Alex Afari Jr. had plenty of reasons to look elsewhere when Kentucky’s coaching change hit, but he never really intended to leave. Even with the legal drama hanging over his return for one final college season, the linebacker stuck with the Wildcats and is now finding his footing in a new system.
“It was always coming back to Kentucky,” Afari said following a recent practice. “This is where I started, and this is where I wanted to finish. I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
That decision mattered. When a program changes coaches, roster turnover usually follows, and Afari could have taken his last season of college football somewhere with a different setup and a softer landing. Instead, he stayed put and bought into Will Stein’s staff, a move that says as much about the coaches as it does about Afari.
“The coaches bring the energy every day,” Afari said. “They hold you accountable to play.
They hold the players accountable, and they bring energy every day. You can just feel it’s contagious around the building.
You can just feel it.”
He’s also clearly comfortable in defensive coordinator Jay Bateman’s approach. Afari said the system gives him chances to make plays, and he likes the way Bateman mixes aggression with coverage responsibilities.
“I make a lot of plays in this defense, and it’s aggressive,” Afari said. “He (Bateman) blitzes you a lot, and we cover a lot as well, (cover) tight ends and running backs as well too.
He does a good job teaching us. He’s our linebacker coach.
He’s in the room with us every day, learning the plays and drawing them up on the board and telling us exactly what we got to do and stuff like that.”
Afari’s first real heavy workload of the season came Saturday in Kentucky’s win over No. 9 Texas A&M. He played 32 snaps in College Station after seeing just three against Youngstown State and none against Alabama.
That usage should keep climbing. Kentucky expects Afari to be a regular part of the defense from here on out, which means fans still have at least nine more games to watch him in blue and white.
In Other News...
Kentucky Faces One Early Test It Cannot Afford To Misread
Through the first three games, Lance Heard has given Kentucky exactly the kind of stability and edge it wants up front. The offensive lineman has played well and emerged as a voice for keeping the group grounded, which matters for an offense that has started to build some momentum without giving itself permission to relax.
South Alabama is the next chance to prove the Wildcats can carry that approach into a game they are expected to handle. Heard and his teammates have stressed the need for consistent effort no matter who is on the other sideline, and Kentuckys challenge now is making sure the habits that fueled those recent wins do not fade when the matchup looks more manageable. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Minchey Just Changed Kentuckys Quarterback Conversation
Kenny Mincheys rise has started to draw more attention than most Kentucky quarterbacks get this early in a tenure, and the interest makes sense after the way he handled Texas A&M. The CBS Sports spotlight on his path from high school to Notre Dame and then Kentucky gave some background to the moment, but the performance itself did plenty of the talking, with Minchey completing 14 of 18 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns.
Minchey also opened up about the people and places shaping the latest chapter of his career, from his relationship with coach Will Stein to the rougher lessons he took from past games against Alabama. Returning to Lexington clearly carried some extra weight for him, too, and the fan reaction showed how quickly he has become a player worth watching as Kentuckys quarterback conversation gets more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Added Another Quarterback Piece For Its Long-Term Future
Kentuckys long-term quarterback board picked up another name this week with the commitment of Marcus Washington Jr., a California prospect who gives the Wildcats another arm to build around for the future. The addition fits a growing trend around the program, which has been steadily lining up quarterback help for upcoming seasons as it tries to keep its depth chart stocked well beyond the present.
Washingtons decision also says something about the momentum Kentucky has been able to generate on the trail. He was influenced by the Wildcats upset win over Texas A&M, and his pledge gives the staff another early piece in a quarterback pipeline that already includes other committed players for future classes. Even with this commitment in hand, the bigger picture is still how Kentucky keeps stacking those wins and whether more of them are coming soon. [Read more 🡒]