Why Kentucky football fans face a massive challenge in 2025
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops commenced his preseason news conference on July 28 by noting that the Wildcats have a whopping 50 newcomers on their 2025 roster.
Stoops proclaimed himself pleased with the roster turnover UK has undergone after Kentucky followed up back-to-back disappointing 7-6 seasons in 2022 and 2023 with a 4-8 collapse in 2024.
“I felt like it was necessary,” Stoops said of UK’s robust roster churn. “(I) feel very good about those changes.”
In a college sports era when empowered players have a largely unrestricted ability to switch teams, Kentucky football will enter 2025 as a poster child for the new age.
Yet even as Stoops and the 50 new troops — both transfers and incoming high school recruits — test whether a team with so many newcomers can reverse its fortunes in one year, it might be Wildcats fans facing the biggest challenge of 2025.
How does a fan base build an affinity for a roster with so many new players?
As a public service to the Big Blue Nation, we are here to assist by helping you work through the crazy numbers that have defined Kentucky football’s offseason of change.
Exiting Lexington stage left
UK’s roster upheaval was initiated by 29 players who rocked Kentucky blue in 2024 but who exited via the transfer portal after last year’s disappointing campaign.
Of those 29 departures, 13 left for other power conference football teams — seven to Big Ten schools, three to other SEC teams, two to the Big 12 and one to an ACC program.
Fifteen additional ex-Cats stayed in the FBS by moving to teams in one of the the so-called group of five conferences.
One former Kentucky player transferred to an FCS school.
Among the departures were four players who started for the Wildcats in 2024 — wide receiver and kickoff return ace Barion Brown (transferred to LSU), wideout Dane Key (Nebraska), tight end Jordan Dingle (South Carolina) and nose guard Keeshawn Silver (Southern Cal).
Giving the 2025 season some extra spice, there are four players who played for UK in 2024 who will go against the Wildcats in this coming year: Running back Chip Trayanum (Toledo), tight end Tanner Lemaster (Eastern Michigan), Dingle (South Carolina) and defensive tackle Kendrick Gilbert (Louisville).
Bound for the Bluegrass
The void left by the 29 Wildcats who transferred out this offseason was largely filled by the arrival at UK of 27 players who came in via the portal.
Of those 27 newcomers, 12 came from other power conference schools — six from the Big Ten, three from other SEC teams, two from ACC programs and one from the Big 12.
Eleven additional new Cats came from the group of five — FBS schools that are in leagues perceived to be a step down from the power conferences.
Four of the players Kentucky added for 2025 came from FCS programs.
If everyone stays healthy, my guess is there will be at least nine incoming transfers who will start for Kentucky when it opens its 2025 season on Aug. 30 against Toledo.
Those nine are: Wide receiver Kendrick Law (incoming from Alabama), offensive tackles Shiyazh Pete (New Mexico State) and Alex Wollschlaeger (Bowling Green State), offensive guard Joshua Braun (Arkansas), quarterback Zach Calzada (Incarnate Word), running back Seth McGowan (New Mexico State), defensive end Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace (South Dakota), defensive tackle David Gusta (Washington State) and rush end/OLB Sam Greene (Southern Cal).
Among the 27 transfers who have joined the Wildcats, four previously played on teams that went against the Cats during their college careers.
Braun, the offensive guard, was on the Florida roster in 2020, 2021 and 2022 when the Gators lost two of three vs. the Wildcats.
Wide receiver J.J. Hester was at Missouri in 2020 and 2021 when Mizzou and UK split two games.
For Alabama, Law caught one pass for 11 yards and returned two kickoffs for a combined 52 yards in the Crimson Tide’s 49-21 victory over Kentucky at Kroger Field in 2023.
Former Clemson wide receiver Troy Stellato caught four passes for 42 yards as the Tigers rallied past UK 38-35 in the 2023 Gator Bowl.
The benefits of churn
Without question, the face of Kentucky’s unusual offseason has been sophomore wide receiver Hardley Gilmore — whose name is on the lists of both the 29 players who left the Kentucky program after the 2024 season and the 27 who transferred in to UK for 2025.
After catching six passes in seven games for Kentucky as a true freshman, Gilmore transferred to Nebraska during the winter transfer portal window.
During the spring portal, Gilmore returned to UK.
For Cats backers, learning the 27 new transfers (well, the 26 other than Gilmore) on the 2025 Kentucky roster plus the 23 incoming freshmen rates as a vigorous challenge.
With his program coming off three straight seasons in which Wildcats fans were disappointed by UK’s final record, Stoops sees virtue in Kentucky having so many new players.
“Maybe the freshness of 50 new faces that weren’t here, that didn’t have the negativity of last year, that is refreshing,” Stoops says. “That helps in certain ways.”
