Andru Phillips, Joel Williams will play pivotal role in Kentucky's secondary

Kentucky is in the process of rebuilding its secondary. A pair of 2020 signees will play a big part in the success of the Wildcats on the field.

Both Andru Phillips and Joel Williams are in their third season with the program, and each has made a limited impact to this point. Phillips (redshirt sophomore) and Williams (junior) were both special teams contributors last season but now have a chance to be starters in 2022.

Development is going on within the Kentucky football program.

“The nice thing is that we were able to get some of those reps down the back end of the season last year,” defensive coordinator Brad White said about both Phillips and Williams on Thursday. “Whether they were game reps or at least practice reps. But now between the bowl game and spring ball, you can see them really starting to elevate their game. They’re not there yet, but they’re starting to take another step to be guys that can really be strong contributors for us and play in the SEC.

At cornerback, junior Carrington Valentine returns and will lock down one of the starting spots. However, CB2 is a big question mark. A transfer portal visit is still possible, but it appears that Andru Phillips has made some significant strides this spring.

“I’m pleased with Dru,” said Mark Stoops. “Dru’s really stepped up and made some good plays on the football. And we didn’t have him a whole lot last year.

Unfortunately, Phillips had to miss last spring and most of practice in 2021 due to an off-campus fight that ultimately led to an arrest. Charges weren’t pursued in the case, and Phillips has been back with the team full-time since October.

A former high three-star recruit out of Mauldin (S.C.) High, Phillips picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and Louisville and possesses some explosive traits. The 5-foot-11 cornerback was a big hitter in high school as well as an All-State performer in the triple jump. That explosiveness is starting to show up at Kentucky.

“He’s just gotten better in every aspect,” said super senior safety Tyrell Ajian. “Physically, he looks faster. You can tell he’s getting some more experience it looks like the game’s slowing down to him. He’s already been making a ton of plays.

Over at nickel, Kentucky lost Vito Tisdale for the season this week and is looking for a replacement. Joel Williams feels like the candidate to replace the hard hitter from Western Kentucky.

“He was a guy that was taking on that — what we call the medium position — nickel position on first, second down, and 11 personnel and spread sets,” Stoops said about Williams. “He’s doing a really good job at that position.”

Williams was a four-star recruit out of Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy in the class of 2020 that had a lot of interest from SEC powerhouse programs. Kentucky won out in the recruitment and now needs the junior to own the Sam/Nickel hybrid spot that every defense needs to have in modern college football.

Like Phillips, Williams missed a ton of practice time last year due to the off-campus fight incident. However, both have bounced back and look ready to lock down a position in the starting lineup.

Once spring practice concludes, Kentucky’s coaching staff must evaluate all options and decide if a player needs to be added to the secondary via the transfer portal. That is a likely conclusion, but it’s clear that both Andru Phillips and Joel Williams have closed the gap. Each can be a positive contributor for Kentucky in the fall.

“Both of them have a really strong competitive fire when they get out there,” said White. “They compete their tails off. That’s part of the battle. You want to have competitors and fighters.