Kentucky football’s new left tackle hopes to set example for other Native American athletes
In 12 seasons as Kentucky’s football coach, Mark Stoops has received no shortage of labels.
As the longest-tenured active coach in the SEC, Stoops has been lauded for his ability to build Kentucky from 2-10 in his first season to eight straight bowl berths, including two 10-win seasons. The labels have been less kind in recent months as a growing number of vocal critics point to a downturn in the team’s play over the last three seasons that culminated with a 4-8 record in 2024.
But it’s unlikely Stoops has been described by either his supporters or critics in the same way his new left tackle explained the allure of the Wildcats’ coach at the team’s newcomer media event this week.
“Coach Stoops is a statesman,” New Mexico State transfer Shiyazh Pete said. “He’s a very genuine man. And I placed a lot of my trust into him in my final decision.”
A statesman?
“He’s super honest, and he means what he says,” Pete said. “And I like that about him.”
Pete’s endorsement might say as much about Kentucky’s newest offensive lineman as it does about its coach.
In his first interview session with local reporters since enrolling at UK in January, Pete’s tendency to consider a question and craft a well-worded response rather than quickly parroting a PR-crafted talking point was evident.
While the move from New Mexico State to Kentucky brings a much brighter spotlight for Pete, he is used to speaking about more than football as one of the highest profile Native American athletes in the country.
“It’s a deep honor,” Pete said. “I love what I do, and I do it for my community, for the youth, to give them a beacon of hope that there’s a way out of it, there’s a way up, there’s a way to create and turn defeat into victory. And I’m proud to be on the frontier of that and to define it.”
Pete is a member of the Navajo and Salish nations. He spent time in Montana, Arizona and New Mexico and did not start playing football until his sophomore year of high school.
Due in part to a lack of resources to promote Native American athletes on his reservation, Pete struggled to drum up recruiting interest, his father told the Navajo Times in 2023. He eventually landed at New Mexico State as a walk-on.
Over the next four years, Pete would add muscle to his 6-foot-8 frame and earn a starting job. Kentucky now lists him at 321 pounds after signing him to replace Marques Cox as the Wildcats’ starting left tackle.
“It was down to the wire, to say the least,” Stoops said of Pete’s recruitment. “He is a deep thinker. … Really remarkable young man. He has been through an awful lot, and he is a great success story.”
Pete’s original plan was to remain at New Mexico State for his final season of eligibility, but when his offensive line coach, Andrew Mitchell, left New Mexico State for a job at Oklahoma State, Pete decided to consider his options. When Pete entered the transfer portal, speculation about his future destination quickly focused on Vanderbilt, where former New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill was now on staff and a number of former Lobos players, including quarterback Diego Pavia, were on the roster.
But Pete was deliberate in his recruiting process. Initial reports suggested he did not plan to enroll at a new school until the summer, but Kentucky was able to convince him to fill out the necessary paperwork on the day of the deadline to enroll for the spring semester.
“I did an official visit (to Vanderbilt),” Pete said. “It was good to see my former coaches there, former teammates. It was good to reconnect, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me in terms of their offensive scheme. I wanted something different from New Mexico/Vanderbilt’s offensive scheme.”
Kentucky’s pro-style attack provided the difference Pete was looking for as he tries to prove to scouts he is worthy of a 2026 NFL draft selection. Enrolling in time to participate in winter workouts and spring practice at Kentucky should help that goal.
In order to do so, he will take the unorthodox path of continuing to take online classes at New Mexico State to finish his bachelor’s degree in communication studies while also working on a graduate certificate in public administration at Kentucky.
“He’s a great guy to sit down and talk to,” UK quarterback Zach Calzada said. “He’s very wise.”
Pete’s status as the rare Native American athlete to play college football already earned him attention at New Mexico State, but he was one of four Native American athletes at the school. New Mexico State’s September football game against rival New Mexico was broadcast in the Navajo language on a local radio station.
That support system is missing at Pete’s new school.
“It’s like it’s foreign territory,” he said. “There’s not a lot of representation out here. I’m realizing there’s no one else here, and I guess understanding … I have an opportunity to be that person, to be on the frontier of it.”
If Pete thrives playing against the top competition in college football, he knows the chance to represent his culture will only grow. Making it to the NFL would increase his platform again.
It’s in the quest for that goal that his assessment of Stoops returns again.
“I’m recognizing that I’m a public figure, so I have to conduct my business in a professional manner and compete with class,” Pete said. “Like Stoops, be a statesman.”