< Previous68 @UKFootball Players By Class Super Seniors (9) Josh Ali Luke Fortner Colin Goodfellow Zach Johnson Quandre Mosely William Nalty Justin Rigg Davonte Robinson Matt Ruffolo Seniors (24) Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald Tyrell Ajian Marquez Bembry Zac Berezowitz Yusuf Corker Cade Degraw Patrick Delahunty Cedrick Dort Jr. Austin Dotson Darren Edmond Isaiah Epps Collin Hartmann Jacquez Jones Darian Kinnard Shawn Lawson Marquan McCall Matthew Napier Chris Oats Joshua Paschal DeAndre Square Clevan Thomas Jr. Naasir Watkins Dillon Wheatley Jordan Wright Juniors (20) Alex Bascom Richard Bascom Brenden Bates Justice Dingle* Ben Drake Braxton Eiserman Jeremy Flax Joey Gatewood Kenneth Horsey Will Levis Rahsaan Lewis Tyler Markray Jordon Morrow Chance Poore Wan'Dale Robinson* Chris Rodriguez Jr. Kavosiey Smoke Keaton Upshaw Jack Varga Quintin Wilson Sophomores (18) Beau Allen Jared Casey Eli Cox Tae Tae Crumes Taj Dodson Moses Douglass Luke Fulton* Jalen Geiger Isaiah Gibson DeMarcus Harris Josaih Hayes K.D. McDaniel Tre'Von Morgan Octavious Oxendine Jake Pope Nik Scalzo Travis Tisdale J.J. Weaver r-Freshmen (25) R.J. Adams Sam Anaele Isaiah Beasley Jase Bruner Deondre Buford Kaleb Cheek Izayah Cummings Torrance Davis Michael Drennen II Cody Goatley Darren Green Rickey Hyatt Jr. D'Eryk Jackson Josh Jones JuTahn McClain Clay Perry Andru Phillips Justin Rogers Tre'Vonn Rybka Earnest Sanders IV Graham Wald Vito Tisdale Carrington Valentine Joel Williams John Young Freshmen (24) Jonathan Berry Wilson Berry* Jager Burton* Dekel Crowdus Jr. Trey Dennis Jordan Dingle Jamarius Dinkins Austin Gough Maxwell Hairston* Adrian Huey Chrisitan Lewis Conner Long Jordan Lovett* Chauncey Magwood* Lucas Padgett Paul Rodriguez Devonte Ross Kahlil Saunders Kaiya Sheron* Martez Thrower Trevin Wallace Jai Williams David Wohlabaugh* La'Vell Wright* * Mid-year enrolleeHead Coach MARK STOOPS 9 th Season n University of Kentucky@UKSportsNetwork 71 W hen the Kentucky football team took the field for the 2021 TaxSlay- er Gator Bowl, it made official yet another milestone in the remarkable term of Mark Stoops as the Wildcats’ head coach. Stoops became the first coach in school history to take his team to five consecu- tive bowl games, adding to his lengthy and growing list of accomplishments during his eight years at UK. As a program, it matched the school record of five straight postseason appearances, accomplished 2006-10 under two head coaches. Even in the abbreviated 2020 season, Stoops added two more achievements: Ken- tucky’s win at Tennessee was the Wildcats’ first victory in Knoxville since 1984; and, the regular-season finale over South Car- olina was Stoops’ 48th win at Kentucky, moving him into sole possession of sec- ond place, behind only the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. The Gator Bowl improved his total to 49. A partial accounting of Stoops’ exploits also features: • Back-to-back-to-back bowl wins – the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 2019 Belk Bowl and the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019 – the first time in school history that UK won bowls in three consecutive seasons; • First New Year’s Day Bowl win since 1951 (2018 season) • First 10-win season since 1977 (2018) • First SEC Coach of the Year since 1983 (2018) • First final poll ranking since 1984 (2018) • First bowl win since 2008 (2018) • First win vs. Florida since 1986 (2018) • First bowl appearance since 2010 (2016) In addition to the team accomplishments, several of Stoops’ players have won All-Amer- ica accolades, along with awards such as the Bronko Nagurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Paul Hornung Award, Ronnie Lott Tro- phy, Ray Guy Award, Danny Wuerffel Trophy, Pop Warner Award, Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award, Academic All-Amer- ica and National Good Works Team. The bountiful crop of victories and hon- ors are the fruit of the last five seasons, but the harvest didn’t come easily. Arriving in 2013, inheriting a team that had gone 2-10 the season before, it took three years of plowing, planting and