Louisville took a big swing into the heart of its rival program, hiring Kentucky associate head coach Vince Marrow as its new general manager for football, CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer confirms. Marrow has been an on-field position coach at Kentucky since Mark Stoops took over the program in 2013.
Marrow is considered one of the premier recruiting assistants in college football, and he has a special connection in his home state of Ohio. Under Marrow’s work as recruiting coordinator, Kentucky put together essentially every one of the top recruiting classes in program history and produced four first-round NFL Draft picks.
His relationship with Stoops extends back to their time as high school teammates at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio. Several schools have targeted Marrow over the years, including Mel Tucker’s Michigan State and even Bill Belichick’s North Carolina. Marrow also interviewed for coaching jobs at Bowling Green and Southern Miss. Over the years, he has never wandered.
However, Marrow now leaves for a critical off-field position at a rival program right as the revenue-sharing era kicks off in college athletics. Marrow signed a $1.3 million contract in September 2024, but Cats Pause 247 reports that he could potentially exceed that mark with incentives at Louisville, an indication of the rising market for personnel staffers.
Louisville has been a resurgent program since former quarterback Jeff Brohm came back to take over the program. The Cardinals posted a 19-8 record in Brohm’s two seasons, including a run to the ACC Championship Game in 2023. The program will integrate USC transfer quarterback Miller Moss to the position in 2025 and projects among the top teams in the ACC. Louisville obliterated Kentucky 41-14 in Marrow’s final game on the Kentucky sideline last season.
Changing roles
Marrow’s personnel chops have been much-needed for Kentucky as the program underwent a historic period of success under Stoops. According to 247Sports records, Marrow was credited with recruiting 37 four-star prospects, including some of the best players in modern program history.
The days of a traditional recruiting coordinator might be coming to a close as the revenue-sharing era starts. Instead, the general manager and their personnel staff are far more likely to exist in an off-field capacity to identify and recruit players. The general manager must also manage salary cap figures.
Previously, those roles were primarily handled by Brohm’s chief of staff. Now, Marrow will be the first full-time executive making those decisions for the Cardinals.
Cracks in the foundation
Stoops has been one of the most respected and consistent coaches of the 21st century at Kentucky, leading the Wildcats to an unprecedented seven winning seasons in eight years. After the 2023 season, though, Stoops awkwardly tried to leave his job for Texas A&M before getting passed over for Mike Elko; the Wildcats went 4-8 in 2024. The shifts in college football over the next year helped explain why.
Kentucky has always been a difficult job, but the situation is teetering on impossible now. A 16-team SEC means far more stacked schedules than ever before, and Kentucky faces its fair share of SEC contenders this fall. The new revenue-sharing model also means that Kentucky’s athletic department will have to figure out how to best divvy up dollars between football and men’s basketball; the football team figures to rank among the lowest percentage in the SEC.
Louisville has some of its own questions to answer in order to best manage funds between football and both successful basketball programs. However, Brohm is a star on the way up. He led Purdue to 17 wins in his final two seasons, posted a 30-10 record at Western Kentucky and now has Louisville in the ACC race. It’s hard to view this is anything less than Marrow tying his career to Brohm as Kentucky football falters.
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