Kentucky FB offers 2022 JUCO quarterback Sam Vaulton

A new recruiting target for Kentucky Football made himself known on Friday afternoon. Sam Vaulton, a quarterback who plays for Santa Monica College (CA), received an offer from the Wildcats. UK associate head coach Vince Marrow extended the scholarship to the 6-foot-3, 210-pound gunslinger.

Vaulton initially began his high school career in Alcoa, TN, playing for the same program that former UK great Randall Cobb did: Alcoa High School. Vaulton would eventually transfer out west for his senior season, suiting up for Venice High School before taking the JUCO route.

Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kentucky 🔵⚪️ #bbn @vincemarrow @SMC_CorsairFB @steveclarkson @NatlPlaymkrsAca pic.twitter.com/OVrekoz44w

— Sam Vaulton (@samvaulton14) December 10, 2021

In his tweet stating that Kentucky had offered him, Vaulton tagged Steve Clarkson, who is widely considered one of the premier quarterback coaches around. He has taught the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Teddy Bridgewater, Nick Foles, and many others currently in the NFL.

Out of high school, Vaulton held offers from Ole Miss and Eastern Kentucky but instead opted for junior college. His offer from the Rebels came in before he transferred out to California. As a junior at Alcoa, Vaulton threw for 1,435 yards on 84-125 passing, including 21 touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for another 320 yards and three scores on his way to making the all-region team. Alcoa won its fifth straight state title with Vaulton running the show.

As for Kentucky, the interest in Vaulton doesn’t go back too far, but UK has been in contact for a few months now. He was in Lexington to watch the ‘Cats beat LSU at Kroger Field back in October and had been in communication with the staff throughout the season. However, he told KSR on Friday that the offer came as a surprise.

The next question revolves around why Kentucky is reaching out to new quarterback options this late in the game. 4-star class of 2022 commit Destin Wade has been recruited by UK with the idea in mind that he will have an opportunity to play under center. Other than him, Kentucky has not made serious pushes for any other 2022 QB targets in several months.

The expectation around the program is that current UK quarterback Will Levis will return for another season. His NFL Draft stock is a bit higher than anticipated, but it’s more likely than not at this moment that he stays. A pair of Kentucky natives, Beau Allen and Kaiya Sheron, wait behind Levis in the pecking order while Nik Scalzo announced his transfer to Samford on Friday.

Searching for a Scalzo replacement is likely what the staff is up to, but we’ll leave the speculation to the comments section.