Kentucky Defense Mixing Experience and Youth This Spring
Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White is experiencing quite a contrast on his defense this spring. White and his staff are having to employ different types of methods of teaching depending on which defensive group is one the field.
White and the Cats return a number of key players on defense this season. Linebackers Jacquez Jones, DeAndre Square and Jordan Wright are all back. Tyrell Ajian and Carrington Valentine also return for the Cats.
However, White and his defensive staff are having to plug a few holes with younger players this spring. That presents somewhat of a challenge when White is calling plays.
“It all comes down to whether the guys grasp it or not. Those old guys that we have, the Squares, the Jacquezes, the Ty Ajians, the Weavers, the Wrights, they’re old enough that they’ve been in the system long enough that it makes sense to go in and out of multiple things,” White said. “There are things I call with our ones that I cannot call with our twos and threes when they roll out there. So, we would not look as multiple the further down the depth chart you go.”
That doesn’t mean that White is opposed to having young guys on the field. In fact, he knows that training the younger players on what to expect is a cornerstone of the Kentucky defense.
“The longer you can keep guys in the system, they understand the terminology, they understand what we’re trying to get done,” White said. “And that’s what’s great about having those old guys. You have to continue to build the young guys up so that when it’s their turn, they understand what we’re going through.”
Kentucky was especially hurt by graduation in the secondary, losing Davonte Robinson, Cedrick Dort Jr., Quandre Mosely and Yusuf Corker. That leaves junior-to-be Carrington Valentine as the most experienced player at cornerback. Thus, Valentine has be thrust into a leadership role, something he is ready to tackle.
“I am still a fairly young guy. But I feel like I have to mature really quickly because (otherwise) they wouldn’t have that role model in there,” Valentine said. “I feel like I needed to step into that big brother position, that leader position.”
As for his first year as a starter, Valentine got an education from being on the field last season.
“It was a learning experience,” Valentine said. “With that being my first time starting and me getting all of those reps, there was a lot I could take away from it. There were some things I had never seen before because it was new.”
Valentine and his teammates in the cornerback room hear the whispers that they are inexperienced and maybe not as talented as their predecessors. The current group uses that talk as motivation.
“We feed off that,” Valentine said. “Every year, I feel like that’s a question. That’s how we motivate ourselves. We know, in our room, what we are.”
In order to live up to that, some young players will need to step up in the defensive backfield this season. Valentine has his eyes on a few guys who he thinks can make an impact.
“All of our young guys are going to have to play this year,” Valentine said. “Maxwell Hairston, Elijah Reed, (Andre) Stewart, Adrian Huey, all of those guys are going to have to step up.”
For the Cats to continue to play well defensively, a combination of veterans and youngsters will all need to contribute. It’s White’s job to get them ready, something he seems to thrive on every season.
