Kentucky Spring Football Notebook: Pop-Dumas Johnson's 'football mentality'

On Thursday morning at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility, Kentucky wrapped up workout No. 2 of spring practice. The Wildcats are currently looking to grow in numerous areas. For only the second time since the hire became official, we heard from offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan. The standard is the standard.

“Really, really excited about the culture here overall. It’s a group that practices hard and wants to get better,” Hamdan told the media. “That’s been a huge plus.”

Both Hamdan and Brad White fielded questions from the media on Thursday. The early returns on both Georgia transfers are promising. KSR’s practice report has your full rundown.

All-American presence

Former All-American players do not enter the transfer portal very often. Kentucky quickly made a move on Georgia transfer Pop Dumas-Johnson when he became a free agent. The senior is expected to be a plug-and-play starter for the Wildcats at off-ball linebacker. Full padded practices are not here yet, but Dumas-Johnson is already making his presence felt.

The SEC transfer has been an excellent fit in the second level of Kentucky’s defense.

“A really strong football mentality,” White said about the 260-pound linebacker transfer. “When I say that I mean out on the practice field it’s tough, it’s rugged. He’s ruggedly built. He’s strong. He’s got short-area quickness and explosion. I think him and D-Jack (D’Eryk Jackson) are going to work great.”

Expectations are high for Kentucky’s front seven in 2024, and Dumas-Johnson will play a significant role. The transfer portal addition has already stood out at practice.

Brock Vandagriff wants to be great

The other Georgia transfer addition this offseason for Kentucky was at the most important position on the field. Brock Vandagriff is the new QB1 in Lexington, and the former five-star recruit is looking to establish himself on his new team. Bush Hamdan believes the redshirt junior is committed to becoming the best version of himself.

“I think it always just starts with the personality piece. He’s a full-time quarterback. He loves it. From a leadership standpoint, I think his teammates understand the preparation he puts in. And that’s first and foremost,” Hamdan said about Vandagriff. “It always starts there. It’s a guy that really wants to be great.”

“We’re just going to have to keep building. A lot of it is just the nuances of the new offense, new players, and how fast we’re gonna bring him along.”

We are in the very early stages of the Brock Vandagriff era, but the early returns are promising.

Tyreese Fearbry has shown growth

After the 2023 regular season ended, EDGE Keaten Wade decided to enter the transfer portal after two seasons at Kentucky and ultimately landed at Colorado. That opened up a spot for fellow class of 2022 signee Tyreese Fearbry.

The former top-250 recruit out of Pittsburgh made a splash in the Gator Bowl recording five pressures in 19 pass-rush snaps. Fearbry’s athletic juice as an edge rusher immediately stood out in real time during that game against Clemson.

In the offseason, the redshirt sophomore has put on some good weight getting up to 245 pounds, but has also grown mentally as a player.

“Another guy that’s done a really good job in the weight room,” Brad White said about Fearbry. “Added pounds. You can see physically he looks more ready to be an every down type of player, and that’s what he needs to be. The last two years he didn’t have enough girth but to be a situational type player. Then the same thing mentally. We talk about that position takes a little bit for you to truly understand. It’s been a good first couple of days of practice. Made a couple of mistakes at the backend of practice today that in the past would’ve got him really frustrated. I think he’s grown and matured in that he can take the coaching point and he can move on to the next play.

Fearbry needs to play a big role for Kentucky in 2024. The third-year player is off to a strong start.

Defense is keeping it simple

Kentucky is very experienced on defense. Pop Dumas-Johnson and D’Eryk Jackson have each played a lot of football at off-ball linebacker. Zion Childress is a super senior at safety. Deone Walker is a two-year starter at defensive tackle. J.J. Weaver has been playing starter snaps since 2020. The Wildcats have old depth entering the year. Despite having that experience, Brad White wants to keep things simple.

Last year, Kentucky’s defensive coordinator tried to get more advanced during spring practice, and the returns were not great. White believed that hurt some of Kentucky’s player development as some young backups were not able to keep up. The Wildcats are now focused on being great at what they do and will worry about adding wrinkles later.

“I probably progressed too much last year trying to do too much in spring. We’re going to hound, and we’re going to just pound the fundamentals,” White said. “We’re going to pound what we do, and then, we’ll work certain tweaks.”

White pointed out that Kentucky’s starters are very experienced, but there is a quick drop-off with the twos. The Wildcats will be fairly young at certain positions if an injury or two occurs. The defensive coaching staff is focused on keeping everyone on the same page during the spring to enhance player development.