"I don't think he wanted to leave": Behind Jordan Dingle's decision to return to Kentucky

On December 16, Kentucky tight end Jordan Dingle pulled his name out of the transfer portal and announced he was returning to Lexington. We’ll never know exactly what happened during the nine days that Dingle was in the transfer portal, but based on comments from Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow on National Signing Day, his change of heart did not come without some drama with the folks in orange down south.

Dingle, a redshirt sophomore, was Kentucky’s top pass-catcher among tight ends this season, finishing with 11 catches for 198 yards. One of his best performances came against Tennessee, a 61-yard outing. Once Dingle was in the portal, the Volunteers were in hot pursuit, to the point that the Bowling Green, KY native was planning to visit Knoxville this past weekend. On Friday, former Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes announced he was transferring to Tennessee. A day later came the announcement from Dingle that he was remaining at Kentucky, welcome news to Stoops, Marrow, and the rest of the Wildcats.

“I think it was very important,” Stoops said of Dingle’s return at his National Signing Day press conference. “Jordan’s a guy that we definitely want in the program. Here’s a young man that does everything right. He’s darn near perfect in his grades and he’s been such a great teammate. He loves it here.

“I don’t think he wanted to leave. I’m just going to stop there before I get myself in trouble because I don’t want to whine or cry. This is an exciting day but there’s a lot of money involved.”

Vince Marrow, Kentucky’s recruiting guru and tight ends coach, was a little more candid.

“I’m not going to say the school’s name — we all know what the school was — they poked him a little bit and they did want him and they were at him pretty hard and they offered him a lot but I think he looked at the family, he looked at the relationship, he looked at our offense. It fit him more, staying here, so I’m really glad.”

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“No hard feelings” in Transfer Portal Era

When Dingle first told the tight end room he was entering the transfer portal, Marrow admitted emotions were high, recalling some comments from Josh Kattus, Kentucky’s other starting tight end.

“You really want to know what that conversation was like?” Marrow said. “Some of the stuff I can’t say but it was more like your son leaving the group. We have a very tight-knit group in the tight end room and [Josh] Kattus, who was one of the first guys that was pissed he was leaving and that shows you what the room is. Kattus, if he’s a selfish guy, he’s like, ‘Hey, I’m happy this guy’s leaving.'”

Once cooler heads prevailed, Kattus and the rest of Dingle’s teammates wished him well, only to be thrilled when they found he was coming back.

“When he left, we were like, ‘Cool man. Go do your thing. We love you and support you,’”  said super senior tight end Brenden Bates after practice earlier this week. “When he came back it was like, ‘Cool man. This is awesome. We love you and support you.’”

“When you have an opportunity to get really good players back that you’ve invested time into that you want to continue to invest time into that are good students, that do things right on and off this field, those guys are always welcome back. Those have been pleasant conversations and been really positive conversations that we’ve been able to get some of those guys back. There’s no hard feelings. It’s just the landscape of where we’re at right now.”

“There’s no hard feelings,” Marrow said “This is a new era. It’s no different than the NFL, where you’re an unrestricted free agent and you can go out and test [the waters] and then you come back if the team wants you. We definitely do not want to lose him. He’s a big part of our football team.”

Next season, Kentucky’s tight end room will feature Dingle, Josh Kattus, Khamari Anderson, and incoming freshman Willie Rodriguez, who was also being courted by Tennessee. Thankfully, the Covington Catholic star turned down the Volunteers, signing with Kentucky this morning.

Stoops thanks fans for NIL help

Neither Stoops nor Marrow revealed how much Tennessee’s collective offered Dingle to come to Knoxville, but Nick Roush heard it was in the $350,000 range. Thankfully, Dingle is still a Cat, but it’s an example of the competition Kentucky is facing in this new era of college football. In recent days, The 15 Club, Kentucky’s collective has raised 70 new members. Stoops thanked the media and fans for supporting the collective in his remarks on Wednesday.

“Anything that you can do to help that, it really helps. It helps our current players. I can’t tell you how many people are trying to attack the great players that we have on our team and try to lure them and take them away from us. I think relationships from us won out along with the help from many people and I just want to say thanks to the people that have helped and the people that are going to help in the future.”

Memberships to The 15 Club begin at $25/month, with perks available at every level. One hundred percent of the net proceeds will be paid directly to Kentucky’s student-athletes. For more information, visit Kentucky15.com.

Wanted to take some time to thank the #BBN and the outpouring support we’ve seen over the last two days.

You all are amazing and we are so grateful.

There’s still more to do – let’s get to work and keep this momentum going!! 💪

— The 15 Club (@The15Club_nil) December 20, 2023