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The timing was strange. Steve Ortmayer says he was shocked.

The former UK special teams coordinator and assistant head coach tells LEX 18 Sports he was fired Wednesday night just before he was leaving for vacation with his wife.

Ortmayer told us he couldn't understand why this wasn't done in January, when he would have had time to find a new job.

Ortmayer said what made the move even more surprising to him, was that he had "laid it on the line" for Joker.

"I think I had a pretty good eight years. I can't make any sense out of this," Ortmayer told LEX 18 on Friday.

Ortmayer joined the UK staff with Rich Brooks in 2003 and was Brooks' right hand man.
He also spent more than two decades coaching in the NFL.

Ortmayer said the two things he still wanted to accomplish in his coaching career, beat Tennessee and South Carolina.

Former UK player and assistant coach Greg Nord will replace Ortmayer on Joker's staff. He was at Illinois most recently, but spent 15 years at Louisville as the running backs coach and assistant head coach.

Nord is known as an excellent recruiter, especially in the Louisville area. That could be huge as Joker and company will be battling Charlie Strong at Louisville for in-state recruits.