By Ashley Scoby
Special to NKyTribune
The value of forgetfulness is encouraged in myriad forms – coaches preaching memory loss to their interception-friendly quarterbacks, a rap song telling you to brush dirt off your shoulders. Regardless of how people invite short memories into their lives, it can bring a certain peace of mind.
And in college football recruiting? It’s the same mindset.
After a rough couple of weeks leading up to National Signing Day, when Kentucky lost five commitments, including those from a pair of four-star defensive backs, the coaching staff had several defections to forget about. But it’s onto the next ones, they say. Somewhere in America, there’s always a replacement.
“You’re going to get kids; you’re going to lose kids. That’s the way it is,” said Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. “The way I look at it is you want kids who want to be here. If a kid doesn’t want to be here, good luck to him. We’re gonna coach the kids with UK on their helmet.”
At the end of Signing Day, Kentucky’s 2015 class was hovering around the top 35 nationally according to Rivals’ rankings.
“We’ve gone through some ups and some downs, but overall, very pleased, very happy with this group,” said head coach Mark Stoops. “There are some very good football players that are going to be joining us and very excited to have them. So just overall very pleased, very happy.”
The Wildcats still ended up with five players rated as 4-stars by at least one major service: offensive lineman George Asafo-Adjei, linebackers Eli Brown and Jordan Jones, tight end CJ Conrad and defensive back Marcus Walker.
Star ratings are points of contention no matter what: Size is not. And Kentucky got that, too, on Wednesday’s Signing Day. Out of the 23 signees, 11 of them are at least 6-foot-5 or taller. Length, physicality and frames that could support more weight if needed – those were the qualities Stoops’ staff has been on the run for, especially at offensive line and wide receiver.
“We needed more girth. We need to be more physical. You hear me talk about that time and time again. So I feel good about the offensive line,” Stoops said. “Another group that you see great length and great size is the wide receiver position. Two guys in the 6-3 range, one guy in the 6-6 range, and once again, we’re starting to build a quality group of receivers.”
Even with the decommitments, the 2015 class will still go down as one of the best group in program history since the inception of ranking services.
The development of that class, however, will come down to what the staff does not on the road, but in the facilities and on the field.
Since Stoops was hired, “recruit and develop” has been the popular slogan tossed around. Although the first half of that phrase took the crown on Wednesday, development will quickly move to center stage.
And even with oceans of talent, it’s tough to win if coaches don’t do anything with it.
“If guys come in and stay the same as they were in high school, they’re not gonna be able to play at this level,” said offensive line coach John Schlarman. “I think on a day like today, that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. But it’s a huge piece of the puzzle.”
Just ask defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh. To him, Signing Day is just a “let’s work” rallying cry.
“At LSU, we had a lot of first-round draft picks, but what people don’t realize is we developed those guys,” he said. “Everybody’s got talent. But it’s going that extra mile and really developing these guys. … It starts right now.”
Ashley Scoby is a senior journalism major at the University of Kentucky and a KyForward sports writer. She has reported on the Wildcats for wildcathoops.com, vaughtsviews.com andkysportsreport.com as well as for newspapers in Danville and Glasgow. She will begin a summer internship with Sports Illustrated magazine in New York this June.