Wide Receiver Culture has (Hopefully) Left the Kentucky Football Program

Kentucky’s 4-8 season did not happen overnight. The road to success is paved by stacking quality days on top of one another. The same can be said about the road to Pooptown, but it only takes a bad brick or two to ruin that entire street.

Over the last 18+ months, there have been many times where something stupid transpired in between the white lines. I’d look to my right, and Adam Luckett would shake his head and say, “Wide Receiver Culture.”

It’s difficult to precisely pinpoint, but we know what offensive line culture looks like. That happens when Drake Jackson and Luke Fortner keep the team in line. You can include Josh Paschal in this mix too. The attitude of the team reflected the leadership. They were a tough, hard-working group that responded to adversity.

That mentality has been absent from the program and replaced by fake tough-guy energy. You could see it in costly dead-ball 15-yard penalties, but you probably didn’t know about it when guys were “too hurt” to practice. Instead of being at their best when things got tough, the team quit, like they did in the South Carolina and Auburn games, both losses at home.

The Wide Receiver Culture was evident following the 2023 season. Coaches publicly lamented the lack of leadership on offense, then fired Liam Coen’s best friend because he couldn’t manage the pass-catchers’ personalities. Daikiel Shorts couldn’t fix this problem either, so they’re flipping the room.

Hardley Gilmore became the fifth wide receiver to transfer out of the program this offseason. While he’s not to blame entirely for the culture issues with the Kentucky wide receivers (after all, it was a problem before he arrived), his off-the-field antics were emblematic of the issues facing this program.

Jon Hale reported today that Gilmore was arrested in December and charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly punching someone in the face. That was his first legal strike, but not his first with the Kentucky coaching staff. He was billed as a player to build around, and that’s the kind of behavior that builds a road to Pooptown.

Mark Stoops pledged ahead of the 2024 season to get back to a hard-nosed football team. They couldn’t do that with a Wide Receiver Culture. Stoops is running it back with the same coaches and scheme but with a completely revamped wide receiver room.

Will the new wide receivers be any better? Hard to say, but probably not. Will Kentucky be able to consistently and effectively pass the football with five freshmen filling its ten receiver spots? Hard to say, but probably not.

One thing is certain, Kentucky could not afford to let the Wide Receiver Culture linger any longer. Let’s hope it can be eradicated in one offseason.

You deserve to hear more candid thoughts about this subject, so click on the video below to hear a detailed discussion on this week’s 11 Personnel.

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