Keidron Smith brings key veteran presence to Kentucky secondary

“Keidron brings a savviness, an intelligence to the game,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White said of cornerback Keidron Smith to open fall camp.

For the 6-foot-2 senior, that’s the reputation and presence he hoped to bring to Lexington transferring in from Ole Miss. One of the top available defensive backs in the portal at the time of his decision, Smith chose the Wildcats over Missouri, Virginia Tech and Indiana in April. With four years of experience in the SEC, he hoped to close out his career at a school where he was needed on the field, but also as a leader in the locker room.

Kentucky lost Vito Tisdale, who was penciled in as the team’s top option at nickel and was also receiving reps at corner, due to injury. Elsewhere, the Wildcats were young in the secondary and were in need of a seasoned veteran. It was a perfect match for the two sides.

How has the transition been for Smith, who racked up 224 career tackles in Oxford to go with five interceptions and five forced fumbles? So far so good.

“I feel like camp has gone great, man,” Smith said after practice Wednesday. “Continuing being competitive every day, just getting after it, it wasn’t a lot of mistakes. Everyone was on top of their assignments, both on defense and offense. It was a great camp, I would say.”

Smith has played a lot of football in his four-year career, and he’s done it against SEC competition. He’s using his experience to help minimize the learning curve for his younger teammates and maximize the on-field production across the board.

“The past four years, I’ve seen a lot of offenses, been on a lot of defenses,” Smith said. “Just sharing my football IQ with the younger guys to help them learn the game faster than I did, that way when they get out there on Saturdays they won’t have any jitterbugs or anything. No nerves. They should be feeling confident.”

He’s leading the charge in the secondary in terms of game experience, but there are veterans lining the roster in other position groups making the same effort. There’s a solid mix of both teachers and students of the game, something Smith believes has allowed for such a strong camp both personally and as a team.

“You have those older guys, they know how to go about every day with practice, how they watch film and everything,” he said. “The younger guys have nothing else to do but look up to the older guys and follow their ways. That’s really translated to having a great camp.”

He credits his teammates, though, for welcoming him in with open arms and embracing his veteran presence in the locker room. Smith didn’t want to disrupt team chemistry by coming in as a fifth-year senior demanding reps and trying to take over the defense. He simply wanted to add value to a roster loaded with talent as is. However he could help, he was willing.

“The team was open to me when I came in, and that’s what I saw on my recruiting trip,” Smith said. “Just coming in and being me, I don’t have to change or anything. Everybody has good camaraderie, so I didn’t have to change, I’m just adding to it. It wasn’t too much I had to do.”

It’s an all-in effort from top to bottom, coaches to role players on the bench. The coaches do their jobs, the players do theirs. And if there are any slip-ups, the players are quick to address what the coaches don’t catch. Accountability, Smith says, allows for consistency throughout the depth chart.

“It’s a player-led team, for sure,” he said. “If the coaches aren’t getting on us, we’re getting on each other. There should be no drop-off between the ones, twos and threes. We should all know our stuff.”

It all starts next Saturday.