Bio Blast: Chad Wilt

New Kentucky head coach Will Stein continues to build his first coaching staff while advancing in the College Football Playoff with Oregon over 2,000 miles away. The work got one step closer to completion when Stein made the latest addition to his defensive coaching staff.

New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman will again be working with someone he has a previous working relationship. Chad Wilt is moving to Lexington after two seasons at Michigan State.

Kentucky set to hire Chad Wilt as linebackers coach

What will Wilt bring to Lexington as Stein continues to build a very beefed up staff that will have a lot of manpower that the program can use in 2026? KSR is taking a closer look at the 47-year-old who has spent the last six seasons in the Big Ten.

A long-time defensive line coach

After Chad Wilt’s playing career at NAIA Taylor University ended, a long coaching journey began for the Pennsylvania native. Wilt took a job at FCS Central Connecticut State as a defensive line coach in 2001. The assistant has been in football coaching ever since. Most of those seasons have been spent coaching the defensive line.

The former defensive end was a graduate assistant for two seasons at Virginia under head coach Al Groh and defensive coordinator Al Golden from 2004-05. After a three-year stint at Liberty from 2006-08, Wilt returned to Virginia in 2009 before moving to FCS Richmond, Ball State, Maryland, Army, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. From 2001-21, Wilt served as a defensive line coach. That changed when he accepted a defensive coordinator opportunity at Indiana.

Kentucky has retained Anwar Stewart as a defensive line coach, but Wilt will actually be the person on staff with the most years spent working with defensive lines in college football.

Multiple stints with Jay Bateman

After dipping down into FCS football in 2010, Chad Wilt quickly moved back to FCS football when Ball State hired Elon head coach Pete Lembo. It was there that the defensive line coach first worked with Jay Bateman. The two were on the same defensive staff for three seasons and were part of a 10-win team in 2013 before Bateman left for Army and Wilt left for Maryland to work for head coach Randy Edsall.

The two would reunite in 2016.

Wilt departed Maryland after Edsall was fired and moved to Army to work for Bateman again. The duo would spend three seasons on the same staff at West Point. Kentucky safeties coach Josh Christian-Young was also on staff at this time when Army recorded consecutive double-digit win seasons in 2017 and 2018 with a ranked finish.

Wilt would join Luke Fickell‘s Cincinnati staff in 2019 and work with defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman for one season on a team that won 11 games before heading to the Big Ten with stops at Minnesota, Indiana, and Michigan State over the last six seasons.

Now Wilt will work with Bateman for a third time in 2026.

Extensive special teams coordinator experience

Chad Wilt will come to Kentucky and be a linebackers coach for the second time in his career after serving that position during his time at Indiana. However, he will not officially have a tag that he has held for much of his career.

On Sunday, news broke that Parker Fleming was set to become Kentucky’s new special teams coordinator and follow Will Stein from Oregon. But Wilt also has extensive special teams coordinator experience.

The Big Ten assistant was a special teams coordinator at Central Connecticut State (2001-03), Liberty (2006-08), Virginia (2009), and Michigan State (2024-25). Wilt gives Kentucky an experienced defensive staff addition with defensive coordinator experience and special teams experience. The latest hire will be working with a position he doesn’t have a ton of experience with, but Wilt has been a versatile coach throughout his career, and could potentially wear a lot of hats in Lexington.