NEIL CORNRICH & NC SPORTS: MANAGING THE CAREERS OF PROFESSIONALS IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY

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Thursday, September 22, 2022

College football's most valuable assistants

 




EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

7:00 AM ET (September 21, 2022)

Adam Rittenberg | ESPN Senior Writer

 






Vince Marrow, Kentucky










Vince Marrow has been head coach Mark Stoops' right-hand man at Kentucky. Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire

 

Titles: Tight ends coach, associate head coach, recruiting coordinator

Background: A tight end at Toledo, Marrow spent four seasons on NFL rosters and later had stints as both a player and coach in the World League. He spent a year coaching tight ends at Toledo and another as a high school head coach in Ohio before heading to Nebraska where he coached for the XFL's Omaha Nighthawks before becoming a graduate assistant for Nebraska. Marrow grew up with Kentucky coach Mark Stoops in Youngstown, Ohio, and joined Stoops at Kentucky in 2013.

Why he's so valuable: Marrow has been Stoops' right-hand man as they've built Kentucky into a consistent winner in the SEC. They capitalized on their connections to Ohio and the school's proximity to a state that still produces a good number of Power 5 prospects. Marrow is the lead recruiter for most of Kentucky's prospects from Ohio, and the program has hit big on players, such as Lynn Bowden Jr. and Benny Snell Jr., and current starters, such as defensive Tyrell Ajian and Carrington Valentine, and tight ends Brenden Bates and Keaton Upshaw. "You got Ohio sitting right there," Marrow told me this summer. "It's the fourth-producing state for NFL players, it's the third- or fourth-producing state for D-I football players. How do you not go there? You've got to have connections, but there's a lot of players there, and we have strong connections." Kentucky has rewarded Marrow with several significant raises, and this year he's earning $1.1 million, a once-unthinkable salary for a non-coordinator.


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