By Jennifer Renaker * Host Communications
For senior Jeremy Caudill, making the transition from defensive tackle to defensive end has not been a difficult move for the 6-3, 295 pounder. Most players would be a bit uncomfortable being asked to switch from a position they are used to playing to a totally different one, especially in their senior year.
But Caudill doesn’t seem to mind. As with everything else in his life, he seems to go along with the flow, and has done so successfully.
“I’ve played defensive tackle for the last three years and this is a pretty big jump for me,” Caudill said. “I’m used to being on the inside facing the guard and center, but I’ve really enjoyed playing defensive end. I hope I’ve done a good job. It’s just another challenge for me, individually, to take on and accomplish.”
Although this is the strongest area on Kentucky’s defense, it took some getting used to for Caudill. The Wildcats are adjusting to the 3-4-4 defensive system after playing a 4-2-5 scheme last year. Caudill said he welcomes the transition, noting that playing end gives him more freedom to make plays. He registered 39 tackles last season, including four for loss, two sacks and 16 hurries.
“Last year’s scheme was real simple, easy to learn and there were not many fronts,” Caudill said. “This year, there is a lot to learn, especially the words they (the coaching staff) want you to use out there on the field and I think all of us have gotten pretty good at learning that.”
A point of emphasis this season for the Wildcat defense is allowing fewer big plays and UK has made progress in that area so far. In 2001-02, the Wildcats allowed 32 plays of 40 or more yards. Through six games this season, UK has allowed just four plays of 40 or more yards.
“I think knowing the defense and the game itself is a big deal especially when trying to learn a new system,” Caudill said. “Playing in competition such as the South-eastern Conference, you are going to play against some teams that have guys who are bigger and stronger than you, and you just have to really learn how to play your position and learn your techniques the best you can. You just have to know how to push yourself when you don’t think you can go any longer.”
The Martin, Ky., native, who is in his third season as a starter, also has quick hands, accounting for four pass breakups and two blocked kicks last season.
Caudill had his best season in 2002 after suffering a back injury his sophomore season which caused him to miss three games. Perhaps his best game came in the season-opening upset against No. 17-ranked Louis-ville, when he posted three tackles and two pass breakups, but more importantly, harassed quarterback Dave Ragone – tallying five quarterback hurries.
Although that game was great for Caudill, it doesn’t stick out in his mind as one of the most memorable ones.
“There’s been so many memorable moments that it is hard to pick just one,” Caudill said. “But the one I know will stick in my head, and I know I won’t want it to, is the LSU game. That’s not something you want to think about all of the time, but it was a point where we were so close and will never know what it would have taken to gone on and have won.”
That memorable game came on Nov. 9, 2002, when LSU scored on a 75-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired to top the Wildcats, 33-30.
“You just have to move on and know that you can improve off of those mistakes and it shows that you do play well,” Caudill said. “I think this year’s game against Florida will stick with most of us the same way.
“It’s hard to deal with. No matter how much the coaching staff or the people around you want you to not think about it, you are always going to. I think the LSU game will stick with everybody, and the fans as well, for a very long time.”
With a new coaching staff and a new defensive scheme, Caudill feels the Wildcats have what it takes to go to a bowl game.
“I think we have really progressed,” Caudill said. “We came close a couple of times when we wish we would have won, but we don’t want to come close anymore. That gets really old. Each week we’ve improved. Our offense is starting to get in the flow of things and the defense has started to play more together. I think we have really bought into coach (Mike) Archer’s system, which is a great scheme. Once you get it down, you can do some really amazing things.”
One area the team can improve upon, Caudill said, is mental lapses.
“It’s something we have needed to do all season and need to continue to do,” Caudill said. “Lining up in the wrong position, playing the wrong gap on defense, making the wrong check on offense … it’s always the little things that have held us back.”
Caudill, who was a Parade magazine All-American for Prestonsburg High School, said he chose Kentucky for a combination of reasons, after declining offers from 30 other Division I schools, including Florida State, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana.
“I got offers from pretty much every school east of the Mississippi,” Caudill said. “But I felt really comfortable here (at UK) and on my official visit, everyone made me feel at home. Plus, I’m from Kentucky and I wanted my family to be able to come watch me play and so far, they haven’t missed a game.”
In high school, Caudill garnered many awards and honors, while totaling 264 tackles, 34 quarterback sacks, 1,418 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in his career.
He helped his team go to the state playoffs all four years, advancing to the third round his junior year. Caudill was named one of the top 100 players in the Southeast by Rivals.com and the No. 26 defensive tackle in the United States. He also was named to the Lexington Herald-Leader’s “Class of the Commonwealth” listing of the top 22 seniors in the state.
A big fan of the weightlifting and powerlifting aspect of football, his best lifts included 425 pounds in the bench press, 700 pounds in the squat lift, 700 in the dead lift and 405 in the power clean.
A biology major who hopes to go on to law school after graduation, Caudill said he wouldn’t turn down the opportunity of playing football beyond college.
“If the opportunity comes, I don’t see how I could pass it up,” Caudill said. “But you never know when that dream could end. You could go out there tomorrow and it could be over for you, so you just have to keep looking toward the future.”
Caudill said he will miss the camaraderie between him and his teammates when he leaves UK.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Caudill said. “At this level of football, these guys are your closest friends and it truly is like a family. You are around these people more than you are your best friends, family, girlfriends and roommates. We spend a lot of time together on and off the field, in film sessions and lifting weights. It is like an all-guys family.”
Among his teammates, he is known for his impersonation of the movie character “Shrek” and will entertain his teammates on occasion.
“Every once in a while I may do an impersonation of Shrek, but that will not happen very often and not many people will hear that,” Caudill said.
Although he is known for his imitations among his teammates, he said he is known for something else by the people who sit in the stands.
“Most people know me for my bow legs,” Caudill said. “My mom never has trouble spotting me out there on the field. When most people try to find me, they don’t look for the big guy with the number 68 on the back of his jersey, but they look for the bow legs. It’s amazed some of the coaches I’ve played under because they do not understand how I’ve not broken an ankle or anything.”
Caudill said even though the Cats play against some great teams and at some big stadiums, he loves playing on his home turf.
“I love playing at Commonweath Stadium,” Caudill said. “I think it is the greatest feeling in the world to walk out in front of 72,000 of your own fans. The atmosphere here has improved every year and the support we get from the fans is wonderful.”
