** Mark Stoops made a visit to Sayre where Chad Pennington is the head coach. The school is home to Brock Coffman, a receiver with an offer from Maryland (2025).
** Liam Coen visiting Ryan Montgomery next week can't be bad news on the OC front. When UK accepted commits from Boley (24) and Saunders (25) it looked like Montgomery became a long shot. Truthfully, that may still be the case, but Coen going to visit is interesting. I can tell you that the Montgomery family has always thought very highly of Coen and seems like they have followed his name being in the news closely. In this day and age you just have to think about recruiting differently. Most HS commitments aren't as important as they used to (lots will end up in portal), the portal has taken over so much of its significance, and sometimes coming in second for a top QB and recruiting him through the finish line gives you a chance to be his No. 1 portal destination. At the very least, Coen is going through all of his offseason job responsibilities for Kentucky as though he will be around next year.
** Coen just extended an offer to 4-star QB Matt Zollers, who has recently blown up. Do not get the impression that the offer signifies a surge in interest in Kentucky yet. Just getting their hat in the ring for the recruitment ahead. And again, remember that recruiting HS QBs now, more than anything else, is about just building and keeping long-term relationships that could pay off in the form of HS commitments or portal down the road.
** Vince Marrow paid a visit to four-star Rivals250 RB Marquise Davis today. He has thought highly of Kentucky for some time but haven't handicapped the race, know a lot of other schools are involved. The coach at the school told me that Marrow's visit was very productive and good.
** Still think UK is in good shape with 2025 WR Eugene Hilton, especially assuming Coen is around as OC.
** Mentioned in another post that UK is taking a hard look at Arizona DB Tacario Davis. He was one of many Zona players to go into the portal after Wildcat coach Jedd Fisch left to take the job at Washington. (That move is a gut punch for Arizona football fans, leaving for Pac-12 rival Washington, which was just in the playoff and is off to greener pastures in the Big Ten). I'm sure a lot of other schools are going to be in on him, but Kentucky does have an interesting situation to offer. Need someone who could compete to be a starting cornerback, in the SEC, have put some DBs into the NFL recently. Seems like it could be an interesting possibility but again, I'm sure a lot of schools will be in play.
** Have come to believe, increasingly, that OL Isaac Sowells is a very important recruit for Kentucky. The No. 1 thing they have to get back to on offense is the ability to run the ball. Could have finished a couple of games this year if they could have run the ball better. And a lot of that is improving the offensive line. Kentucky isn't going to recruit many instant Day 1 starters so you have to play the long game. When you have an in-state OL who just picked up Penn State and has a bunch of other Mid-Atlantic P5 offers, that's a guy you need to get. Since it's also harder to keep developmental players with the portal, getting a local guy gives you a better chance to keep him in the program. Very important recruit to get for Kentucky.
** Louisville is tapping back in and making it known they are in play for Kentucky high school talent. Jody Demling reported recently that UofL's staff hit 40 Kentucky high schools on Friday. To me, that just means they're basically saying, "We had conceded the state under Satterfield. We've been a portal program so far. Now we're going to try to go after some KY kids." Going to be hard for them to win over a lot of guys who aren't in Jefferson County but Sowells, for instance, is going to be a battle.
** If you're on social media you may have noticed that Gerald Mincey mentioned he was hurt by a lot of comments from Tennessee fans upon his departure from the school. After more comments he quote tweeted himself with "Nov. 2" so he's got the UK/UT game circled for sure. My first thought upon his transfer is that Mincey will one day be a fascinating person to talk to when it comes to SEC football in this era. Three East schools in a span of four years. Someone else pointed out to me that Jordan Anthony was three in three.
** Liam Coen visiting Ryan Montgomery next week can't be bad news on the OC front. When UK accepted commits from Boley (24) and Saunders (25) it looked like Montgomery became a long shot. Truthfully, that may still be the case, but Coen going to visit is interesting. I can tell you that the Montgomery family has always thought very highly of Coen and seems like they have followed his name being in the news closely. In this day and age you just have to think about recruiting differently. Most HS commitments aren't as important as they used to (lots will end up in portal), the portal has taken over so much of its significance, and sometimes coming in second for a top QB and recruiting him through the finish line gives you a chance to be his No. 1 portal destination. At the very least, Coen is going through all of his offseason job responsibilities for Kentucky as though he will be around next year.
** Coen just extended an offer to 4-star QB Matt Zollers, who has recently blown up. Do not get the impression that the offer signifies a surge in interest in Kentucky yet. Just getting their hat in the ring for the recruitment ahead. And again, remember that recruiting HS QBs now, more than anything else, is about just building and keeping long-term relationships that could pay off in the form of HS commitments or portal down the road.
** Vince Marrow paid a visit to four-star Rivals250 RB Marquise Davis today. He has thought highly of Kentucky for some time but haven't handicapped the race, know a lot of other schools are involved. The coach at the school told me that Marrow's visit was very productive and good.
** Still think UK is in good shape with 2025 WR Eugene Hilton, especially assuming Coen is around as OC.
** Mentioned in another post that UK is taking a hard look at Arizona DB Tacario Davis. He was one of many Zona players to go into the portal after Wildcat coach Jedd Fisch left to take the job at Washington. (That move is a gut punch for Arizona football fans, leaving for Pac-12 rival Washington, which was just in the playoff and is off to greener pastures in the Big Ten). I'm sure a lot of other schools are going to be in on him, but Kentucky does have an interesting situation to offer. Need someone who could compete to be a starting cornerback, in the SEC, have put some DBs into the NFL recently. Seems like it could be an interesting possibility but again, I'm sure a lot of schools will be in play.
** Have come to believe, increasingly, that OL Isaac Sowells is a very important recruit for Kentucky. The No. 1 thing they have to get back to on offense is the ability to run the ball. Could have finished a couple of games this year if they could have run the ball better. And a lot of that is improving the offensive line. Kentucky isn't going to recruit many instant Day 1 starters so you have to play the long game. When you have an in-state OL who just picked up Penn State and has a bunch of other Mid-Atlantic P5 offers, that's a guy you need to get. Since it's also harder to keep developmental players with the portal, getting a local guy gives you a better chance to keep him in the program. Very important recruit to get for Kentucky.
** Louisville is tapping back in and making it known they are in play for Kentucky high school talent. Jody Demling reported recently that UofL's staff hit 40 Kentucky high schools on Friday. To me, that just means they're basically saying, "We had conceded the state under Satterfield. We've been a portal program so far. Now we're going to try to go after some KY kids." Going to be hard for them to win over a lot of guys who aren't in Jefferson County but Sowells, for instance, is going to be a battle.
** If you're on social media you may have noticed that Gerald Mincey mentioned he was hurt by a lot of comments from Tennessee fans upon his departure from the school. After more comments he quote tweeted himself with "Nov. 2" so he's got the UK/UT game circled for sure. My first thought upon his transfer is that Mincey will one day be a fascinating person to talk to when it comes to SEC football in this era. Three East schools in a span of four years. Someone else pointed out to me that Jordan Anthony was three in three.
