No one had to tell the players on this season’s Kentucky football team that last season didn’t exactly go as planned.
“I think it’s kind of a known,” said senior offensive lineman Eli Cox at SEC Football Media Days on Wednesday. “With the success we’ve had here before with (Coach Mark) Stoops, that’s just not our standard, not the way we want to be. There’s obviously a lot more talent than 7-5 in that room and in that building.”
And yet 7-5 overall is exactly where the Cats landed before the campaign ended with a thud, thanks to the shutout loss to Iowa in the Music City Bowl.
While there was plenty of blame to spread for failing to meet expectations, multiple fingers pointed at the position group of which Cox is a member, i.e. the Big Blue Wall.
That was last season. A new season begins Sept. 2. That means new players. New positions for old players. A new outlook for the offensive line.
Did we mention new players? Before spring drills, the transfer portal brought offensive tackle Marques Cox from Northern Illinois and interior offensive lineman Tanner Bowles from Alabama. The spring portal delivered Courtland Ford from USC, Ben Christman from Ohio State and Dylan Ray from West Virginia.
“We feel like we’ve added some pieces we desperately needed,” Stoops said Wednesday. “Just in the spring alone with Marques at left makes a big difference. That alone. Then Courtland having the opportunity to compete with Jeremy (Flax) at right makes a big difference as well because there were just some areas that it was tough last year.”
“They’re great guys who fit in the room well,” Cox said of the newcomers. “I think that’s the first thing you look for. They’ve obviously been at Power Five universities before, so they all have the ability to play. The biggest things was going out and finding guys who fit our culture, finding guys who want to work hard, have that blue collar mentality that UK has built that Big Blue Wall on.”
Did we say new positions for old players? More like old positions for old players. For example, after playing left tackle out of necessity last season, sixth-year player Kenneth Horsey is back at guard.
“Kenneth did a remarkable job of being a swing guy and playing a lot of different positions, but you put him in a tough spot playing left (tackle),” Stoops said.
The starting center last season, Cox is back at guard, where he started two seasons ago. After starting at guard in 2022, Jager Burton is at center for 2023. “I’m excited to see what Jager can do in that spot,” Cox said.
Cox played at West Jessamine. Burton played at Frederick Douglass. Cox described their relationship as “a continuing collaboration.” After all, Cox played center just one year.
“We’re still leaning on Drake, who played it for four years and was pretty good at it,” Cox said of graduate assistant and former All-SEC center Drake Jackson.
They’re also leaning on new/old offensive coordinator Liam Coen, back for his second stint as Kentucky’s play-caller, and Zach Yenser, back for his second season as the team’s offensive line coach.
Has the Coen-Yenser combination changed anything?
“We’re just trying to simplify things, so guys can play fast and play free,” Cox said. “I think we kind of got bogged down with details last year, but we’re moving on to this season and moving on to Coach Coen’s offense. A lot of the verbiage will be the same and having another year with Coach Yenser is going to be great so everyone can learn the way he coaches, how he wants things done.”
Yenser is a very player-oriented offensive line coach, said Cox. He wants input from players on calls they like and don’t like.
So how will this all shake out?
“I feel good,” Stoops said Wednesday. “It’s yet to be seen. We have to go prove it. We’ve got to put it all together.”
