5 Football 'Cats earn 2021 Preseason All-SEC honors from coaches

The coaches have made their voices heard. On Tuesday afternoon, the 2021 Preseason Coaches All-Southeastern Conference teams were announced for football and five Kentucky Wildcats made the cut.

Senior offensive tackle Darian Kinnard was named first-team offense while senior defensive end Josh Paschal was named second-team defense. Junior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. and senior offensive lineman Luke Fortner were listed on third-team offense, while senior safety Yusuf Corker was a third-team defense selection.

This is the 19th consecutive year of the SEC Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team.

NEWS | Announcing the 2021 Preseason All-#SECFB Team https://t.co/ZLbwczInLb

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) August 24, 2021

Alabama led the SEC in representatives with 15 total while Georgia came in second with 11 and Auburn in third with nine. 11 different schools had a first-team member (Kinnard for Kentucky) while Alabama had seven players make the first-team.

Earlier in the offseason, both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele tabbed eight Wildcats to All-SEC teams while Pro Football Focus went with five, same as the coaches, although PFF swapped Josh Paschal for Wan’Dale Robinson.

Individually, Darian Kinnard has received the most preseason recognition by a mile. The superstar senior was recently ranked as the 67th best player in the country by ESPN and has hauled in preseason All-American honors from ESPN, CBS Sports, USA Today, Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus, and Phil Steele. On Monday, he was named to the AP All-American Second-Team.

Kentucky will begin its 2021 season on Sept. 4 against UL-Monroe at Kroger Field. Kickoff is scheduled for noon EST. UK’s first conference game comes a week later against Missouri in what will be a much-hyped event. Kentucky will also host that game with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. EST.