Kentucky Football Transforms Into Transfer Portal Destination

Brand names win in football recruiting. Joining that elite company is an almost impossible code to crack. Kentucky is maneuvering into that territory by taking a slightly different approach in the transfer portal.

For the third straight year a former transfer to Kentucky has been selected in the second round of the NFL Draft. The latest name to join that list, Will Levis, won 17 games as a starter, the second-most ever by a Kentucky quarterback. His achievements in Lexington are setting the Cats up for long-term success in the transfer portal.

“The transfer portal is a tricky beast and some coaches have figured it out, and some haven’t. But when it comes to going out and getting a quarterback, Mark Stoops has it figured out,” Brandon Walker said on Tuesday’s edition of Kentucky Sports Radio.

The Barstool Sports host has admittedly been one of the loudest Will Levis detractors, however, the UK quarterback still exceeded expectations for most gunslingers in Lexington. While Kentucky has struggled to recruit high school quarterbacks — until Cutter Boley joined the fold this spring — Stoops has shown he can bring the transfer portal’s best to Lexington, something he will most likely have to do again this offseason.

“He went out and got Will Levis, and then he went out and got Devin Leary to replace Will Levis. He has shown the ability that if he needs a quarterback, he can go get one. Showing you have the ability is half the battle. Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss has shown that he can go get a quarterback when he needs a quarterback. Not every coach can do that. Not every coach has that in their bag,” Walker said.

“Stoops has done it before and he will do it again, so I wouldn’t worry about the quarterback position because he’s a good enough recruiter. He’ll figure it out.”

That’s a line that feels surreal to type. “I wouldn’t worry about the quarterback position.”

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Why Kentucky is an Ideal Transfer Portal Destination

During the second hour of Kentucky Sports Radio, Walker was joined by Josh Pate, from 247 Sports’ Late Kick. As he put it, earlier this week Pate was “excoriated” for not mentioning the Wildcats as a contender for the second spot in the SEC East. Ultimately, he conceded, then shared the key to Kentucky’s success in this new era of college football.

“I think the transfer portal era will come to be very kind to Kentucky, because of what the transfer portal is compared to regular recruiting,” Pate said on his show.

“In regular recruiting a lot of the trappings matter, a lot of the bells and whistles matter. In the portal when you’re getting a guy out of it that’s played three years of college ball, it is down to business, it is so transactional and in some cases it benefits a program like Kentucky, a coach like Mark Stoops, who can really just sit down in front of you and say, ‘We’re not going to have a cake with your name on it. We’re not going to have a Ferrari parked out in front of it that you can take a picture with. If you want to do that, we’re probably not going to be the place for you'”

Levis’ predecessor, Terry Wilson, admitted once he got to Lexington that he fell for all of the showmanship at Oregon. Like every other portal player, his second recruitment was right to business. During Tashawn Manning‘s visit, he didn’t even bother to take off his blue jeans for his formal photoshoot. Mark Stoops’ matter of fact approach sells much better to older players who are looking to end their careers on a high.

“For a guy like Devin Leary, that works,” said Pate. “In the future I think as the NIL portion sort of calibrates and everybody gets their bearings, I think Kentucky is going to be sort of a low-key destination for transfer portal players who once upon a time wouldn’t have looked at Kentucky, but the second time around will because the second time around different things matter.”

"I think the transfer portal era will come to be very kind to Kentucky because of what the transfer portal is compared to regular recruiting."@LateKickJosh explains why the transfer portal will benefit programs like Kentucky 🗣️

WATCH 📺: https://t.co/1NEaXhw8tW pic.twitter.com/eyVQjyrcH7

— 247Sports (@247Sports) July 10, 2023