Meet ‘Pork Chop,’ the massive DL who transferred home to play for UK football
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky adds Purdue transfer Jamarrion Harkless as a 346‑pound nose guard
- Coaching staff plans to expand Harkless’s role with pass‑rush tools and coaching
- Staff prioritized retaining defensive line depth amid scheme shift to four‑man fronts
It will take time to learn which of the 33 transfers Will Stein and his Kentucky football staff added to the roster this offseason will be most impactful on the field.
The competition for the best nickname of the group is already decided. though.
That honor goes to defensive lineman Jamarrion Harkless.
“You call him Big Chop, I call him Pork Chop,” defensive line coach Anwar Stewart said.
A quick look at Harkless, and the “big” part of his nickname is evident.
At 6-foot-3, 346 pounds, he is the one of the biggest players on the roster. In three years at Purdue, Harkless carved out a role as a run-stopping nose guard who almost always occupied multiple blockers when on the field.
The “Pork Chop” part of the nickname comes exactly from where you would expect too.
“I ate a lot of pork chops as a kid,” Harkless said. “That was my favorite meat, I guess. So, it used to be Pork Chop. Gladly, they took the pork part out, and now it’s just Chop.”
Stewart apparently did not get the memo about the change.
“Pork Chop is coming along,” Stewart said. “He’s a big man. Kind of reminds me of big Marquan McCall, Quinton Bohanna. He’s going to demand two in the middle. He’s going to be physical, aggressive … and then we’re going to add some pass rush to his repertoire.”
As soon as Stein tabbed former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Jay Bateman to lead his Kentucky defense, retaining as many of the Cats’ talented defensive linemen as possible became a primary goal.
The staff convinced tackle Tavion Gadson and end Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace to return, but 2025 nose guard David Gusta was out of eligibility. Gusta’s primary backup last season, converted offensive lineman Austin Ramsey, entered the transfer portal, eventually signing with Kansas State.
While Bateman’s defense is expected to use more four-lineman fronts than the previous Kentucky staff did, the roster still needed a player capable of playing nose in certain situations.
Enter Harkless, a Lexington native and former Frederick Douglass star.
“Big interior body that can cause havoc upfront and a guy that has a lot of pride in this city,” Stein said. “Excited about him. You know, all the guys in that room, I think Coach Bateman and crew did a great job of evaluating the talent. And then obviously acquiring them through the portal. He is going to be a big addition.”
The previous Kentucky staff offered Harkless in high school, but the recruitment never seemed to gather much traction.
Harkless initially committed to Illinois then flipped to Auburn. Shortly before signing day, he opened his recruitment again before signing with Purdue, which had just hired Ryan Walters, the defensive coordinator at Illinois when Harkless committed there, as head coach.
“In high school, I wanted to get out,” Harkless said. “I wanted to explore other places. That’s why pretty much every (official visit) I had was almost five-plus hours, four-plus hours. … Just trying to get as far away as possible.”
Harkless redshirted as a freshman in 2023 at Purdue after undergoing heart surgery shortly after arriving on campus. He totaled six tackles in 10 games as a redshirt freshman.
He remained at Purdue in 2025 — after Walters was fired — and moved into a starting role, totaling 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 13 games.
But three years after yearning to leave the Bluegrass State, Harkless decided being close to home wasn’t so bad after all.
“I just wanted to kind of be close to the crib,” he said. “(Kentucky) and Louisville were really the main schools, to be honest with you, even though I had a whole bunch of schools (offer) from all over the place. Proximity to home was really all I was looking for, to be honest.”
The timing of that decision worked out well for Stein and the new Kentucky staff.
Bateman’s aggressive defensive scheme could help Harkless prove he is more than a space-clogger, too.
“We’ll give him some more tools we’ll put in his toolbox to get after that quarterback,” Stewart said. “He’s a great young man, funny. He’s kind of like a granddaddy.
“...We got a lot of names for him, but he’s a really good kid. We’re blessed to have him, and I know Lexington is happy to have one of their own back.”