The month of February is a time when the college football world slows down. Coaches can decompress after a month on the road, while those who make a living off covering the sport can have a moment to wrap their heads around the chaos that unfolded during the coaching carousel and transfer portal.

After dissecting all of the moves, ESPN and The Athletic have each ranked the Top 25 Transfer Portal Classes in the country. Kentucky is No. 8 in both transfer portal rankings.

“Kentucky hasn’t finished in the top half of the SEC since 2022, so one strong portal class alone likely won’t flip the script in Lexington. Still, new coach Will Stein clearly received the institutional support to make an instant splash and outperform several SEC peers the Wildcats are chasing in the standings,” writes ESPN’s Craig Haubert.

Will Stein pulled the wool over Matt Rhule when Kenny Minchey signed with Kentucky 24 hours after committing to Nebraska. The quarterback addition was noteworthy, but it’s not what caught the eyes of outside observers.

“I love the way he’s attacked things since he got to Kentucky,” On3’s Andy Staples said on 11 Personnel. “I loved the way he prioritized offensive line in the transfer portal. Obviously, there wasn’t much of a choice because they needed five new starters. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of a new Big Blue Wall? That’s the thing, he prioritized the right things, and I think that’s a great start.”

Kentucky added three multi-year starters from Power Conference programs, Baylor C Coleton Price, Ohio State OG Tegra Tshabola, and Tennessee OT Lance Heard, who was an All-SEC Selection last fall.

One Other Thing to Consider

When evaluating a transfer portal class, one cannot simply assess the additions. You also must factor in a school’s departures.

“Look at all of the other first-year coaches, how much roster turnover there was. I think he liked a lot of what he saw when he got there. I think they would’ve had more turnover if not,” said Staples. “So, I do think there might be some carry-over chemistry where they kept a lot of what they liked and filled in the pieces they needed right now. I wouldn’t discount that.”

Kentucky had 24 transfer portal departures. There were five first-year head coaches inside of the Top 20 of The Athletic’s rankings. All of them had at least 30 players leave the roster, with 48 players leaving Penn State and 63 transferring from Oklahoma State.

Evaluating transfer portal classes is an inexact science, but it’s hard to criticize what Stein accomplished during his first days on the job at Kentucky.

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