Stoops likes the O's operation on Day 1 of spring practice

Despite a busy off-season that may have required a few "Hello, My Name Is..." tags around the Kentucky football complex, the Wildcats had a smooth opening day of spring football practice, Mark Stoops said after Tuesday's workout in the Nutter Fieldhouse.

"For the first day, just today, I was very impressed," said the UK head coach, who is entering his 12th year in Lexington. "There are obviously some mistakes with some things and some areas where we have a lot of practices to clean up, but overall, procedure, alignments, motions, plays, I really like what we're doing.

"I really feel good about Bush (Hamdan) and the creativity that he has and the experience that he has -- the knowledge. Overall, first day went very well."

Hamdan is the new UK offensive coordinator, coming over from Boise State following the departure of Liam Coen to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He'll be working with three new quarterbacks in the form of Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff, the return of former Cat Beau Allen, and talented freshman early enrollee Cutter Boley.

"You know a guy from that program has been coached well," Stoops said of Vandagriff, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior and a former five-star recruit who spent two years with the Bulldogs.

The UK offense has also added some nice transfer portal additions at offensive line (Gerald Mincey, Tennessee; and Jalen Farmer, Florida), running back (Chip Trayanum, Ohio State) and wide receiver (Ja'Mori Maclin, North Texas; Raymond Cottrell, Texas A&M; and Fred Farrier, UAB).

"Bringing in Mincey, with all the plays that he has, the size and the the experience that he has, really helps us right away," Stoops said of the 6-foot-6, 337-pound Florida native.

He'll be working with a new O-Line coach, Eric Wolford, who begins his second stint under Stoops in Lexington.

"I want to be a better football team, and on the offensive line in particular," Stoops added. "I know Eric, and I've worked with Eric at several stops, so I know what he brings."

Regarding Trayanum, who will be aiming to follow in Ray Davis' productive footsteps this season, Stoops said: "Chip is a very serious guy. He's very mature. It's very important to him. He works very hard, obviously. Physically, he has the skills that we're looking for."

The receiving corps had an impressive first day under new position coach Daikiel Shorts.

"I thought they had a really good, big day in particular," Stoops said. "They made some nice catches and had a good practice, a really good start."