Kentucky Spring Notebook: Dog Days in April

Kentucky finished spring practice No. 8 on Thursday morning with another workout occurring in the Nutter Field House. In the lobby of the Joe Craft Football Training Facility, defensive coordinator Brad White met with the media for the third time this spring. The Wildcats are currently focused on embracing the grind.

“They’re coming out with a ton of energy at all levels right now, but now we’re sort of right in the middle of spring ball,” White said. “So I think the next two or three practices will really sort of cement the quote “dog days” of it.”

“Who can physically and mentally push through? And that’s what we’re going to see over the next couple of practices.”

Spring practice can get difficult and Kentucky is not tackling to the ground. That can make it hard to properly evaluate the defense. Regardless, White feels good about his unit as the Wildcats continue to put a massive emphasis on fundamental development.

In KSR’s latest spring practice report, two safeties are progressing while Brock Vandagriff continues to gain fans within the football building.

Kentucky wants to see improved endurance from Ty Bryant

As the Kentucky secondary battled injuries and some disappointing performances in 2023, true freshman Ty Bryant became a surprise contributor for the Wildcats. The Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass product and legacy recruit played 293 snaps over 13 games earning three starting assignments. That was somewhat unexpected for a young player who took a grayshirt by staying in high school for a fifth year.

However, Bryant lost some steam down the stretch. After playing at least 45 snaps in four consecutive SEC games, the young safety played only 29 combined snaps against South Carolina, Louisville, and Clemson to end the season. Some of that was due to Kentucky getting healthy at safety. But Bryant also lost some gas down the stretch. Brad White wants to see the second-year player add some more endurance this year.

“Now it just becomes consistency. It’s stacking years. He had a couple of good games. I thought — and he would probably readily admit — that sort of down the stretch when you play a full SEC season and you’re a true freshman and you played as many snaps it kind of probably the monkey jumped on his back,” said White. “And he slowed down a little bit the last couple of games.”

“Now it’s about getting to that point physically and mentally that you can handle the full length and the full load.”

Kentucky has a deep safety role in 2024 with Zion Childress and Jordan Lovett entering the year as expected starters. But White said last week that he wants to utilize the depth at safety. That means a real role for Bryant in year two. The hometown product will play important snaps for the Cats this fall.

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Kristian Story’s translation

The most surprising twist of the winter transfer portal was when Kentucky added Alabama safety transfer Kristian Story. The former top-200 safety was a rotational safety for the Crimson Tide. Story immediately bolsters the depth of Frank Buffano’s room in Lexington and brings some experience to the Wildcats.

The former four-star recruit is a redshirt senior who has made a “pretty easy transition” into Kentucky’s defense. The SEC transfer’s biggest task this spring has been learning a new defensive language.

“He’s got so many banked reps. Early on it’s like anything else — it’s translation. What I’m used to calling is now this. We’ve sort of worked through that translation piece and every day just playing faster and faster. Getting more comfortable communicating. Knowing who I communicate with on certain calls.

I think every practice he’s looked more comfortable and more natural back there.

Brock Vandagriff’s dual-threat skill set is dangerous

Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff is the new QB1 in Lexington. Much is riding on the redshirt junior in 2024. The hype for the high-profile transfer addition has not gotten out of control yet, but the former five-star recruit does have some fans in the building.

One of those is Brad White.

“He’s an unbelievable young man that’s really, really talented, and he poses a lot of threats both with his arm and his legs,” White said. “Which stresses a defense big time.”

Vandagriff is not a run-first quarterback, but he can stress a defense with his legs. As new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan implements some more modern college football concepts into Kentucky’s offense, Vandagriff’s rushing ability will give defenses something else to worry about. The Wildcats are hoping that leads to good things, but it is important to remember that this will be a wrinkle and not a staple of the offense. But it will present real problems for opposing defenses.

“Having that aspect — it’s a huge threat,” said Kentucky’s defensive coordinator.

Kentucky appears to be taking things slow with Vandagriff as there is not a track record of proven production, but the raw talent is obvious. That talent gives the offense a high ceiling this fall.