What's behind UK's recruiting success in Michigan?
In recent years one of the big trends in Kentucky football recruiting has been the Cats' ability to start pulling some serious talent from the Wolverine State.
Steve Clinkscale deserves the brunt of the credit for that.
While he has also landed players from outside of Michigan, that's where he's really made a name for himself as a recruiter.
It started with Marquan McCall, once the No. 1 player in the state from the 2018 class, and DeAndre Square, another Top-10 player in the state from that class.
From the class that just signed Kentucky landed receiver Earnest Sanders, offensive tackle Deondre Buford, and five-star defensive tackle Justin Rogers. JUCO offensive lineman Jeremy Flax is also from the state.
"I tell everybody, it's just the relationships," Clinkscale told Cats Illustrated. "I've been up there for a very long time. I can put a call in to any head coach and it's like we're brothers. I get a lot of inside scoop with what's going on with players and then it's building a relationship with those players. Those guys see me recruiting kids two or three years for every class. I invite all of them down, coaches bring all the players down."
Getting "in" on a player early is more challenging in the area for a simple reason. Talent in the region is harder to identify at that early stage.
"The thing about up north, and Vince Marrow will tell you about Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, is they don't have spring football so a lot of these places the talent develops a little bit later," he said. "If you don't know who this kid is, by the time he's a little older you're late. He's at Wisconsin, Michigan, or Michigan State. Those guys can help us win down here.
"What I try to do is build a relationship with those guys early. As time goes on I'm honest about what I see and what I don't see. Then we move forward building the relationship. I'm honest. I don't try to be a smooth talker. I offer a lot of guys so we can get in with good players. I know as an 8th or 9th grader, when Justin Rogers was 13 or 14 years old, having those coaches bring him down here, that's when the relationship started."
There were a lot of reputable people in recruiting circles who did not believe Kentucky would land Justin Rogers.
After the five-star signed with Kentucky, a lot of those same people didn't believe his commitment would stick.
After all, Rogers had been thought to be leaning towards Georgia. He then seemed to favor Tennessee after visiting Knoxville. Alabama was interested as well.
"People don't understand the relationships I have with people and the blessings God has put in my life," Clinkscale said this week. "I just sit there and roll with it. I hear people say he's not going to commit, he's not going to be very committed, this and that about me. At the end of the day it doesn't bother me. God's got a plan.
"When people are out there putting out things like, 'He should be here or there,' you take a 17-year old and keep putting that in their brain, I'm not saying he's going to waiver but maybe he has some doubts. My job is to get ahead of that and that's what I did."
How concerned was Clinkscale about Rogers' status after he verbally committed?
"I felt good about his commitment. We've been knowing Justin just as much if not more than anybody else. He's been down here a lot of times. Having Marquan McCall and DeAndre Square on the team really helped as well.
"But again, like I said, I wasn't worried. I just feel at times there's a lot of he said, she said stuff. People saying he's probably going to decommit. A lot of times people don't know the process. Kids tell people what they want to hear because they get tired of answering the same questions."
Now Clinkscale is working to put together an encore. UK has offered many of the top players from Michigan in the 2021 class.
"I feel good about this class coming up. It's a talented group from Michigan. The '21 class is talented. The amount of young men that can play in the (Southeastern) conference isn't as high but the talent of those that can play here is impressive. It's kind of like the year before this last one in that way."
In recent years one of the big trends in Kentucky football recruiting has been the Cats' ability to start pulling some serious talent from the Wolverine State.
Steve Clinkscale deserves the brunt of the credit for that.
While he has also landed players from outside of Michigan, that's where he's really made a name for himself as a recruiter.
It started with Marquan McCall, once the No. 1 player in the state from the 2018 class, and DeAndre Square, another Top-10 player in the state from that class.
From the class that just signed Kentucky landed receiver Earnest Sanders, offensive tackle Deondre Buford, and five-star defensive tackle Justin Rogers. JUCO offensive lineman Jeremy Flax is also from the state.
"I tell everybody, it's just the relationships," Clinkscale told Cats Illustrated. "I've been up there for a very long time. I can put a call in to any head coach and it's like we're brothers. I get a lot of inside scoop with what's going on with players and then it's building a relationship with those players. Those guys see me recruiting kids two or three years for every class. I invite all of them down, coaches bring all the players down."
Getting "in" on a player early is more challenging in the area for a simple reason. Talent in the region is harder to identify at that early stage.
"The thing about up north, and Vince Marrow will tell you about Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, is they don't have spring football so a lot of these places the talent develops a little bit later," he said. "If you don't know who this kid is, by the time he's a little older you're late. He's at Wisconsin, Michigan, or Michigan State. Those guys can help us win down here.
"What I try to do is build a relationship with those guys early. As time goes on I'm honest about what I see and what I don't see. Then we move forward building the relationship. I'm honest. I don't try to be a smooth talker. I offer a lot of guys so we can get in with good players. I know as an 8th or 9th grader, when Justin Rogers was 13 or 14 years old, having those coaches bring him down here, that's when the relationship started."
There were a lot of reputable people in recruiting circles who did not believe Kentucky would land Justin Rogers.
After the five-star signed with Kentucky, a lot of those same people didn't believe his commitment would stick.
After all, Rogers had been thought to be leaning towards Georgia. He then seemed to favor Tennessee after visiting Knoxville. Alabama was interested as well.
"People don't understand the relationships I have with people and the blessings God has put in my life," Clinkscale said this week. "I just sit there and roll with it. I hear people say he's not going to commit, he's not going to be very committed, this and that about me. At the end of the day it doesn't bother me. God's got a plan.
"When people are out there putting out things like, 'He should be here or there,' you take a 17-year old and keep putting that in their brain, I'm not saying he's going to waiver but maybe he has some doubts. My job is to get ahead of that and that's what I did."
How concerned was Clinkscale about Rogers' status after he verbally committed?
"I felt good about his commitment. We've been knowing Justin just as much if not more than anybody else. He's been down here a lot of times. Having Marquan McCall and DeAndre Square on the team really helped as well.
"But again, like I said, I wasn't worried. I just feel at times there's a lot of he said, she said stuff. People saying he's probably going to decommit. A lot of times people don't know the process. Kids tell people what they want to hear because they get tired of answering the same questions."
Now Clinkscale is working to put together an encore. UK has offered many of the top players from Michigan in the 2021 class.
"I feel good about this class coming up. It's a talented group from Michigan. The '21 class is talented. The amount of young men that can play in the (Southeastern) conference isn't as high but the talent of those that can play here is impressive. It's kind of like the year before this last one in that way."