growing before the results came. Stoops earned his first bowl game as head coach in 2016, when the Wildcats overcame an 0-2 start to go 7-3 down the stretch and advance to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. UK duplicated seven wins in 2017, playing in the Franklin-American Mortgage Music City Bowl. Led by linebacker Josh Allen, the Nation- al Defensive Player of the Year, and Benny Snell Jr., the school’s all-time leading rusher, the 2018 squad went 10-3. It was UK’s best season in 41 years, topped by a win over Penn State in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. It was only the third 10-win season in school his- tory. In addition, the 2018 campaign featured a win at Florida -- the Wildcats’ first victory over the Gators in 32 years -- resulting in UK being named the National Team of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America. The regular season concluded with a 56-10 win at in-state rival Louisville, the largest margin of victory in the history of the Governor’s Cup series. UK was No. 11 in the final USA To- day coaches’ poll and No. 12 in the final Associated Press tabulation, the school’s first appearance in the final rankings since 1984. The 2018 season also continued a re- markable trend -- since Stoops took over as coach of the Cats in 2013, UK was the only school in the nation that tied or improved its win total in six straight seasons. CollegeFootballNews.com listed Stoops as the best coaching performance of the season and he was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year by The Asso- ciated Press, Athlon Sports and the league coaches. The 2019 season was one of the most un- usual in school history. A succession of inju- ries decimated the quarterbacks and Stoops Head Coach University of Kentucky n Mark Stoops72 @UKFootball turned to wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. to man the QB position. Running the ball almost exclusively, UK went 6-2 down the stretch and closed the season with four straight wins, topped by a dramatic come- from-behind Belk Bowl win over Virginia Tech when Bowden threw the game-win- ning touchdown pass with only 15 seconds remaining. How has Stoops accomplished all of this? The coach would tell you that there’s been nothing magical about the process. True to his blue-collar roots in Youngstown, Ohio, the methodical ad- vancement made by Stoops’ teams is a re- flection of the coach’s rock-steady work eth- ic, tireless recruiting, and ability to adapt. Stoops came to Kentucky from Florida State, where he was defensive coordinator from 2010-12. He inherited a unit a unit ranked 108th in the nation in total defense and turned it into one of the nation’s best. In the 2012 season, the Seminoles were sec- ond in the nation in total defense, allowing 254.1 yards per game, and sixth nationally in scoring defense at 14.7 points per game. Playing well against the run and the pass, FSU was third in the country in rushing de- fense and led the nation in pass defense. FSU led the ACC in seven defensive cate- gories. Stoops also coached the defensive backs under head coach Jimbo Fisher. Eight Seminoles on defense earned 2012 All-ACC honors, including four first-team selections, highlighted by one of the nation’s top defensive end duos in Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine, who combined for 24 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. Werner was a finalist for the 2012 Bronko Nagurski Award as the National Defensive Player of the Year and was among the national lead- ers in sacks with 13. Stoops also coached cornerback Ronald Darby to ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Seminoles’ prowess was a contin- uation of the 2011 season, when Stoops’ defenders led the nation in fewest yards al- lowed per carry (2.3), ranked fourth in the nation in total defense (275 yards per game), second in rushing defense (82.7 ypg), fourth in scoring defense (15.1 points per game), and eighth in tackles for loss (8.6 per game) and quarterback sacks (3.1 per game). FSU led the ACC in eight defensive categories. Stoops overhauled the Florida State de- fense