KashDaniel

Career

• Two-time team captain
• Played in 51 games with 23 starting assignments, only missing one game in his career with injury
• Totaled 168 career tackles along with 11.5 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, one interception and one sack
• Had four career double-figure tackle games
• Part of a senior class who won 32 games over the last four seasons, the most wins for UK in a four-year span since 1949-52, when Paul “Bear” Bryant coached the Cats
• Helped UK advance to four consecutive bowl appearances and back-to-back bowl wins for the first time since the 2007 Music City Bowl and 2009 Liberty Bowl
• Graduated in December of 2019 with a degree in communication

2019 – Senior (Team Captain)

• Played in 12 games with 11 starts
• UK’s third-leading tackler with 58
• Also had 4.0 TFL, three PBUs (tied for fourth), two QBHs and one INT
• Led UK with eight tackles in the win over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl
• Did not play vs. Missouri with injury, the first game in his career to miss which snapped a streak of 46 straight games played
• Totaled a team- and career-high two pass breakups at South Carolina
• Had a season-best 10 tackles along with a TFL, a PBU and a QBH vs. Florida
• Picked off his first career interception vs. Eastern Michigan and added five tackles
• Preseason Media All-SEC, Third Team Defense
• Athlon Sports’ Preseason All-SEC, Third Team Defense

2018 – Junior (Team Captain)

• Started in 12 of 13 games played
• Played with a broken left hand sustained against Vanderbilt on Oct. 20 … Had surgery on Oct. 22 to insert two screws
• Ended the season third on the team in total tackles (84) and tackles for loss (7.5)
• Ranked tied for 24th in the SEC in tackles per game (6.3)
• Got his first career sack in the win over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl
• Second on the team with five quarterback hurries
• Had double-digit tackles in three games (Central Michigan, Florida and Vanderbilt)
• Led the Wildcat defense against Louisville with eight tackles and a career-high three tackles for loss
• Had a career-high tying 11 tackles at Florida and vs. Central Michigan

2017 – Sophomore

• Played in all 13 games
• Totaled seven tackles
• Rushed six yards on a fake punt to give the Wildcats a first down during a crucial part of the fourth quarter vs. Missouri … The first down led to a 53-yard field goal by Austin MacGinnis, the eventual game winner
• Had two tackles in the win at South Carolina

2016 – Freshman

• Saw action in all 13 games, mostly on special teams, and recorded 19 tackles
• Had a career-high seven tackles vs. Austin Peay
• Graduated high school a semester early and enrolled at Kentucky in January of 2016

High School

• U.S. Army All-American, named a team captain for the West squad, and helped the West win the game, 37-9
• Named Kentucky’s Mr. Football and Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year
• Named first-team all-state by the Courier-Journal and the Associated Press
•  A 2015 Herald-Leader “Class of the Commonwealth” honoree
• Winner of the Paul Hornung Award, honoring the top player in the state
• A two-way star as a quarterback and linebacker at Paintsville, helping the Tigers compile a 13-1 record and advance to the Class 1A semifinals
• Rushed and passed for 2,245 combined yards (1,319 passing) and a 36 combined touchdowns as a senior (22 rushing TDs)
• Defensively in 2015, he had 158 tackles, four fumble recoveries and four interceptions, returning a pair for touchdowns
• Coached by Joe Chirico
• Rated as a three-star recruit by all major recruiting services
• 247sports says, “Tremendous athleticism, great work ethic. He’s certainly elite laterally. The guy can go to Kentucky and be the leading tackler for the Wildcats three years. Just tough as nails, knows the game, is extremely talented and has a good upside. When you’re trying to play football in the SEC, you can never have too many guys like this.”
• Also lettered in baseball and basketball at Paintsville
• Picked UK over Michigan, Louisville, Marshall, Ohio, Purdue, South Carolina and Illinois

Personal

• Son of Scott Daniel and Lela Layne
• Dad, Scott, is a former professional bass fisherman
• Dad played baseball and basketball at East Tennessee State
• Mother, Lela, was recently inducted into Betsy Layne High School Hall of Fame for basketball
• Became a member of the UK Bass Fishing Team in the spring of 2019

Community Cats

• Visited with sick children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital at the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. (2016)
• Frequent visitor to Kentucky Children’s Hopsital (2019)

• He chose to play at Kentucky because he wanted to play for Coach Stoops and play in the SEC
• Other than playing in the NFL, his dream job is to be a federal officer
• When he’s not playing football he loves to bass fish
• His life’s theme song is “Hells Bells” by AC/DC
• The best advice he’s ever received is “no matter what, don’t quit”