‘I’m honored to be a part of it.’ Why did UK’s new coach leave Big Ten contender?
It can be dangerous for coaches to hand out player comparisons.
Many, understandably, shy from the practice altogether and refute solicitations. Others will wade into the waters, qualifying statements in order to keep from drowning in the event that their comp is thrown back in their face later. A rare few throw caution to the wind.
Mere hours into the job, new Kentucky running backs coach John Settle firmly stepped foot into camp No. 3 when asked for his thoughts on Chris Rodriguez, the Wildcats’ top returning rusher.
“”I like the fact that he’s attentive. He’s a guy that wants to be very good, wants to learn,” Settle said during an introductory news conference on Monday. “... He’s a young man that reminds me of a guy that I coached at Pitt, James Conner, just being up close to him. Same type of personality, same type of mannerisms. He’s a guy I’m excited about having an opportunity to coach.”
All right, then.
This is certainly a case where the source matters. It’d be one thing if Conner were the only future NFL starter that Settle had coached in college, but he’s not; in the last decade alone he’s helped send five running backs to the pros who are still on NFL rosters (in addition to Conner: Jonathan Taylor, James White, Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale). He’s coached in the league and helped manage one of college football’s best rushing offenses for the better part of the last 15 years; Settle knows the difference between good running backs and the ones that can put programs on their backs, if needed.
Rodriguez has already, to some degree, done that at Kentucky. He scored 11 of the team’s 26 touchdowns and accounted for 22.7 percent of the Cats’ total offense last season, and did that despite missing two games due to health-and-safety protocols. He ranked No. 6 overall among all Power Five players with 6.6 yards per carry (minimum 100 carries) and was among the highest-graded running backs by Pro Football Focus at year’s end; there was a case for him to declare early for the NFL Draft, but he wanted to finish his degree and actually be a starter for the Wildcats (he was listed as a co-starter alongside A.J. Rose at times last year but has never officially started a game).
Settle had to like Rodriguez, but also what was behind him, to leave Wisconsin, where he coached 11 of the last 15 years, and Jalen Berger, a former four-star prospect and top-150 recruit who displayed star potential toward the end of his first season with the Badgers. Rodriguez and fellow junior Kavosiey Smoke top a deep Kentucky stable that features speedy sophomores JuTahn McClain and Travis Tisdale as well as Torrance Davis, who was recruited as a running back but worked with UK’s linebackers last season, and La’Vell Wright, a freshman from North Hardin High School who enrolled in January.
“I think there’s an element of a new challenge and trying something new out,” Colten Bartholomew, a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, told the Herald-Leader. “’Cause when you look at the guys he’s got in the room? Berger they’ve got really, really high hopes for him. He could have a monster year.”
Bartholomew reported Friday that Wisconsin attempted to prevent Kentucky from prying away Settle, who on Monday suggested a move to the Southeastern Conference could be advantageous from a personal standpoint.
“In this profession, you want to try and elevate your status as much as you can,” Settle said. “You want to try and take advantage of opportunities when opportunities come. This right here was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Settle was typically the lead recruiter of Wisconsin’s running backs and was often the first point of contact for the prospects who arrived in Madison via the midwest region. Given what he can point to with his own coaching as well as what Kentucky’s done in the run game over the last few seasons, he expects to be able to recruit well in Lexington.
“It always helps to have a good track record,” Settle said with a grin. “ ... When you look at the program, it’s not a program where you have to sell anything. You go out and target the players you believe can help you. You recruit those individuals as hard as you can. When I’m in a room with ‘em, I will talk to ‘em about my background and some of the accomplishments, but I think it’s all about Kentucky football.
“The name here, the brand itself, stands alone, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
If he stays on the same track he’s been, the honor will be all Kentucky’s.
