Iron sharpens iron for connected Kentucky secondary: "Everybody's got a lot to prove."

Mark Stoops said the Kentucky secondary “can be a real strength of this team” to open fall camp, a group featuring the likes of J.Q. Hardaway, D.J. Waller, Terhyon Nichols, Jordan Lovett, Ty Bryant, Cam Dooley, Quay’Sheed and Jantzen Dunn. He doubled down on that confidence a week later, stressing that while he doesn’t want to get too carried away with any position, that one is definitely turning heads early.

“I don’t want to get the cart in front of the horse, but I feel like the secondary can be really good,” he continued.

What’s led to that breakthrough in a very deep and talented DB room? Stability.

“I say the camaraderie we have as a secondary, I feel like all the guys are very unified,” Hardaway said following Kentucky’s first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. “We all know each other. It’s like our second and third time, our third year playing with each other.

“Ty Bryant, it’s my third year playing with him. Jordan Lovett, DJ Waller and Terhyon Nichols played a lot last year. So I feel like we all know each other. We’re able to communicate with each other with just simple hand signals, we kind of have chemistry now.”

It’s never a good thing for your star corner to go down with an injury the way Maxwell Hairston did in 2024, missing five games with an AC joint sprain before returning in late November. During that time, though, guys like Waller and Nichols were thrown in with the SEC sharks to prepare for this moment as go-to pieces.

“I feel like it benefited them really well to the point now, when they’re coming out here in these game scenarios, they’re not like newcomers or rookies,” Hardaway added. “They’re kind of very veteran. They already know the system. It just gave them experience early, a little bit.”

There is experience, but also young standouts like four-star freshman Martels Carter Jr. ready to prove they belong, too. It’s a nice mix that allows iron to sharpen iron.

“He’s doing good, he’s doing good. He’s still learning,” Stoops said of Carter. “He’s got a lot to learn, but he’s getting better and getting a lot of reps. So he’s doing good. He’s got those experienced guys ahead of him.”

Carter, like everyone on the roster — and especially in the secondary — will have to earn every rep. If not, someone else will be there to take their spot.

That’s what Stoops is looking for in this program rebuild ahead of 2025.

“There are some good guys there working. Cam (Dooley) is another safety, though, we don’t talk a lot about, but he’s got some real ability,” he said. ” … We’ll see (what separates him to contribute early). I mean, the depth chart — there’s nothing set in stone, I’m not getting in any trap about any depth chart.

“Everybody’s got a lot to prove each and every day. Nothing’s going to be given to them at any position.”

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