Mark Stoops announced Tuesday that he has added Jack Ray, Bunchy Stallings and Yusuf Corker to his Kentucky football staff.
Ray joins the staff as assistant special teams coach.
Stallings and Corker, two former Wildcats, will serve as graduate assistants. Corker will work with the defensive backs while Stallings will help out with the defensive line.
Here is a press release from UK Athletics:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky Football has added Jack Ray to its staff as assistant special teams coach, head coach Mark Stoops announced Tuesday. He will assist special teams coordinator Jay Boulware. Stoops also announced the addition of former Kentucky standouts Yusuf Corker and Jervontius “Bunchy” Stallings as graduate assistants. Corker will work with the defensive backs, while Stallings will work with the defensive line.
Ray comes to Lexington after serving as the co-special teams coordinator at Hawai’i the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was a graduate assistant at Washington State, a special teams analyst at Nevada and a student assistant at Arkansas Pine Bluff.
“We’re excited to have Jack Ray join our staff and assist Coach Boulware with special teams,” Stoops said. “He brings great energy, attention to detail, and a strong understanding of the game. Special teams are a critical part of what we do, and I’m confident he will make an immediate impact with our players and our program.
“Also, we are pleased to add Yusuf Corker and Bunchy Stallings to our coaching staff,” Stoops continued. “Both of them played for me and are eager to learn and contribute to the team. They are welcome additions to our program.”
While on staff at Nevada, Ray helped the Wolfpack to three bowl games in as many seasons and served as the team’s interim special teams coordinator for the Quick Lane Bowl at the end of the 2021 campaign. He played a key role in film breakdown, scouting reports and practice and game evaluations during his time there.
“Coaching at Kentucky and in the SEC means a lot to me,” Ray said. “Working with student-athletes at the highest level of college football has always been a goal. I’m also grateful to work alongside Coach Stoops and Coach Boulware—two of the best in the business.”
Ray, a native of Discovery Bay, California, was a two-year starter at long snapper for Arkansas Pine Bluff from 2017-18. Before that, he was a linebacker and long snapper at Sierra College in Rocklin, California in 2016.
He is married to Jordyn Ray of Oakley, California.
Corker was a defensive back at Kentucky from 2018-21. The two-time team captain played in 50 games with 37 straight starting assignments and totaled 240 career tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss, 14 pass breakups, three interceptions, two quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He helped the Wildcats to four straight bowl appearances.
As a senior in 2021, he recorded 81 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and eight pass breakups and was a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT trophy.
In 2020 as a junior, Corker earned second-team All-SEC honors from Pro Football Focus and Phil Steele after charting 77 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups and a forced fumble for the Wildcats.
Off the field, he earned a spot on the Dean’s List and the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and graduated with a degree in economics from UK in May of 2021.
He signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants in April 2022 and also spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals before entering the coaching ranks.
Corker, originally of McDonough, Georgia, is married to Tarryn Todd-Long, and the couple has one daughter, Amirah, and a son, Yusuf. He will work on a master’s degree in economics.
Stallings lettered from 2016-18 as a member of the Big Blue Wall. He played in 41 career games with 26 starting assignments and blocked for UK’s all-time leading rusher, Benny Snell Jr., the first player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons.
Stallings earned First-Team All-America and First-Team All-SEC status as a senior after paving the way for Snell and the UK offense. He was named to the All-Bowl Team by ESPN after charting two knockdown blocks and 22 blocks at the point of attack, including a hole-clearing effort on Snell’s 12-yard touchdown run in the Citrus Bowl that also was the play that broke the UK career rushing record.
He graduated in December of 2018 with a degree in community and leadership development. After UK, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played for two seasons.
The McComb, Mississippi native is currently working on a master’s degree in sports, fitness and recreational management from UK.
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