in 2010, his first season as defensive coordinator. The Seminoles gave up 19.6 points per game, third-best in the ACC and 20th nationally. FSU ranked 42nd national- ly in total defense that season; in contrast, the team was 108th nationally in total de- fense and 94th in scoring defense in 2009, the year before Stoops’ arrival. FSU im- proved its overall defense by more than 80 yards per game, primarily by limiting oppo- nents to 75 fewer rushing yards per game. The Seminoles ranked third in the nation in quarterback sacks and were 21st in tackles for loss. In the secondary, Stoops coached Xavier Rhodes to ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and National Defensive Freshman of the Year accolades. During Stoops’ three seasons, FSU went 10-4, 9-4 and 12-2, including wins over South Carolina in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Mark Stoops n Head Coach University of kentucky Opponent ..................................Record Alabama ..........................................0-3 Alabama State .................................1-0 Arkansas ..........................................1-0 Auburn ............................................0-2 Austin Peay.......... ............................1-0 Central Michigan .............................1-0 Charlotte .........................................1-0 Eastern Kentucky .............................2-0 Eastern Michigan .............................2-0 Florida .............................................1-7 Georgia ...........................................0-8 Georgia Tech ...................................0-1 Louisiana-Lafayette ..........................1-0 Louisiana-Monroe ...........................1-0 Louisville ........................................3-4 LSU .................................................0-1 Miami (Ohio) ...................................1-0 Middle Tennessee ............................1-0 Mississippi State ..............................3-5 Missouri ..........................................5-3 Murray State ....................................1-0 New Mexico State ...........................1-0 North Carolina State ........................1-0 Northwestern ...................................0-1 Ohio ................................................1-0 Ole Miss ..........................................0-2 Penn State........................................1-0 South Carolina .................................6-2 Southern Miss ..................................1-1 Tennessee ........................................2-6 Tennessee-Martin.............................2-0 Texas A&M ......................................0-1 Toledo .............................................1-0 Vanderbilt ........................................6-2 Virginia Tech ...................................1-0 Western Kentucky ............................0-1 Totals:..........................................49-50 Stoops vs All Opponents@UKSportsNetwork 73 Bowl, Notre Dame in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl and Northern Illinois in the 2013 Orange Bowl. Stoops was defensive coordinator and DBs coach at Arizona from 2004-09, work- ing for his brother, Mike, who was head coach of the Wildcats. During Mark’s time there, Arizona’s records improved steadily, going 3-8, 3-8, 6-6, 5-7, 8-5 and 8-5. The Wildcats advanced to the Las Vegas Bowl and Holiday Bowl during the last two years. Mark and Mike are also brothers of Bob Stoops, who spent 18 years as the Okla- homa head coach and has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. The el- dest Stoops brother, Ron Jr., is retired after coaching at Youngstown State. Stoops inherited an Arizona unit that was 109th in the nation in total defense and 107th in scoring defense in 2003, the year before he arrived. By the end of his term at Arizona, the Wildcats ranked in the nation’s top 25 in total defense his final two seasons and ranked as high as 33rd in scoring de- fense. Prior to Arizona, Stoops coached the defensive backs three years at Miami (Fla.). The 2001 national champion Hurricanes led the nation in pass efficiency defense, scoring defense and turnover