Kentucky will be active in second transfer portal window

The second transfer portal window arrives on Saturday. More college football free agency is on the way.

Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky has been an active participant in the transfer portal adding seven players in 2021 and eight scholarship players in 2022. In the first window of the current offseason, the Wildcats added seven players. Devin Leary is the new QB1 in Lexington while the coaching staff found other potential starters at running back, left tackle, and cornerback.

The roster movement is not done yet at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. KSR currently has Kentucky with 83 scholarships accounted for as spring practice concludes this week. That means there is room for two additions, but transactions go both ways. Kentucky could lose some players off the current roster.

Stoops knows his program is stepping into a fluid situation.

“We have to look at that and meet with our players. It’s definitely a different time,” Stoops told reporters on Wednesday about the upcoming transfer portal window. “I don’t anticipate it but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me with a big roster like we have. We will see where that goes.”

Last week at KSR+, I dove into some of the positions that Kentucky could look to upgrade in this spring transfer portal period. Four distinctly standout with right tackle hovering above the rest. Meanwhile, the program just hosted FCS linebacker transfer Jurriente Davis for an official visit. A roster addition is much-needed at off-ball linebacker. Expect Kentucky to be an active shopper when the portal opens on April 15 and runs through April 30.

“We have some room to poke around and look around a little bit,” Stoops said.

Kentucky worked on mentality this spring

Perhaps the highlight of spring practice was when Mark Stoops took to the podium the day after Kentucky’s pro day and blasted his Kentucky team. After mentioning that Kentucky must get back to playing with an edge before spring ball started, the head coach was not happy with what he saw from his team after spring break.

“The guys we’ve got right now, I don’t know if they just think they’re going to roll out of bed and be good or whatever. It’s not the same,” Stoops said. “We need to get back and play the way our brand was made, and that was by being tough and being physical and playing physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Being able to run the ball.”

“I just feel like we have a bunch of guys who are entitled and don’t work extremely hard and think it’s going to happen or are waiting for the next guy to make it happen. I’m not real pleased.”

The players on the team responded well as Kentucky ended spring practice on a good note. However, the whole organization has things that can be improved to enhance the product that is on display in the fall.

“You can’t just roll out there and go through the motions,” Stoops told the media on Wednesday. “I’m not saying our team did that all the time. There’s things we all can do better. We’ve all talked about those things. That’s on all of us starting with me all the way down. And that’s not just lip service that’s the truth.

That all starts with playing physical, establishing the run on offense, and stopping the run on defense. Kentucky wants to get back to playing with an edge in 2023. That appears to be a top priority for the program heading into the summer.