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First Down Kentucky: Coaches hit the Road as a UK-UofL Recruiting Battle Brews

Nick Roushby:Nick Roush•01/12/24•

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In the famous words of former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, “NO DAYS OFF!” Just when you thought it was time to exhale, the Kentucky football coaches are hitting the road.

Friday marks the first day of the new contact period, allowing college football coaches to visit prospective players in-person at their schools. It’s an opportunity for programs to invite their top targets in the 2025 recruiting class to upcoming Junior Day events on campus, and also dole out offers to underclassmen.

Mark Stoops has sent his staff out across the country, but the first player we saw with a UK coach was close to home. Isaac “Spike” Sowells is a talented interior offensive lineman at Louisville Male High School. The son of a former Indiana football player has already picked up offers from South Carolina and Miami, but the real story is between Louisville and Kentucky.

The Cards have not put much of an emphasis on high school recruiting, instead prioritizing the transfer portal. Even so, this is a guy they should get. Male was a UofL pipeline for decades and one of the school’s best former players is an assistant Jeff Brohm’s staff. Even so, Kentucky invested early in the Sowell’s recruitment and he was on hand to watch the Cats win a fifth-straight over the Cards. This morning we saw the next phase of this first recruiting battle between Kentucky and Louisville.

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Gerald Mincey is on Commitment Watch

KSR was the first to tell you to keep an eye on the offensive tackle transfer from Tennessee. Yesterday on KSBoard we told you that he’s visiting the Kentucky campus on Friday. Now is a good time to prepare for a significant addition to the Big Blue Wall. Ole Miss thought they had Gerald Mincey in the bag, but they appear to be waving a white flag. Download the On3 app and have alerts turned on to make sure you’re the first to know when and if the Cats have fortified the offensive line.

Auburn is Falling Apart at the Wrong Time

Nick Saban is gone. Alabama’s grip on the SEC might be over. With the Crimson Tide and Georgia conquering the sport, Auburn was in a wasteland, unable to successfully recruit the same areas as their rivals, the best in all of college football. Now that Saban is gone, Auburn has a chance to emerge ahead with Hugh Freeze at the helm. Two days after Saban’s departure they may have already squandered an opportunity.

We previously told you on First Down Kentucky that the Tigers will be on their seventh offensive play-caller in as many seasons, as Freeze takes over that role from Phillip Montgomery. This week the Tigers have undergone even more significant turnover.

On Monday we learned defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is leaving for a similar position at Florida. On Thursday Cadillac Williams tendered his letter of resignation. This morning secondary coach Zac Etheridge hopped on a plane to coach at Houston.

Something strange is happening on The Plains. Etheridge was one of the Tigers’ best recruiters on staff. Cadillac Williams was the lifeblood of that program. The former running back held it together with duct tape and zip-ties as the interim head coach. When Freeze convinced him to stay on his staff it was his first, and biggest move, as Auburn’s head coach. And now he’s just leaving?

It doesn’t make sense and this could be a disaster, which is exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Auburn Tigers.

A Bizarre NIL Suspension

It turns out you can still get in trouble for doing NIL the wrong way. Who knew?

The NCAA arbitrarily decided to enforce its rules this week and the victim is a program that feels pretty victimized right now. Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins is being suspended for three games in 2024 for driving a recruit to meet with the CEO of a NIL collective. Sounds kinda silly, right? I’m sure the folks at Florida State feel like they can’t buy a break right now. It will only get worse if Alabama feels froggy and poaches Mike Norvell.

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2024-12-28