A visit from the second-ranked quarterback in the country produced an enlightening image. Jake Nawrot posed for plenty of pictures during his unofficial visit to Lexington. One of them was in front of a Heisman Trophy.
Wait — A Heisman Trophy? Kentucky does not have a Heisman Trophy winner. Let me zoom in on this to see…
That’s a replica Heisman Trophy from 2016, signed by Lamar Jackson inside the Joe Craft Kentucky Football Training Facility.
So how and why is this the case? I do not have a clear answer, but I can tell you that every Heisman Trophy winner receives an individual statue, and the school gets one to display on campus. It’s the first thing you see when you walk through the doors of Louisville’s football facility. I doubt that Lamar gave one of his former coaches his only statue, but replicas may have been made for every Louisville assistant on the staff in 2016. Kolby Smith and Pete Nochta were on the sidelines when Lamar fumbled away a win to Kentucky in the Governor’s Cup.
Some will see this as a delightful dig at Louisville. Others will be outraged that Kentucky is highlighting its rival’s best player. The only solution is for Joe Sloan to get a Jayden Daniels replica Heisman in his office before Kenny Minchey brings one back to Lexington.
Nawrot Commends the “Complex Brains” of the Kentucky Coaching Staff
The Nawrot unofficial visit had already produced outstanding content before he shared photos from his time in Lexington. After meeting the new coaching staff in person, he got on the phone with Steve Wiltfong to recap the visit.
“Loved being around those coaches and their complex brains. I definitely learned a ton and am very interested in the program,” he told Rivals.
“Just the offense and the scheme, I thought it’s a great system and very NFL-style pro football. The facilities and stadium were super cool and the SEC is different for sure.”
On the same day the Wildcats hosted the second-ranked QB in America, they also spent time with the No. 3 quarterback in America. Israel Abrams was among the many four-star talents who got to learn about Kentucky football from the complex brains leading the program.
Ismael Camara was the third Top 50 player to spend time on campus. An offensive lineman from Texas, his relationship with Cutter Leftwich is giving Kentucky a shot to pull the Blue Chip talent from the Lone Star State.
“Coach Stein and Coach Leftwich are very close to me since I first arrived almost two years ago. Coach Leftwich offered me at UNT, then at Oregon, and then at Kentucky. And we always say Coach Stein is a Gilmer Buckeye just without the diploma. He coached at Texas and UTSA with Coach Jeff and Kurt Traylor (Gilmer graduates and long time Texas High School Coaches) and Coach Turner (former Gilmer Head Coach). And I know a lot of the other coaches and players,” Camara told Wiltfong.
“They are just getting rolling and I got to watch a familiar practice. Coach Stein’s offense is my offense in Gilmer and we practice the same way. Everything was brand new as far as the school, but the people and the process are very familiar to me. It is like playing a PS5 game on a different TV monitor.”