Meet Chris Collins, Kentucky's New Defensive Backs Coach

The offseason has been busy for Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program. There were not one, not two, but FIVE coaching searches, the most recent concluding with the addition of Georgia State defensive backs coach Chris Collins.

Steve Clinkscale left an untimely void on Stoops’ staff. Typically, the coaching carousel stops spinning in the early spring around February or March. Finding a coach in mid to late May is a difficult task. Timing was not on Collins’ side either as his wife prepared to have their first child. Somehow, Collins was able to negotiate for the new job while his wife brought a new life into the world.

“We’re still happily married. She was very supportive,” he said. “I made sure before any of this transpired, I got the first call from Coach Stoops and I said, ‘Coach, I gotta check with the Captain now. I gotta check with the Captain before we move this thing more forward.’ She was all on board. She’s tremendously excited. We’ve got a phenomenal support system.”

The Collinses announced the birth of their son, Christopher III, days before Bruce Feldman reported that Chris was the frontrunner to fill the vacancy at UK.

Words can’t express how grateful I am for you baby Christopher III! God thank you for this amazing blessing, our firstborn son. #ProudDad pic.twitter.com/NzKZJJF6De

— Chris Collins (@CoachC_Collins) May 24, 2021

In his 15-minute introductory presser, Collins shared how former UK GA and Frederick Douglass head coach Brian Landis helped him land the job in Lexington, how he plans to attack the recruiting trail and much more.