Everything fell into place at Kentucky for TE Lincoln Watkins

Even casual college football fans can pick up on the unpredictable rollercoaster that is the recruiting process, but the players going through it experience it on an entirely different level.

Sometimes a player goes into the process with a pretty good idea of where he’s going to end up. Sometimes he doesn’t. And sometimes, how things play out is very different than what was expected.

Things came together in an unpredictable way for Kentucky and recent tight end commitment Lincoln Watkins, who comes from Port Huron (Mich.) Northern. Watkins was one of many players who committed to Kentucky during a June rush.

“It’s certainly been really nice to get all that taken care of so I can relax and enjoy the summer a little bit,” the 6’5, 240-pound tight end told Cats Illustrated this week. “I haven’t had to worry about all the extra details that go into recruiting, so I’ve been spending time with my family and helping to recruit other players.”

As it turns out, Watkins has actually been a huge help on the recruiting front. With the program having so much work to do, with only one commitment going into June, Watkins’ efforts proved to be valuable help with a number of other players who came on board recently. 

“With Danairius Gray and Matt Ponatoski, those are two guys I was really big for them in flipping,” Watkins said. “Preceding that, we got Tyreek Jemison. He was on an official visit with me and I pretty much reeled him in. Ben Duncum, from Texas, the defensive end. Really, most of those guys were there recently. The coaches told me to get to work and that’s what I did. It panned out for us. We’ve got a great class coming in. It’s going to be a special group.”

When Derek Shay took over as Kentucky’s tight ends coach that’s when the program’s pursuit of Watkins really picked up.

“Coach Shay got the job right in that last week of June,” Watkins recalled. “The next morning around lunch, immediately, I was the first phone call he made. He wanted to introduce himself. He knew my process was going a little weird with some of my schools and stuff happening, kids committing. I had cancelled a couple of my official visits. He saw I was posting stuff on Twitter and realized I was still on the market. He said he just got the job and wanted to hit me up. He said he knew it was late but he wanted to know if there was a chance of getting me down there for a visit. At that point I was really trying to get another OV so me and my family were like, why not. Might as well give it a shot, maybe something will happen.

“With how the visit turned out it was right on par with how my family is,” Watkins continued. “It perfectly lined up with what we look for. We’re big on relationships. For us it’s not so much about what the logo is or that kind of thing. It’s more so who the people are, who will I be surrounded with. They hit it right on the head with all of that. Coach Stoops does an amazing job of recruiting and with the coaches and players there it was very apparent for us. We were so pleased with how the program’s running. They gave us an offer and I felt like this was it, I really couldn’t pass it up. And I’ve been happy ever since.”

The change from Vince Marrow to Shay in the tight end room is going to be significant, as any position coaching change will be. But the recruiting impact will be noteworthy as well.

What was Shay like as a recruiter in Watkins’ experience?

“If I were to describe him, basically, I would say he’s a very down to earth person,” Watkins said. “He’s a very humble person although he has a very rich coaching history. The places he’s been and what he’s done as a tight ends coach is very impressive, but he takes that lightly, which is very admirable from a player standpoint. I look at him and he’s not all about himself. He’s about letting his players succeed. He’s very vulnerable with us. He’s completely open and honest with us. He just gives it like it is. He’s not trying to make something look better than it is. That can be in any context, whatever it’s going to be. How they’re going to use me when I get there. How certain coaches are and how I should expect them to treat me. That’s huge. He’s teaching me how it’s going to be and he’s a real person. He’s not one of those big-time recruiters where you get there and it’s like what the heck did I get myself into. That’s a big thing I loved about him. He’s all about relationships like the rest of the staff. He feels more like an uncle rather than a coach. That’s something important in football when you’re going every single day for four or five years straight. It gets old so you need to make sure you have people like that in your program, especially position coaches.”

Kentucky needed a tight end and Watkins needed the right college home, but there’s more to it than that. What did the coaching staff like about him as a player, that convinced them to pursue Watkins?

“I would say my biggest thing is my athletic ability for my size,” Watkins said. “Most tight ends as big as I am don’t really do the things I do, like the receiving standpoint. I’m a 4.5 (second) 40 guy. For coaches, they see that and that’s very impressive to them, being 6’5, 240 at my age. But I would say a huge thing is my versatility. I played every single position on the football field other than offensive line last season. For coaches, that really stands out to them. They see how versatile I am as a player and that I’m not just held to tight end but can do everything else. I wouldn’t want to say aggression, but that’s probably the best word for it; the aggression I play the game with. I’m a very physical player and I don’t shy away from anything. From a coaching standpoint that shows I’m ready to play. For Kentucky and Coach Shay, they think I’m ready to play right away when I get there. That’s their goal and what they want to see, how they think of me. They think I’m physically and mentally ready and in the recruiting process that did a lot for me. They have the confidence in me that I have in myself. They trust me and have a great plan for me. That includes me playing right when I get there if I can take that role. To me that’s huge because it’s an easier route to the NFL which is obviously the end goal.”