Kentucky DB coach Chris Collins earning national praise as rising star

It could be a challenge for Kentucky football to hold onto Chris Collins in the coming years. The Wildcats’ defensive backs coach is beginning to make a name for himself on the national stage.

On Wednesday morning, On3’s Matt Zenitz unveiled his annual list of the top rising stars when it comes to Power 5 assistant coaches. The list is made up of 30 assistants under the age of 45 who have been garnering praise from Zenitz’s endless bag of college football sources. Collins, who is about to enter year three as Kentucky’s DB coach, was named to the list.

“Chris is a really good teacher,” Troy head coach Jon Sumrall, who worked at Kentucky with Collins in 2021, told On3. “He’s thoughtful. And he takes pride in the details of his work. Those are really the things that stick out to me about Chris.”

Based on votes and feedback from around the coaching world, here’s our @on3sports 2023 rundown of 30 rising star Power Five assistant coaches you need to know heading into the season.

More on each coach here: https://t.co/sBrik1MfUG pic.twitter.com/6YQjuR3lZ5

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) August 23, 2023

Zenitz points out Collins’ success in coaching the Wildcats’ secondary throughout his first two seasons in Lexington. The likes of Keidron Smith, Yusuf Corker, and Carrington Valentine come to mind as NFL prospects coached by Collins in recent years. This year’s batch of talented defensive backs influenced by Collins includes Maxwell Hairston, Zion Childress, Andru Phillips, Jordan Lovett, and Jalen Geiger. One of Kentucky’s strongest position groups ahead of the 2023 season is the safety room, where assistant coach Frank Buffano also contributes.

Collins has high expectations for his players and expects them to meet it. Although this year’s cornerback room will have some question marks, his standard remains the same. “Consistency” has been his buzzword this offseason. “Consistency” is what could have Kentucky contending with college football’s best secondary groups for a second straight season.

“I wanna continue to see those guys be consistent every day,” Collins said last week. “We got some high days, some low days. I want to be consistent. Understand the challenge of playing the ball at this level. Especially versus the guys we have in practice — ‘I got to be on my A-game’. They’re getting the opportunity to really develop their skillset. Just the consistency aspect, being consistent and understand hey, sometimes they’re gonna get us. We wanna win more than we lose. And understanding that and not letting a good play or a bad play linger.”

#Spring practice mic'd up with DBs coach @CoachC_Collins 🎤😼🏈 pic.twitter.com/Kk180q8P83

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) March 29, 2023

There was plenty of pressure placed on Collins once he was hired by UK in June 2021. He was replacing Steve Clinkscale, who is now the defensive backs coach at Michigan and is a constant recruiting opponent for the current staff. Losing Clinkscale was significant for the program at the time, but bringing in Collins hasn’t been met with any sort of major drop-off. In fact, Kentucky’s pass defense ranked seventh in the country in 2022, according to Sports-Reference, giving up just 170.8 passing yards per game.

Off the field, Collins has held his own in the recruiting world, particularly down in Georgia thanks to the connections he built during his four-year stint as Georgia State’s safeties coach. He’s credited with helping Kentucky land talented freshmen DL Tavion Gadson, LB Grant Godfrey (a four-star prospect), and S Jaremiah Anglin, along with class of 2024 ATH commits Jiquavious Marshall and Quaysheed Scott. Transfer DB Jordan Robinson, who will compete for snaps at cornerback this season, was another Collins get. The next step for Collins will be landing four-star defensive backs as the lead recruiter.

With Collins in charge, Kentucky’s secondary has been a strength the last two seasons, especially in 2022. The UK administration clearly agrees with Zenitz that Collins is a rising star, too. Back in early July, Collins agreed to a new two-year contract (coupled with a tidy pay raise) that will keep him on staff through the 2024 season. He certainly meets the criteria of a rising star.