Today I learned that Kentucky will accept Demarco Artis' commitment once he visits if he passes the eye test and they can determine a fit. But right now it's kind of in a holding pattern that's a little awkward. The kid will probably advertise himself as committed and the staff will probably be okay with that. They don't want to put him off and say he can't commit, but then again, they are being careful when it comes to accepting the commitment formally.
I am going to hold off on putting him on the commitment list until I get word that he's been accepted. One person told me, "He is a really good player," so right now I'm inclined to say in the long run the commitment will go seamlessly. Just playing it safe.
I do know that North Carolina had offered Artis after Kentucky had verbally offered him. Sometimes when a position coach is out on the road and verbally offers a kid it's a little more complicated than it seems on the surface.
Artis is a linebacker/defensive end and the big question is how he would fit into the defense. He's not quite as long as the Jack linebackers that Kentucky has recruited. That's the hybrid position. I don't know that he can realistically be a defensive end in Kentucky's current alignment, so the question for me is whether he's long enough to be a Jack or quick enough and good enough in space to be a straight up outside linebacker. Just throwing it out there.
Artis is planning to visit next year and with his Twitter commitment I'm assuming he'll try to make it happen sooner rather than later. He's planning to visit around the same time running back Trace Christian will be on campus visiting. I believe Christian considers Kentucky to be his favorite and that's the running back that Chad Scott wants to join Michael Warren as a 2017 commitment.
Mac Jones picked up an offer from West Virginia. They obviously sensed blood in the water. Not surprising that they would be the first school to offer after Shannon Dawson's exit. Dawson and Dana Holgorson obviously have a lot of the same mentalities when it comes to offensive philosophy and what they look for in the quarterback position.
Jones' stock has been soaring and he obviously knows a good bit about the Mountaineers given Shannon Dawson knowing about him for a long time. Might Dawson end up with the Mountaineers again in some capacity? That much I'm not sure of. Just mentioning Dawson and Holgorson's connection to underscore that as the reason for the offer; not insinuating he ends up back there.
I know that Mac Jones would have really liked to see Shannon Dawson stick around as the offensive coordinator. But yesterday he told me he's still committed and his statement, posted exclusively here at Cats Illustrated, shows that he had indeed come to love the Big Blue Nation and Kentucky even beyond Dawson. I think Jones will remain on board but given the change at coordinator he'll obviously be listening to what other schools have to say as any other player in his situation would. That'll be wait and see.
Much of the chatter lately regarding the offensive coordinator position has centered around Eddie Gran. I reported yesterday that Mark Stoops had his offensive coordinator picked out. I'm not sure whether that means there's an unwritten understanding of what will happen between Stoops and the guy, or whether that just means Stoops knows who he wants and is confident that's who he can get. But I also reported that next week is when the decision will come out.
Originally I think the staff change, at least at offensive coordinator, was to come out this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if that's when another change or two comes out. But that timing would correspond almost directly with what I've heard about when the next offensive coordinator would be announced. I think Gran is the most likely guy that Stoops has picked out but we'll have to wait and see for sure. Cincinnati has a bowl game right before Christmas and that timing would make sense, too, if it's him and what I've heard about the plan for announcing the choice is made known.
I wouldn't expect Tommy Mainord to be back at receivers coach and I would say that if he moves on then one name to watch would be Purdue's Gerad Parker. He's obviously got deep ties to Kentucky and from what I've heard he would be very anxious to come back and work in Lexington. He would be another very good local recruiter but I'm not sure how that would jive with John Schlarman being the local recruiter now. If Parker is the guy then he could recruit locally and Schlarman, who is a pretty respected recruiter, could continue to help locally and work elsewhere. That's speculation.
We reported that D.J. Eliot would be retained as defensive coordinator and this is what I've expected for quite some time. While the defensive adjustments in some respects have to improve, the defense was not seen as nearly as significant a problem as some commentators have made it out to be.
I am still expecting some changes to High Performance. I don't think the program will be scrapped entirely but based on what I learned and reported earlier this year, i.e. some discontent, that would be consistent there, too.
Kaderrion Mason, Carlos Becker, Trysten Hill, Nyquan Pringle, Seth Dawkins -- just some of the names still being tossed around on the 2016 front, but remember, it's a dead period.
