Transfers have been essential for UK football in 2021. What could 2022 have in store?
“Recruit and develop” for a while has been Mark Stoops’ mantra in terms of team-building at the University of Kentucky, and it’s a philosophy from which the program can’t stray too far as it tries to elevate itself further in the Southeastern Conference. That doesn’t mean it can’t dabble with other methods, though.
The Wildcats’ embrace of the transfer portal was a dalliance compared to some programs in college football — Michigan State brought in 14 new players and Tennessee, which handed UK its latest loss, added 10 (after losing 33!) — but the impact produced by four of UK’s seven additions can’t be overstated.
Will Levis, despite some unevenness from week to week, has been one of the most complete quarterbacks that Kentucky has had under Stoops. Wan’Dale Robinson is a weekly highlight reel. Jacquez Jones has been stronger in the middle of the defense than was even anticipated, and Dare Rosenthal has been good on the left side of the offensive line. Kentucky’s other three transfers haven’t gotten much meaningful time on the field but eased concerns about depth; linebackers Justice Dingle and Luke Fulton have Power Five experience at their position — one of apparent need coming into 2021 — and Tre’Von Morgan’s midseason move to the tight end room has purportedly gone well.
In hindsight, UK should have added some defensive linemen from the portal as well. That unit coming into the season was one of Kentucky’s deepest, but with one starter (Octavious Oxendine) sidelined for the remainder of the year and the health of another (Marquan McCall) up in the air, plus hybrid end Jordan Wright battling an ankle problem, younger players have been put in the line of fire earlier, and more often, than for which they were ready.
Or maybe UK would have been more equipped to handle losses up front if its secondary were deeper? It lost two defensive backs to the transfer portal — Jamari Brown and M.J. Devonshire — who are playing regular snaps for Purdue and Pittsburgh, respectively. Stoops on Monday, without going into detail as to the “why,” said he recommended that both put their names into the portal. Their absences were felt the hardest at the start of the season, when three members of the secondary — Andru Phillips, Joel Williams and Vito Tisdale — were consumed by a legal matter, but have possibly had a greater impact on the defense than anticipated.
Looking ahead
Could’ves and should’ves regarding the portal are irrelevant for this year’s Kentucky team. Going forward, it will continue to be essential in the team-building process, especially with the NCAA allowing teams to add up to an additional scholarship player beyond its regular 25 each year for every player it loses to the portal, up to seven. Most of those additions in that scenario, in Kentucky’s case, are likely to come from the portal.
UK already has one transfer, Syracuse wide receiver Taj Harris, committed as part of the 2022 class; none of its “top four” transfers ahead of the 2021 season were committed before January. After another receiver or two, expect defensive players to be among the most sought-after transfers by UK.
“It’s a lot different to rebuild a program right now than it was nine years ago, but the nice thing is that you can bring in some plug-and-play guys now and have them eligible, which you’re seeing now on our roster this year, which has helped us,” Stoops said. “And yes we need to continue to do that and look at options defensively as well.”
FBS transfers, as opposed to freshman signees, have the upside of having been in a high-level college structure and conditioning program. There’s typically better and more translatable film if a guy is coming from a Power Five school than, say, a junior college; Kentucky under Stoops has found gems at that level — current New York Jets defensive back Brandin Echols immediately jumps out — but the portal could ease its need to rely on mining that talent.
High school players will always be the top priority, but bridging gaps through the transfer portal due to early NFL departures or its own portal losses will only continue to heighten in importance for Kentucky, unless it starts signing five-star or four-star recruits at the rate that Alabama and Georgia does.
The biggest concern as far as the portal goes is how its use can impact the locker room. Clearly, the addition of Levis ultimately led to Joey Gatewood’s departure from UK. From the get-go, it seemed, UK’s players rallied around Levis, who demonstrated a better-enough command of the offense than Gatewood to be named the starter one week into fall camp, prompting Gatewood’s transfer to Central Florida. That development was a marquee one given the nature of the quarterback position, but similar outcomes are bound to occur at other positions if transfers come in and beat out returning players for spots on the depth chart.
That’ll be OK as long as everyone’s on the same page.
“What I like about where we’re at, and we need to keep it this way, as we bring (transfers) into the program, you got to make sure they’re the right fit for the guys you (already) have,” Stoops said. “There’s not going to be any dissension in the locker room. Every player that we’ve brought in here right now, that I’ve brought in from the transfer portal, I love them. They’ve done a great job of adapting to our culture and being a strong presence in our locker room and becoming leaders in our locker room.”
Right before making that statement, though, Stoops made sure to issue a reminder.
“Our culture is, you can say it,” he said, laughing at his own overused refrain, “Recruit and develop.”
Next game
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN2
