‘Believe me, we love him.’ UK working to keep John Schlarman’s memory alive.
The last seven months have been difficult for LeeAnne Schlarman and her four children. But they’ve also been eye-opening.
The University of Kentucky’s football players returned to campus on Monday, but several of them, as well as their coaches, spent the afternoon at Keene Trace Golf Club celebrating the life of John Schlarman, a former player and offensive line coach who died in November. About 100 former players showed up to play in the inaugural Schlarman Strong/Kentucky Football Alumni scramble, all the proceeds of which will go to Schlarman’s family.
“It’s really overwhelming to see all these people come out for John and for us and for the university,” LeeAnne told reporters prior to the event’s kickoff. “… We knew John had a big impact but didn’t really know what kind of impact he had until, unfortunately, now. It’s been amazing. We feel the love and support from everybody.”
Darian Kinnard, a senior who last season was named to multiple All-America squads as well as the All-Southeastern Conference First Team, said Monday that the principles that Schlarman instilled in the unit during his second UK tenure — he was a graduate assistant from 2000 to 2002 before returning as part of Mark Stoops’ original staff in 2013 — have remained intact since his passing.
Kinnard said the “Big Blue Wall” is never going to go away and that UK will continue to represent Schlarman on and off the field. Some have suggested that UK install a statue recognizing Schlarman’s contributions to the program. A recent fan-led petition asking the university to name the concrete wall encircling the playing surface at Kroger Field “The John Schlarman Big Blue Wall” has garnered nearly 5,000 signatures.
Things are in the works but no specifics were shared Monday.
“I don’t want to come off as a jerk here, so thank you, but nobody needs to sign a petition,” Stoops said. “I think we do a pretty good job of honoring people and doing what we need to do. Mitch Barnhart, myself, Dr. (Eli) Capilouto, everybody realized the profound effect John had on the University of Kentucky and on people. … We will find the right way to honor him and do that.
“Believe me, we love him.”
Transition
Stoops hired Schlarman’s successor, Eric Wolford, away from South Carolina in December. It was the first spring in nearly a decade that Schlarman wasn’t coaching Kentucky’s offensive line.
“The first time I met him, what had a big impact on me, what made me really respect him, is he came in and knew that he wasn’t going to replace Coach Schlarman,” Kinnard said. “He told us players, ‘Hey, I’m not here to replace him, I’m here to make y’all better. I’m gonna take what he instilled in y’all and I’m just gonna get y’all where y’all want to go in terms of football and where you need to be.’ He knew that from day one and I feel like that shows a lot of character, to be that tuned in with what was going on here.”
Stoops described Wolford as a “perfect fit,” and that anyone who spent time with both he and Schlarman would quickly recognize their similarities despite stark differences in their personalities.
“People don’t realize because John was such a great guy and perceived as easy-going, but John was very hard on the players and demanding,” Stoops said. “Eric is much the same. … They build relationships with their players, and that’s the bottom line. Players want to know you care about them.”
Notes
▪ Kentucky won’t punt on recruiting Michigan — an area where Steve Clinkscale, a former UK assistant who left last month for a job with the University of Michigan — but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be as big an area of focus moving forward. Stoops expressed a desire to dive heavier into areas — he specifically named Tennessee — where the program has started to make inroads.
“We always kind of recalibrate and refocus on that,” Stoops said. “Clink did a great job in Michigan and had some ties, but we have some other areas that we think we can focus in on. That doesn’t mean we’ll give up on it but we can kind of take our focus from there and spend some time somewhere else.”
▪ Stoops revealed Monday that wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight has been suspended without pay since his May 8 DUI arrest in northern Kentucky. Bouknight entered a not guilty plea on May 14. A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 29 in Kenton County District Court.