margin. That team also established a school record with 27 interceptions and 45 total takeaways. Stoops’ 2002 secondary led the nation in pass defense and pass efficiency defense. Despite having to replace all four starters in the defensive backfield, the 2003 team led the nation in pass defense. In his three sea- sons, Miami went 35-3, including the 12-0 Rose Bowl title campaign, plus appearances in the Fiesta and Orange bowls. Ten Miami defensive backs who played at least one season under Stoops were eventually select- ed in the National Football League draft – seven in the first round. Stoops got his first experience in leading a defense as co-defensive coordinator at Houston in the 2000 season. He coached the secondary at Wyoming from 1997-99 and the Cowboys notched three straight winning seasons. A highlight of his time there was a school-record 24 interceptions in the ’97 season. His first full-time coach- ing job was in 1996 at South Florida, help- ing USF in the start-up of its program before the Bulls had their first kickoff in ’97. Stoops has recruited and developed numerous outstanding defensive backs, many of whom went on to National Foot- ball League careers. Among the notables are Antoine Cason and Michael Johnson at Arizona, Miami’s Philip Buchanon, Kelly Jennings, Brandon Meriweather, Ed Reed, Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph and Sean Taylor and Wyoming’s Brian Lee. Stoops was raised in Youngstown, Ohio. As did brothers Bob and Mike, Mark played in the secondary at the University of Iowa for Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry. He participated in four bowl games as a player. Fry hired Stoops as a graduate assistant coach at Iowa in the 1990 and ’91 seasons. The Hawkeyes won the 1990 Big Ten title and played in the Rose Bowl, duplicating feats Stoops also achieved as a player. Stoops went on to coach four years in high school before entering the colle- giate ranks. Stoops has two sons, Will and Zack. Head Coach University of Kentucky n Mark Stoops Year School Position W-L Bowl 1990 Iowa Graduate Assistant 8-4 Rose 1991 Iowa Graduate Assistant 10-1-1 Holiday 1992-95 Nordonia HS Defensive Backs 1996 South Florida Defensive Backs 0-0 1997 Wyoming Defensive Backs 7-6 1998 Wyoming Defensive Backs 8-3 1999 Wyoming Defensive Backs 7-4 2000 Houston Co-Defensive Coord., Safeties 3-8 2001 Miami (Fla.) Defensive Backs 12-0 Rose 2002 Miami (Fla.) Defensive Backs 12-1 Fiesta 2003 Miami (Fla.) Defensive Backs 11-2 Orange 2004 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 3-8 2005 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 3-8 2006 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 6-6 2007 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 5-7 2008 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 8-5 Las Vegas 2009 Arizona Defensive Coordinator, DBs 8-5 Holiday 2010 Florida State Defensive Coordinator, DBs 10-4 Chick-fil-A 2011 Florida State Defensive Coordinator, DBs 9-4 Champs Sports 2012 Florida State Defensive Coordinator, DBs 12-2 Orange 2013 Kentucky Head Coach 2-10 2014 Kentucky Head Coach 5-7 2015 Kentucky Head Coach 5-7 2016 Kentucky Head Coach 7-6 TaxSlayer Gator 2017 Kentucky Head Coach 7-6 Music City 2018 Kentucky Head Coach 10-3 Citrus 2019 Kentucky Head Coach 8-5 Belk 2020 Kentucky Head Coach 5-6 TaxSlayer Gator The Mark Stoops Coaching File 74 @UKFootball Jovon Bouknight enters his second season at UK. Prior to UK, he had coaching stints at Or- egon, Texas Tech and Utah State. Bouknight was a standout wide receiver at Wyoming, where he concluded his career ranked 20th all-time in NCAA history for both career re- ceiving yards (3,626) and career receptions (250). He also ranks second all-time in Moun- tain West history in each of those two cate- gories. 2008-09 Utah State Graduate Assistant 2010-13 Utah State Wide Receivers 2014-15 Utah State Outside Receivers/Passing Game Coord. 