Pro scheme is enhancing Kentucky's recruit and develop motto

Mark Stoops has built a winning football culture at Kentucky. The Wildcats have created one of the most consistent programs in the SEC thanks to the “recruit and develop” mantra.

Under the former Florida State defensive coordinator, Kentucky has gone toe-to-toe with some big boys in college football and won their fair share of recruiting battles. Recently, the Wildcats have signed a pair of top-25 recruiting classes in the last three cycles. Meanwhile, the program has leaned into the transfer portal and found valuable players who have been immediate contributors in Lexington.

Recruiting talented players is an important piece of the puzzle, but it is just one piece. Once players are on campus and participating in football activities within the program, development must occur. Kentucky has had its fair share of tremendous success stories — Josh Allen, Jamin Davis, Calvin Taylor Jr. — and those have gotten a lot of attention. However, at the end of the day, it is all about getting players to the next level.

The NFL Draft is the intersection of where recruiting and development meet. An ultimate test occurs at end of April every year to determine who is doing the best job in college football. For the SEC, consistently lapping the rest of college football with draft picks has been a badge of honor for the best conference in the sport. As Kentucky continues to climb the ladder in the SEC East, the Wildcats must see multiple players drafted yearly so the program can continue its consistent growth.

That is now starting to happen regularly and the new offensive scheme at Kentucky is making a seismic impact.

“I’d say that’s the best part about the offense last year for me,” Luke Fortner told the media about the Kentucky offense preparing him for the NFL. “You talk to guys like [Logan] Stenberg and Landon [Young], and they talk about how they were a bit lost up there. They [NFL teams] were talking about things they’ve never heard of before. Having Liam Coen and now Coach [Rich] Scangarello — that NFL pro offense that they’re running is going to pay dividends for any guys that are leaving from here or going to the next level because all of the terminology is going to be the same. All the plays are going to be the same. They’re going to have done it all before. That’s priceless.

Priceless indeed. Not only were the results great on the field in the only season under Coen — No. 21 in yards per play, No. 5 in third down conversion rate, No. 8 in red zone touchdown rate — but Kentucky got players reads for the next level. Kentucky is planning for that to continue under Scangarello as Stoops made another hire from the NFL.

Wan’Dale Robinson left Nebraska to return home mainly due to the NFL scheme that was going to be installed at Kentucky. That marriage ended up being a home run.

“You’re going to go to the combine…and whenever you sit in those interviews you want to be able to understand what coaches are talking about. Obviously, this past year helped me in a big way,” said Robinson. “Just about every meeting I was in I was able to understand what was going on just because I’ve been in a pro-style scheme before.”

In a short sample size, the pro-style scheme also paid off on the recruiting trail in the class of 2022 as Kentucky was able to land a pair of top-100 prospects — Barion Brown and Kiyaunta Goodwin — on offense. A huge part of Kentucky’s football culture is the “recruit and develop” mantra and that is now showing up in multiple areas.

Players like playing at Kentucky and enjoy being a part of the system that Stoops has established.

“This place just allows you to grow as a person. There’s really good people here,” said Robinson. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”