Never mind that SEC recruiting ranking, Kentucky football keeps the Big Mo going
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College football early signing period
The early signing period for college football recruits in 2019 is Dec. 18-20. Click here to read all the coverage from the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com.
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Kentucky football held a parade Wednesday.
It was the first day of college football’s early national letter-of-intent period. Projected to sign a strong class, surprises kept popping up. Pleasant surprises with stars. By the time all was through, Mark Stoops’ haul was ranked 20th nationally by Rivals, 25th by ESPN as of Wednesday evening.
“Great class,” said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals. “Best I’ve ever seen at Kentucky.”
But I know what you’re asking: Where did the Cats rank in the SEC? Answer: Still second-division. Even at No. 25, Kentucky ranked 10th out of the league’s 14 members, according to ESPN. Rivals had Kentucky ninth in the conference pecking order.
“No need to be worried about being in the second half of the SEC,” Farrell told me. “They’re not in a recruiting-rich area.”
Despite that handicap, Stoops and staff flourished. Why? You can name that tune in two notes. That’s “MO” as in “MO-mentum.”
Stoops has built the Kentucky football program from the ground up, by evaluating, projecting and developing talent, enhancing facilities, improving results, stringing together bowl berths, earning national recognition and, last but not least, putting players in the NFL Draft.
You don’t think four Wildcats selected in the first four rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft played a role in Wednesday’s class of 2020? Of course it did. You don’t think seeing Josh Allen sweep multiple national awards on the way to the No. 7 overall pick, followed by quarterback/all-purpose star Lynn Bowden and punter Max Duffy earning First Team AP All-America honors this year didn’t grab the attention of recruits? Of course it did.
And here’s what I like about this particular UK class: The trenches. Quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, those skill positions are nice and all, but give me the guys up front. That’s UK offensive coordinator Eddie Gran you can hear saying, “Big men lead the way.” Kentucky got some big men.
On the offensive line, four-star offensive guard R.J. Adams (6-foot-3, 325 pounds) and stud junior-college offensive tackle Jeremy Flax (6-6, 315) joined a group that already included commitments from Joshua Jones (6-6, 300), John Young (6-6, 280) and Deondre Buford (6-5, 285). That’s a lot of size. And, according to the scouts, skill.
Why the haul? The fact that Kentucky placed two offensive linemen — center Drake Jackson and offensive guard Logan Stenberg — on the AP’s All-SEC First Team didn’t hurt. Nor did it hurt that UK just set a school record for rushing yards. It’s no secret that offensive linemen love to put a hand in the dirt/turf and move people off the ball.
Then there’s the defensive line. Wednesday’s biggest surprise came when four-star prospect Josaih Hayes, snubbed home-state Ole Miss and signed with the Cats. He joined five-star signee Justin Rogers, a Michigan defensive lineman who committed to UK many moons ago and stayed true to his word.
Why the haul? There’s the Allen factor, who went from two-star prospect to seven-figure NFL rookie. There’s the Calvin Taylor factor, another unheralded recruit whose stock is rising with pro scouts. And after a 10-3 team built around a defense in 2018, UK suffered multiple graduation losses and still ended up with a top-20 defense in 2019.
Stoops knows the defensive side of the ball and he continues to show he knows a thing or two about building a program and moving it forward. More than any other sport, success produces success in college football. It’s why college football is so entrenched in tradition, why the same schools thrive year after year after year.
Fun fact: According to Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel, there were 33 five-star recruits, according to Rivals. Twenty-two of those 33 were expected to sign with just five schools — Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State.
Kentucky’s not yet in that august group, but the Cats are closing the gap. Better to be 10th in the SEC and 25th in the country than 10th in the SEC and 50th in the country. After all, momentum happens one class at a time.
Recruiting rankings
As of Wednesday evening, here is how team rankings for the class of 2020 looked according to Rivals.com (SEC schools in bold):
1. Clemson
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. Oklahoma
10. Tennessee
11. Oregon
12. Michigan
13. Washington
14. Penn State
15. Notre Dame
16. Miami (Fla.)
17. North Carolina
18. Nebraska
19. South Carolina
20. Kentucky
Others
25. Mississippi State
27. Purdue
30. West Virginia
37. Louisville
45. Mississippi
48. Indiana
54. Vanderbilt
71. Missouri
82. Arkansas
88. Western Kentucky
92. Marshall
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 6:53 PM.
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