2016 Utah State Co-Offensive Coordinator 2017-18 Utah State Outside Receivers 2019 Texas Tech Wide Receivers 2019 Oregon Wide Receivers 2020-present Kentucky Wide Receivers JOVON Bouknight Wide Receivers Frank Buffano was hired in March of 2020 af- ter serving seven years as the director of foot- ball operations at UK. He helps Chris Collins with the defensive backs and works primari- ly with the safeties. He will also serve as the co-special teams coordinator with John Settle. Safety Yusuf Corker shined under Buffano in 2020 with 77 tackles (second on the team), two interceptions, 2.5 TFL, two PBU and one forced fumble. Also returning to form after in- jury in 2019 was senior Davonte Robinson. He had 27 tackles in 2020, including 2.0 TFL. 2008-09 Arizona Defensive Graduate Assistant 2010 Youngstown State Secondary 2011-12 Youngstown State Linebackers 2020-21 Kentucky Safeties 2021-present Kentucky Safeties/Co-Special Teams Coordinator FRANK Buffano Safeties / Co-Special Teams Coordinator 2021 Coaching Staff@UKSportsNetwork 75 Chris Collins enters his first season at Ken- tucky coaching the defensive backs. Collins was hired in June of 2021 after four seasons as the safeties coach at Georgia State. He helped the Panthers advance to a bowl game in three of his four seasons. Collins was a four-year letter winner and two-year captain as a safe- ty and outside linebacker at Western Carolina from 2006-09. He finished his career with 303 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, nine forced fum- bles and five pass breakups. 2011-12 Western Carolina Defensive Assistant 2013-14 Catawba Secondary/Special Teams Coordinator 2015 Appalachian State Defensive Graduate Assistant 2016 Western Carolina Assistant Linebackers Coach 2017-18 Georgia State Assistant Safeties Coach 2019-20 Georgia State Assist. Safeties Coach/Recruiting Coordinator 2021-present Kentucky Defensive Backs CHRIS Collins Defensive Backs Liam Coen is in his first season at Kentucky as the offensive corrdinator and quarterbacks coach. Coen spent the last three years with the Los Angeles Rams, 2018 and ‘19 as the assis- tant wide receivers coach before being named assistant quarterbacks coach prior to the 2020 season. Coen played collegiate football at UMass and had an illustrious career as a four- year starter at quarterback from 2005-08. He set nearly every career UMass passing record. 2010 Brown Quarterbacks Coach 2011 Rhode Island Quarterbacks Coach 2012-13 Brown Quarterbacks Coach 2014-15 UMass Pass Game Coord./Quarterbacks Coach 2016-17 Maine Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach 2018-19 Los Angeles Rams Asst. Wide Receivers Coach 2020 Los Angeles Rams Asst. Quarterbacks Coach 2021-present Kentucky Offensive Coordinator/QBs Coach LIAM Coen Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Former Wisconsin running backs coach John Settle is in his first season at Kentucky. Set- tle comes to the Bluegrass with 26 years of coaching experience, including six in the NFL, 19 bowl appearances and a long list of successful running backs. Eleven years of his coaching career were spent at Wisconsin, the most recent as the running backs coach from 2015-2021. He also coached the Badger run- ning backs from 2006-10. 1994 Appalachian State Running Backs 1995 Cleveland Browns Offensive Assistant 1996-97 Baltimore Ravens Offensive Assistant 1998-05 Fresno State Running Backs 2006-10 Wisconsin Running Backs 2011-12 Carolina Panthers Running Backs 2013 Cleveland Browns Running Backs 2014 Pittsburgh Running Backs 2015-21 Wisconsin Running Backs 2021-present Kentucky Running Backs/Co-Special Teams Coordinator JOHN Settle Running Backs/Co-Special Teams Coordinator VInce Marrow, aka the “Big Dawg”, enters his ninth season as associate head coach/ tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator/NFL liasison. Marrow’s tight ends have been a big factor in UK producing five consecutive sea- sons of 2,000 or more rushing yards with at least one 1,000-yard rusher in four of those (Stanley “Boom” Williams -2016; Benny Snell Jr., - 2017, 2018; Lynn Bowden - 2019). Mar- row also has been instrumental in UK signing eight straight top-50 recruiting classes. 