Brad White says Steven Soles has 'Tasmanian Devil' mentality: "That makes for a great pass rusher"

On paper, a freshman outside linebacker recording two tackles and one sack in four games played doesn’t turn heads. How Steven Soles has done it, however, has made his coaches dream big when discussing his future at Kentucky despite coming in as a consensus three-star prospect.

Take one play in the Wildcats’ 41-6 win over Ohio this past weekend, for instance. He whipped around the offensive line on 3rd and 8 and closed on quarterback Nick Poulos in a blink, forcing the pressure and the incompletion leading to a punt.

“Damn, that’s impressive,” former Kentucky standout Van Hiles said of the sequence in a film breakdown on social media. “… Quarterback had no shot, man. This is impressive.”

Soles also picked up a sack in the team’s loss to South Carolina, along with a separate solo tackle against Ohio. It’s still early — extremely early — in his career, but his defensive coordinator is seeing flashes of brilliance in some of these snaps.

“He’s a twitchy, relentless and violent rusher,” Brad White said this week. “He loves contact and he just loves football. He’s got sort of a Tasmanian Devil type of mentality to him, and that makes for a great pass rusher.”

White has coached some elite pass-rushing talent over the years, both at Kentucky and dating back to his time in the NFL. Some of those star Wildcats have gone on to become star pros.

And while he’s not willing to pencil him in as the next great linebacker to come through Lexington, his coach believes he’s thinking and processing the game the right way to become one. That certainly bodes well for his future in the SEC and beyond.

“So much isn’t just winning clean — we talk about bloody rushes, so much in terms of pressure and sacks come from bloody rushes with effort and strain. He’s got all of that,” White said. “But he’s also got that natural instinct of understanding a set, and then, ‘Hey, how do I adjust to the set? Hey, do I need to reduce my pad, push my shoulder through? Hey, is this a time where I can just beat him with my speed on the outside? Hey, he overstepped, I can go inside.'”

You either got it or you don’t. And Steven Soles has got it.

“Some guys just have that,” White added. “They’re born with that innate instinct, and he’s got it.”

Has Mark Stoops found his next under-the-radar defensive talent?