Kentucky Adjusts to the Absence of Vito Tisdale

There’s no sugar-coating it. The loss of Vito Tisdale is significant for this Kentucky football team.

“It’s definitely a big loss for our team and especially for Vito, because he’s a very good, a very active, versatile football player,” Mark Stoops said Thursday morning.

Sources told KSR Tisdale suffered a torn ACL and meniscus during an early spring practice. Kentucky’s head coach believes it will sideline the former four-star recruit for the entire 2022 season. The Bowling Green native will undergo surgery once the swelling decreases in the coming days and weeks.

Kentucky will find other defensive backs to fill in the void. However, UK cannot replicate the versatility, explosiveness and the excitement Tisdale brought to Brad White’s defense.

“I don’t know if anyone had that type of versatility: play nickel, play safety or play corner. We don’t have anybody that can do that,” Stoops said. “Vito was very active and he was very sudden. He had a lot of pop in everything that he did. But the instincts are in there as well. We just gotta have other guys step up.”

Time for Joel Williams to Shine

Kentucky does not have a jack-of-all-trades waiting to step in, but they do have a former four-star recruit ready to take snaps at the position Tisdale primarily played through his first two seasons. While Tisdale took early snaps at cornerback, Joel Williams was the Wildcats’ nickel in the ‘medium’ package, the base defense UK ran in 2021.

“He’s doing a good job at that position,” Stoops said. “As far as playing that spot, Joel’s done a nice job with the nickel, medium position. We’re counting on him a lot and we gotta bring some other guys along.”

Like Tisdale, Williams was one of six Wildcats sidelined for about six months last season while officials investigated an incident at an off-campus frat party. Forced to play catch-up, he was limited from making significant contributions in 2021. Kentucky’s defensive coordinator believes Williams has put in the work to be prepared to play in 2022.

“Joel’s will be one of the thicker mediums that we’ve played with in years past, which is good because it gives you a blend between playing base and big with the Jordan Wrights of the world and also having a little bit of DB to you.”

A Silver Lining without Tisdale

“It gets more reps to certain guys that need it. That’s the beauty of spring, it’s not fourth and one,” White said. “If you have to put a guy for a rep or two out of position, it’s good for him and he gets to feel, ‘Oh wow. The guy that actually plays here, this is a tough job if the guy in front of me doesn’t do it right.’ They gain an awareness of the entire structure and how it all pieces together. That’s why you do it. It’s no different than the bowl game, huh?”

Injuries forced Kentucky to cobble together its defense and offensive line in the Citrus Bowl. They skated by on short notice. The timing of Tisdale’s injury gives others plenty of time to mentally prepare for a bigger role. It also gives the coaches a chance to look for more players in the transfer portal. That strategy worked well last year.

Following D’Eryk Jackson‘s spring practice Achilles injury, Kentucky added Jacquez Jones from the portal. In addition to leading the Cats in tackles, he made a couple of game-saving pass break-ups. The Cats plan to keep their eyes peeled for valuable transfer portal assets.

“There’s always certain spots where you feel like you have the ability to bring somebody in, and I think that’s certainly a spot where we need to keep our eyes open,” said Stoops.