Kenneth Horsey feels Schlarman's legacy in the Big Blue Wall "reload"

Kentucky Football resumed its spring practice this week following a one-week recess for spring break. The team also returned to full pads on the practice field and the full-contact activity was welcomed by veteran offensive lineman Kenneth Horsey.

Now in his fifth spring practice in Lexington, Horsey took questions from the media after Tuesday’s practice and you could feel the joy in his voice when he was asked about hitting people again.

“It’s a great day for linemen because that’s when all the junk-talking ceases,” Horsey explained with a smile. “When you’re not in pads, guys—when you put the pads on, you see who’s really about it and who’s not. We love that as offensive linemen because you can’t go full out if you’re not in pads as an offensive lineman, so it just gives us the opportunity to get better, it gives us an opportunity to stay physical. As you’ve seen in our games, we love hard-nosed, physical games and practice is no different.”

Not just for “junk talk,” Horsey credited Kentucky’s defensive line with making the Big Blue Wall even better each day.

“The defensive line is going to get us right every time,” Horsey said. “We have a lot of talent over there on the ball, still. So it just feels good to be back out there in pads, just hitting people again and getting them shoulders warm.”

I’d hate to be on the opposite end of Horsey warming his shoulders with his first full contact in months.

Schlarman’s legacy still alive through Zach Yenser, Drake Jackson

There are many new faces around the Big Blue Wall this spring, including five-star freshman Kiyaunta Goodwin, the grand prize of Kentucky’s recruiting class; Auburn transfer Tashawn Manning; and a new position coach in Zach Yenser from the San Francisco 49ers. There is also a new but old face in assistant offensive line coach Drake Jackson, who was an upper-classman for the John Schlarman-coached Kentucky offensive line when Horsey arrived on campus in 2018.

With Schlarman’s culture still in the position room, Horsey doesn’t see the new-look Wall as the start of something else, but a continuation of what’s already there.

“I don’t feel like this line is rebuilt; I feel like it’s really just reloaded,” Horsey explained. “At the end of the day, we’ve established a culture with the Big Blue Wall and whoever comes into that culture, coaches believe, at their best, they’ll fit greatly within that culture. I believe in Tashawn and the new guys coming in. I feel like they’re doing a great job just being hard-nosed guys, bring-your-hard-hat-to-work kind of guys.”

Regarding the new coaches, Horsey called it a “small world” that Mark Stoops was able to find a coach in Zach Yenser who (a) was also coached by John Schlarman at Troy and (b) was an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers last season, an offense Kentucky is trying to emulate with former 49ers QB coach Rich Scangarello now running the show.

Horsey said of Yenser, “He embodies it perfectly. It’s honestly a small world the fact that he was coached by Schlarman previously, but I feel like that speaks to the legacy of Coach Schlarman. We constantly think about how we leave our legacies and I honestly believe Coach Schlarman’s legacy was bigger than what he did in this building. You know, there’s people like Coach Yenser and Coach (Evan McKissack) who’s with Troy now, and even Drake (Jackson)–just compliments of that legacy of the person Coach Schlarman was. And Coach Yenser is no different. He’s passionate, he’s hard-working, and I’m excited to keep working with him and get better.”

When asked if Stoops hiring Drake Jackson, Horsey’s teammate of a few years ago, added any extra motivation, Horsey scoffed at the idea of needing motivation but admitted Coach Jackson has been a great addition to the room. After all, the room has a picture of Jackson on its wall.

“It helps us get all of the information possible,” Horsey said of the hire. “It helps us from a coach’s perspective, from a player’s perspective, and the fact that we all know Drake and the fact that he is even on the back of our wall in the offensive line room. It’s just stuff like it’s just you just know that when these guys are talking to you, they have your best interests at heart, and they have the best interest of the team at heart.”

Horsey’s expectations for his final season

Kenneth Horsey will be a key cog on the Big Blue Wall in his fifth season, likely at starting guard where he has lined up for most of the snaps so far this spring. He’ll be a leader for the young guys like Kiyaunta Goodwin, who he described as “very coachable,” and will give his all to his own assignments on the field.

“What you can expect from me, is my very best,” said Horsey. “What you can expect from me, is everything I got. Because at the end of the day, I’ve had the privilege of watching generation after generation after generation of guys in the offensive line room lead, watch themed accel, watched them go to NFL, and still compete. I don’t want to be any different from those guys, but in the same way, I’m going to play my way, I’m going to play to my strengths, and I’m going to do what I have to do to make sure these young guys are right, make sure this O-line is right, make sure this team is right. Because at the end of the day I feel like the biggest difference in the success of a team, especially our teams, is our accountability, the way we stay on our guys about things. So we can’t let the little things slide. We gotta have that attention to detail and I feel like it’s my job.”

Just thinking out loud here, maybe Stoops should keep Horsey on the list of potential offensive line coaches for the future.