New Orleans Saints.

The Sooners scored three special teams TDs in 2013, including a fake field goal in a 33–24 win at Oklahoma State. WR Jalen Saunders finished ninth in the FBS that year with a 15.4-yard punt return average, and Oklahoma led the Big 12 and was eighth in the FBS with a 14.2 average, including two punt return touchdowns.

Prior to Oklahoma, Boulware spent four seasons (2009–12) as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator at Auburn, where he was part of then-head coach Gene Chizik’s staff that led the team to a 5–7 record in 2008. Two seasons later, the Tigers posted a 14–0 record with a 22–19 win over Oregon in the BCS Championship Game. Boulware’s star pupil at tight end was Philip Lutzenkirchen, a second-team All-SEC selection in 2011 who set the school record for career touchdown receptions for a tight end with 14.

Boulware’s punt coverage unit was second in the nation in 2012, allowing just four punt return yards on 70 punts. The Tigers were also third in the nation in kickoff coverage that year, allowing 16.6 yards per return. Under Boulware’s direction in 2011, Auburn led the Southeastern Conference in kickoff return yards (1,264), kick return touchdowns (two), kickoff coverage (546 yards) and fewest punt returns (10).

Kicker Wes Byrum set the Auburn single-season record with 123 points in 2010, becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer. Auburn led the SEC and ranked ninth in the nation in punt coverage, allowing 4.6 yards per return that year, while ranking 16th in the nation in kickoff coverage, allowing 19.7 yards per return.

In 2009, Byrum set single-season school records for field goal percentage (93.8; 15-of-16) and PAT conversions and attempts (54). Boulware also guided RB Daymond Washington to an Auburn single-season record with a 31.1-yard kickoff return average.

Also at Auburn, Boulware recruited SEC all-time leading scorer Daniel Carlson. The All-American placekicker set 14 Auburn kicking records and was a three-time Lou Groza finalist. He earned the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year Award in two consecutive seasons and was drafted in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. He currently kicks for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Boulware spent two seasons (2007-08) at Iowa State coaching running backs and special teams under Chizik. The Cyclones ranked 12th nationally in kickoff returns in 2008. Johnson set an NCAA FBS record with 319 kickoff return yards against Oklahoma State. ISU was also second in the Big 12 Conference in punting that year.

In Boulware’s first ISU season, freshman tailbacks Alexander Robinson and JJ Bass both posted a pair of 100-yard games. The century mark marks the first time since 2002 that two different Cyclones hit streaks twice in the same season.

Prior to Iowa State, Boulware worked for two seasons as tight ends coach/co-special teams coordinator at Utah (2005-06) under head coach Kyle Whittingham. While at Utah, his special teams units were among the leaders in the Mountain West Conference, including the Utah kickoff return unit that led the MWC in 2006. He had a one-year stint as the running backs coach at Stanford in 2004.

During the summer of 2004, he was part of the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Program with the San Francisco 49ers.

Boulware spent three seasons at Arizona under head coach John Mackovic as tight ends coach (2001), running backs coach (2002) and running backs coach/special teams coordinator (2003). During his tenure with the Wildcats, he mentored running back Mike Bell, who finished his collegiate career with 3,163 rushing yards, the third-highest total in school history, and was named second-team All-Pac 10 as a sophomore. had come

Boulware began his full-time coaching career at Northern Illinois, where he coached tight ends (1997) and served as co-offensive line coach (1998–2000). One of his star students with the Huskies was Ryan Diem, who spent 11 seasons as an offensive lineman with the Indianapolis Colts.

Boulware, 50, was an all-state selection at Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas who played both offensive and defensive line. He went on to play as an offensive lineman for the Texas Longhorns in 1991. After redshirting his first year and seeing action as a reserve in 1992, he was in contention for a starting position prior to the 1993 season but was forced to end his career. A cardiac arrhythmia was diagnosed. He began his coaching career at Texas, first as a student coach (1994-95) and then as a graduate assistant (1996). He worked with the staff to help UT win at least three conference championships and a bowl berth in each of his three seasons. Texas tied for the Southwest Conference championship in 1994, won the final SWC title in 1995 and beat No. 3 Nebraska to win its first-ever Big 12 Championship in 1996. Those teams advanced to the 1994 Sun Bowl, 1995 and the Sugar Bowl. 1997 Fiesta Bowl.

Boulware graduated from Texas in 1996 with a degree in economics. He and his wife, Chante, have a daughter, Jordyn.

Coaching career of Jay Boulware (Note: Bowl games refer to the year of the regular season and not the actual date of the game if played in January)

For more information on the Kentucky football team, follow @UKFootball on Twitter and Instagram or like Kentucky Football on Facebook.