Autonomy and Experience at Kentucky Drove Jay Bateman to Lexington

Will Stein isn’t the only Kentucky football coach who is spending the week preparing for a College Football Playoff game. We learned last Thursday that Jay Bateman is leaving Texas A&M to be Will Stein’s defensive coordinator. Before he officially takes his post at Kentucky, the seventh-seeded Aggies are hosting Miami in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

Juggling two jobs is a tall task, especially at this level of football. Even though Bateman is preparing to put on Kentucky blue, he’s not letting his players in College Station notice.

“I hope if you asked Taurean (York), Daymion (Sanford), Scooby (Williams), and Noah (Mikhail), they would say there’s nothing different.”

Bateman added, “I think Will’s been great. He’s been going through it, too, at Oregon. I’m just really focused on winning this game and the path to the Playoff with these kids. I think that’s the most important thing. When I get home at night, I spend as much time as I can reaching out to Kentucky players and doing those things, and trying to get ready for when that happens.”

For Bateman to get through this challenging time, he’s relying on the Real MVP, the head coach of his household. “You gotta have a great wife. I think she knows that right now I’m really focused.”

Like Oregon, Texas A&M is preparing for the CFP with offensive and defensive coordinators who will have new jobs next season. A&M play-caller Collin Klein will be the head coach at his alma mater, Kansas State, next season. Bateman wants his current players to understand during this time that you can’t take success for granted.

“When you do get a little bit of a break and you do get a night off, you pour everything you can into that new opportunity. That’s part of the deal. With success comes other opportunities, and when you get those, you have to maintain and give everything you have to win this game for our players. I think that’s the most important thing,” said Bateman.

What Drew Bateman to Kentucky

While most of the folks in College Station were curious how he would juggle jobs, you’re probably more interested in why he was drawn to Kentucky. Bateman is familiar with the program. He spent two seasons with Florida and got a front row seat to watch Ray Davis run all over the Gators when he coached inside linebackers.

“I was really intrigued with Will Stein, the new head coach. He reached out to me. His vision. I went up to Kentucky a couple of years ago when I was at Florida and they beat the brakes off of us. I thought, ‘Man, this is a really nice place,'” said Batemen.

That sounds nice, but he did say the quiet part out loud. There were questions about Bateman’s exact role at Texas A&M. He was the defensive coordinator, but was it his defense or Mike Elko‘s? There will be no question who’s leading the charge once he arrives in Lexington.

“I think the chance to have kind of autonomy as a defensive coordinator was really important to me, and this was one I felt really good about,” he said.

Texas A&M hosts Miami this Saturday at noon on ABC and ESPN. With a Cotton Bowl berth on the line, prepare to see cotton fly through the air at Kyle Field if the Aggies can survive and advance in the College Football Playoff.