It's more likely now than it seemed much earlier than Derrick Ansley might be sticking around and that would obviously bode well with players like Jordan Griffin and Davonte Robinson, but again, we'll have to wait and see how everything plays out.
I am going to hold off on putting him on the commitment list until I get word that he's been accepted. One person told me, "He is a really good player," so right now I'm inclined to say in the long run the commitment will go seamlessly. Just playing it safe.
I do know that North Carolina had offered Artis after Kentucky had verbally offered him. Sometimes when a position coach is out on the road and verbally offers a kid it's a little more complicated than it seems on the surface.
Artis is a linebacker/defensive end and the big question is how he would fit into the defense. He's not quite as long as the Jack linebackers that Kentucky has recruited. That's the hybrid position. I don't know that he can realistically be a defensive end in Kentucky's current alignment, so the question for me is whether he's long enough to be a Jack or quick enough and good enough in space to be a straight up outside linebacker. Just throwing it out there.
Artis is planning to visit next year and with his Twitter commitment I'm assuming he'll try to make it happen sooner rather than later. He's planning to visit around the same time running back Trace Christian will be on campus visiting. I believe Christian considers Kentucky to be his favorite and that's the running back that Chad Scott wants to join Michael Warren as a 2017 commitment.
Mac Jones picked up an offer from West Virginia. They obviously sensed blood in the water. Not surprising that they would be the first school to offer after Shannon Dawson's exit. Dawson and Dana Holgorson obviously have a lot of the same mentalities when it comes to offensive philosophy and what they look for in the quarterback position.
Jones' stock has been soaring and he obviously knows a good bit about the Mountaineers given Shannon Dawson knowing about him for a long time. Might Dawson end up with the Mountaineers again in some capacity? That much I'm not sure of. Just mentioning Dawson and Holgorson's connection to underscore that as the reason for the offer; not insinuating he ends up back there.
I know that Mac Jones would have really liked to see Shannon Dawson stick around as the offensive coordinator. But yesterday he told me he's still committed and his statement, posted exclusively here at Cats Illustrated, shows that he had indeed come to love the Big Blue Nation and Kentucky even beyond Dawson. I think Jones will remain on board but given the change at coordinator he'll obviously be listening to what other schools have to say as any other player in his situation would. That'll be wait and see.
Much of the chatter lately regarding the offensive coordinator position has centered around Eddie Gran. I reported yesterday that Mark Stoops had his offensive coordinator picked out. I'm not sure whether that means there's an unwritten understanding of what will happen between Stoops and the guy, or whether that just means Stoops knows who he wants and is confident that's who he can get. But I also reported that next week is when the decision will come out.
Originally I think the staff change, at least at offensive coordinator, was to come out this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if that's when another change or two comes out. But that timing would correspond almost directly with what I've heard about when the next offensive coordinator would be announced. I think Gran is the most likely guy that Stoops has picked out but we'll have to wait and see for sure. Cincinnati has a bowl game right before Christmas and that timing would make sense, too, if it's him and what I've heard about the plan for announcing the choice is made known.
I wouldn't expect Tommy Mainord to be back at receivers coach and I would say that if he moves on then one name to watch would be Purdue's Gerad Parker. He's obviously got deep ties to Kentucky and from what I've heard he would be very anxious to come back and work in Lexington. He would be another very good local recruiter but I'm not sure how that would jive with John Schlarman being the local recruiter now. If Parker is the guy then he could recruit locally and Schlarman, who is a pretty respected recruiter, could continue to help locally and work elsewhere. That's speculation.
We reported that D.J. Eliot would be retained as defensive coordinator and this is what I've expected for quite some time. While the defensive adjustments in some respects have to improve, the defense was not seen as nearly as significant a problem as some commentators have made it out to be.
I am still expecting some changes to High Performance. I don't think the program will be scrapped entirely but based on what I learned and reported earlier this year, i.e. some discontent, that would be consistent there, too.
Kaderrion Mason, Carlos Becker, Trysten Hill, Nyquan Pringle, Seth Dawkins -- just some of the names still being tossed around on the 2016 front, but remember, it's a dead period.
It's more likely now than it seemed much earlier than Derrick Ansley might be sticking around and that would obviously bode well with players like Jordan Griffin and Davonte Robinson, but again, we'll have to wait and see how everything plays out.
