UK football adds Gran, Hinshaw as offensive, co-offensive coordinators

By Josh Ellis

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A UK spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon that University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterback coach Darin Hinshaw have completed a deal to join UK football as offensive and co-offensive coordinators.

UK’s third-year running back coach and running game coordinator Chad Scott will now coach the wide receivers moving forward.

Gran and head coach Mark Stoops are already familiar with each other, as the two were together at Florida State from 2010-12. During that span, Stoops and Gran helped lead the Seminoles to their first 11-win season since 2000, their first ACC Championship since 2005 and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2012. The two were able to help reel in the nations No. 1 recruiting class in 2011, and Gran was named one of ESPN’s Top 25 Recruiters of the Year in 2011.

“Having worked with Eddie at Florida State, he is an outstanding coach with great experience, including a lot of years in the SEC,” Stoops said. “He is a great leader with tremendous passion for the game.”

While Gran and Stoops saw success in Tallahassee, Gran and Hinshaw saw similar success during their tenure at Cincinnati. In 2015, the Cincinnati offense set 18 school records. Some of those records include 620 passing yards in a single game, six touchdown passes in a single game, 752 total yards in a single game, 4,477 total passing yards (4thranked nationally) and 6,711 total yards on offense (6th ranked nationally).

Both coaches have had their taste of the Southeastern Conference. Gran has had coaching stops at Ole Miss, Tennessee and Auburn. He’s worked with renown running backs like Carnell Williams, Brandon Jacobs and Deuce McAllister.

Hinshaw coached three seasons at Tennessee before arriving at Cincinnati, and was also ranked as one of the top 10 recruiters in college football in 2011 by Rivals.com

“This is a great opportunity to be back in the SEC and I’m really looking forward to it,” Hinshaw said. “I’ve always looked at UK as a program that has the potential to be very, very good and we can put up the points and yards that will equal wins and help us get to bowl games.”

Gran and Hinshaw will take over at UK with a depleted number of quarterbacks, as redshirt freshman Drew Barker is the only remaining scholarship quarterback left on UK’s roster. Patrick Towles and Reese Phillips have both transferred within the last month and are no longer with the program.

Barker, freshman walk-on Davis Mattingly and incoming three-star commit Gunnar Hoak will be the three options at quarterback heading into next season.

UK’s passing offense threw 10 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions in 2015 – the most interceptions by UK since 2000.

“I’m excited about the challenges. It’s a great conference. It’s the best conference in America and if you’re a college football coach this is the level you want to be coaching,” Gran said. “I spent 15 years in the SEC and being in those stadiums and the defenses you will be facing, it’s what you want if you’re a competitor and if you want to play against the best.”