Kentucky wants to remain 'a recruit-and-develop program' in transfer portal era

Kentucky added 13 scholarship players to the roster this offseason. Mark Stoops and his coaching staff continue to prioritize the transfer portal. Adding players through the portal will be important, but it will remain a secondary recruiting tool for this program.

Kentucky’s roster-building efforts will always begin with high school recruiting. In the latest “Behind Kentucky Football” podcast, defensive coordinator Brad White touched on Kentucky’s recruiting philosophy and why it is important to stay patient in today’s modern landscape.

“You have to be very diligent. You have to be patient throughout. There can be sort of a gut reaction when you see a great player go in. Listen, we are very mindful that we are still a recruit and develop program. We recruit through high school and we develop those young men,” White told host Curtis Burch “But just in this age you are going to have to plug certain holes. Whether it be a starter position. Whether it be a backup position or sort of a depth position that you know that you’ve got a young man that still has years that you can help develop. It kind of almost takes sort of a backfill like if you lost a sophomore to the portal, you can kind of go find somebody that basically plugs that sophomore role and where he is in the development process so that you can continue to build it.”

In this year’s cycle, Kentucky lost 17 scholarship players to the transfer portal with eight of those players landing on power conference rosters.

• Kobi Albert (DB, Mississippi State)
• Deondre Buford (T, Cincinnati)
• Tomiwa Durojaiye (DL, West Virginia)
• Kiyaunta Goodwin (T, Florida)
• Chauncey Magwood (WR, UCF)
• Justin Rogers (DT, Auburn)
• Kavosiey Smoke (RB, Colorado)
• David Wohlabaugh Jr. (T, Syracuse)

The math alone tells us that the Wildcats have to use college football’s waiver wire to balance out the roster at a bare minimum. White believes that UK’s coaching staff is aware of what’s needed on the roster, but every player personnel decision is made carefully.

“We’re very mindful of how that young man will come in, how it will sort of affect the dynamic on the team because there is no player that’s more important than this team,” Kentucky’s defensive coordinator said. “No matter how good he is. We try to be very strategic in that regard. I think that’s why, for the most part, we’ve had success.”

The transfer portal requires some speed dating recruiting where decisions on players must be made in 1-2 weeks. That puts some added pressure on the staff. Kentucky uses a group effort to make these decisions, and past relationships or connections go a long way when looking for transfer additions.

In the past, Kentucky has found NFL Draft picks and quality starters in the transfer portal. UK is hopeful that this year’s crop will make an impact on the field in 2023. The portal helps fill holes on the roster, but the Wildcats don’t want to lose their identity even when free agents are needed to be starters or provide more depth.

Kentucky is a recruit-and-develop program and will only continue to win games by finding good high school prospects and turning them into good college football players on campus.