[LeeCoUKFan]

With 2013 class signed, Kentucky football looks to '14

Aaron Smith
CatsIllustrated.com Staff Writer

As Class of 2013 signees faxed in their papers to the Kentucky football offices last week, the staff was already preparing for the Class of 2014.

Watching film of potential prospects. Making phone calls.

Laying the groundwork for an even better event that was 365 days away.

"That's the goal, is to have a better class (next year)," offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. "When we're recruiting this kids, we're excited, but we're going to try and sign somebody better next year. That's always the goal."

That's not to overlook Kentucky's 2013 class. Rivals.com ranked it No. 28, the highest since the recruiting service started keeping team rankings in 2002.

The ranking matters, coach Mark Stoops said, because you'd always prefer to be higher than lower. It also sends a signal to potential future players: Kentucky is ready to make its mark.

"I think if anything (the ranking) says to the 2014 class that these guys are serious, they know that they're doing, and they're going to make a great commitment to recruiting," Stoops said.

The staff made a great commitment to recruiting for this class, compiled in a little more than 70 days.

"Now we have a year to recruit a class," Brown said. "In 2015, we'll have almost two years to recruit that class. I think you'll see improvement as we go along."

Stoops said the staff had been evaluating next year's recruits for about a week before signing day.

"Which puts us behind," Stoops said. "But we had to put so much time and energy and concentration into this class."

It could pay dividends as the start of something great. At least, that's the hope for the staff. It wants to build on the No. 28 ranking, which still put it second-to-last in the SEC.

To recruit those 2014 players, UK's staff will have a dual approach. It can point to both the coaches' own personal track records at previous stops - they're only one year removed from their old jobs - and to whatever success UK accomplishes on the field this season.

"I think it will be a bit of both," defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot said of the added layer to the staff's recruiting pitch.

The Wildcats want to start winning more battles against top teams for top talent â€" starting with 2014.

And, conversely, the prospect of an even better 2014 class will help this year's class.

"In 2014 we'll sign a lot of good players, in 2015 we'll sign a lot of good players," Brown said. "This isn't a deal where you come in here and be a savior, this is the deal where you come to Kentucky, we'll build solid classes, we'll get better every year and we'll put people around you where you won't have to carry the weight of the world."

For those players, seeing a good group come in ahead of them could incentive them to join the building process with it already underway.

"They also want to know that there are other great players around them," Stoops said. "As you know, in football, it takes an army."

An army with a local flavor, perhaps. Kentucky signed top in-state talents Jason Hatcher and Ryan Timmons, two players that could serve as the basis for more players staying home.

"It legitimizes what we're doing," Brown said of appealing to Kentucky recruits. "There are really good players in the '14, '15 classes. It sends a message to those guys that you don't have to go anywhere else to achieve what you want to achieve.

"If you want to get a great degree, have the opportunity to play in front of big crowds on TV, if you want an opportunity to compete for championships, you don't have to go anywhere else. You can do it right here, and your family can see."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1470985