eleem
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posted 03-22-2013 06:32 PM
Perhaps the most important day in the newest era of Kentucky football didn't occur on National Signing Day, when the Wildcats -- coming off a 2-10 campaign and an 0-8 record in the SEC -- signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history. Perhaps the most crucial day happened two months earlier, when newly hired head coach Mark Stoops announced his intention to rejuvenate the Wildcats' status in the recruiting sphere. On Dec. 6, Stoops hired D.J. Eliot as his defensive coordinator and first staff member. Eliot followed Stoops from Florida State, where he worked with Seminoles' defensive ends after serving with Stoops at three previous stops. The ink was hardly dry on Eliot's paperwork when Stoops handed him his first assignment: Go find the next big thing in Kentucky football.
Fast forward two months to Signing Day, and Stoops, Eliot and the rest of the 'Cats' staff hauled in two of the Bluegrass State's most prized prospects: defensive end Jason Hatcher out of Louisville and running back/wide receiver Ryan Timmons out of Frankfort. Stoops' inaugural signing class finished 29th in Rivals.com rankings; Kentucky hadn't finished better than 50th in any of former coach Joker Phillips' three seasons in Lexington. The Big Blue gauntlet was thrown, and the recently dormant Wildcats suddenly had players that were coveted on a national scale -- all under the guidance of a first-year coach.
Nothing was more imperative to Stoops than bringing Hatcher and Timmons to campus. He needed to prove that no players were too high profile for the 'Cats to pursue. "We went hard at [Hatcher] right from the very beginning, right after I was named head coach," Stoops said. "Jason Hatcher and Ryan Timmons were the first players we had anybody on this staff go see. And we ended up landing both of them. It was very significant for us."
The signings take on even greater significance given the prospects' other suitors. Hatcher -- whose high school, Trinity, has filtered players into hometown Louisville for years -- was a longtime USC commit before flipping to the Wildcats. Timmons was courted by the likes of Ohio State and Florida.
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Posts: 13248 | From: flatwoods,ky. | Registered: Oct 2000
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