2005-06 Berlin (NFL Europe) Tackles, Tight Ends 2006-07 Rhein (NFL Europe) Tackles, Tight Ends 2008 Toledo Tight Ends 2009 Holland HS Head Coach 2010 Omaha (United Football League) Tight Ends 2011-12 Nebraska Graduate Assistant/Tight Ends 2013 Kentucky Tight Ends 2014-18 Kentucky Tight Ends, Recruiting Coordinator 2019-present Kentucky Associate Head Coach/Tight Ends VINCE Marrow Associate Head Coach/Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator 2021 University of Kentucky n Coaching Staff76 @UKFootball Former Wildcat Anwar Stewart was named the defensive line coach at Kentucky in January of 2020. He returned to the Bluegrass after one season as the defensive line coach at Appa- lachian State. Stewart is quite familiar with the Kentucky football program after playing linebacker/defensive end from 1996-99 under head coaches Bill Curry and Hal Mumme and having served as a student assistant and defen- sive assistant under head coach Mark Stoops from 2017-18. 2014 Montreal Alouettes Defensive Quality Control 2015 Montreal Alouettes Defensive Ends 2016 Montreal Alouettes Defensive Line 2017-18 Kentucky Defensive Assistant 2019 Appalachian State Defensive Line 2020-present Kentucky Defensive Line ANWAR Stewart Defensive Line Former Wildcat linebacker Jon Sumrall en- ters his third season as the inside linebackers coach and first as co-defensive coordinator, a title he earned in 2021. Prior to UK, Sumrall spent time at Ole Miss, Troy, Tulane and San Diego. Sumrall was a three-year letter winner at middle linebacker at Kentucky from 2002- 04. He started every game in 2004, leading the Wildcats with 72 tackles. He also excelled off the field as he was named to the SEC Ac- ademic Honor Roll and was selected to the Frank G. Ham Society of Character. 2005-06 Kentucky Graduate Assistant 2007-09 San Diego Defensive Line, Recruiting Coordinator 2010 San Diego Co-Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers 2011 San Diego Asst. Head Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers 2012-13 Tulane Defensive Line 2014 Tulane Assistant Linebackers 2015-17 Troy Special Teams Coordinator, Linebackers 2018 Ole Miss Linebackers 2019 Kentucky Inside Linebackers 2020-present Kentucky Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers JON Sumrall Inside Linebackers/Co-Defensive Coordinator Brad White enters his fourth season at Ken- tucky as the outside linebackers coach and third as the Cats’ defensive coordinator. He was elevated to the DC position by head coach Mark Stoops in February of 2019. White came to Kentucky after spending six years at the out- side linebackers coach with the Indianapolis Colts. A graduate of Wake Forest, White start- ed at linebacker and finished his playing ca- reer with 227 tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and eight passes defensed, while starting 34-of-35 games played. 2007-08 Wake Forest Defensive Graduate Assistant 2009 Murray State Safeties 2010-11 Air Force Inside Linebackers 2012-13 Indianapolis (NFL) Defensive Quality Control 2014 Indianapolis (NFL) Assistant Linebackers 2015-17 Indianapolis (NFL) Outside Linebackers 2018 Kentucky Outside Linebackers 2019-present Kentucky Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers BRAD White Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers Eric Wolford was hired as the new offensive line coach in December of 2020. Prior to UK, Wolford spent the previous four seasons at South Carolina. Wolford has over 25 years of coaching experience, including two in the NFL. Wolford was a four-year starter as an of- fensive guard at K-State under Bill Snyder. He went on to start 34 games in his career, in- cluding 21 at right guard and 13 at left guard. During his senior year, the Wildcats won the school’s first bowl game in the 1993 Copper Bowl, defeating Wyoming. 1996 Emporia State (Division II) Offensive Line/Strength Coach 1997-99 South Florida Offensive Line 2000-02 Houston Offensive Line 2003 North Texas Offensive Line 2004-06 Arizona Offensive Line 2007-08 Illinois Offensive Line 2009 South Carolina Offensive Line 2010-14 Youngstown State Head Coach 2015-16 San Francisco 49ers Offensive Line 2017-20 South Carolina Offensive Line 2020-present Kentucky Offensive Line ERIC Wolford Offensive Line Coaching Staff n 2021 University of KentuckyNext >