2024 Commit Hayes Johnson Wants to Bring an SEC Championship to Kentucky

[Ed. Note: This feature on UK commit Hayes Johnson is from KSR+, KSR’s new premium sister site. We’ve unlocked it to give you an idea of the content on KSR+. For more bonus coverage of the Cats and access to KSBoard, our new message board, take advantage of our launch special: only $10 until football season.]

Hayes Johnson is ready to bring an SEC Championship home to Lexington. 

The 2024 Kentucky football commit told KSR+ that he wants to bring Kentucky its first SEC Championship in decades.

“We’ve had the chance and haven’t been able to make it to Atlanta. That’s something that I want,” Johnson told KSR+. “I’d like to be part of a team that went to the SEC Championship. If we’re there, we might as well win it.” 

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound offensive tackle from Taylor County (K.Y.) is now a three-star recruit, the first of two commits in Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class, and a menace on the offensive line, but it hasn’t always been that way. 

Johnson first picked up the game of football in first grade. He played until fifth grade, but never developed much of a passion for the sport. Instead, he enjoyed his time playing basketball, opting for the court over the field in middle school. However, by the time high school was approaching, the head football coach at Taylor County was encouraging him to rejoin the gridiron.

“He had begged me to play football all through middle school,” Johnson said. “He would walk up to me during basketball practices and almost stop the practice to talk to me about playing football. I told him I wanted to play. As soon as the season ended, I got in the weight room with all the high schoolers and fell in love with it. I’ve been working since then.”

Still, Johnson didn’t truly see a future for himself in the game. 

That all changed when Johnson made his way to Tuscaloosa for a camp at the University of Alabama, playing against some of the top recruits in the country. 

“It meant nothing to me,” Johnson said. 

However, with Alabama coach Nick Saban in attendance, Johnson made quite the impression. 

“I took a kid and I stuck him right on the inside pec and then another one right to the throat and stood him up on the line of scrimmage,” he said. “At that moment, I knew I could play college football.” 

Hayes Johnson’s Ascension to Kentucky

It’s no coincidence that around that same time, Hayes Johnson began working with Chris Vaughn, the CEO and Founder of Aspirations Fitness in Louisville. The two were introduced by the family of another player at Taylor County, helping springboard Johnson’s development. 

The moment that stands out most to Johnson happened during his third session with Vaughn, competing in a one-versus-two workout against Micah Carter and William Spencer, both future Louisville commits. 

“Chris put me through a hellacious workout,” Johnson said. “We did a little warming up and then it was basically one v. two for 50-something reps. I had to do every 50 and the other guys split them. We just got after it. Afterwards, I was cut up, bloody. After that, I think I earned some respect over there.” 

Vaughn remembers the experience quite similarly. 

“Hayes had a bloody nose, shirt ripped up, scratched, clawed all over the place, but he was still competing every rep,” Vaughn said. “Those two were rotating back and forth on him. I was really trying to test his mental (toughness) to see where he was. The kid didn’t back down one bit. That’s the moment I knew he was going to be a player.” 

Receiving the Kentucky Offer

Just days after that intense workout, Johnson received a call from the University of Kentucky coaching staff, extending him an offer. 

“I was just kind of in shock,” Johnson said. “I was still in the adrenaline of playing football because we had just gotten done doing one-on-ones and I didn’t think much of it at the time. We got down the road and then it kind of hit me — oh, I just got offered from Kentucky. I got goosebumps after I settled down and realized what had happened.” 

That was on June 14, 2021 — a full year and a half before his eventual commitment to Kentucky — but the decision was already made. 

“From the moment I got offered by Kentucky, I knew that was where I was going,” Johnson said. 

While some players might face fear in becoming the first commit in a school’s recruiting class, Johnson saw it as an opportunity. 

“I’ve grown up a Kentucky fan and it meant a lot to me to be that first commit and lead the class,” he said. “I knew I could sell Kentucky and tell these recruits times when [Mark] Stoops had made history and broke down doors to take Kentucky football to a place they haven’t been. Tell these recruits, why not? Why not be a part of this?” 

The first recruit on Johnson’s radar was Aba Selm, a 2024 interior offensive lineman, who happened to be on campus for Kentucky’s Junior Day in January at the same time as Johnson. 

“Let’s be the first two,” Johnson told Selm. “This state loves offensive linemen. We can make a difference. We can build this class. The running backs will run behind us. It starts with us playing football, but it can start with us right here in the recruiting process.” 

As a Player

Three-star offensive tackle Hayes Johnson of Taylor County is the No. 897-ranked player in the country, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. 

Scott Parkey, the head coach at Taylor County, has only been coaching Johnson for one season, but due to his previous coaching experience, he was able to scout against the three-star lineman. 

“We really had to account for him, both offensively and defensively,” Parkey said. “Mainly, when he was on offense, it was pretty obvious that he was the guy up front. We tried to make sure that we had a good matchup for him that would try to frustrate him a little bit and try to get him out of his game. He ended up winning.” 

Now, as Johnson’s head coach, Parkey gets a first-hand look at what makes Johnson a special player. 

“The thing that stood out to me was his eagerness to learn,” Parkey said. “That was the thing that really jumped out at me. He came and would try and pick my brain on little things along the way, little fundamental things. The scheme parts of things were really impressive to me that he was able to ask good questions about.” 

Off the Field

Off the field, Hayes Johnson has that same eagerness and enthusiasm for all of his favorite activities, especially hunting.

“Ultimately, he’s just a good, typical, goofy teenager that enjoys living,” Parkey said. 

And despite the notoriety received from being Kentucky football’s first 2024 commit, Johnson sees himself as no different than any other high schooler. 

“I’m just a normal kid, no different than anybody else,” Johnson said. “It’s just I’m going to play college football at Kroger Field and they’re not.”