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It would be foolish to assume any college football player is locked in beyond one year in the era of free transfers and constant renegotiating of NIL and revenue sharing deals.
But in choosing quarterback Kenny Minchey to represent Kentucky football at SEC Media Days on Monday, new coach Will Stein signaled his confidence in building a program around the Notre Dame transfer.
Minchey has yet to start a game in three college seasons. He is one of more than 40 new players on the 2026 UK roster.
Those factors would have been enough for many coaches to choose a different player for the SEC Media Days spotlight, but when asked about the decision Monday, Stein seemed amused by suggestions he might have considered leaving Minchey in Lexington.
“We signed Kenny to a multi-year deal, and he’s going to be our guy,” Stein said. “So, I want to get him in front of people. He’s going to be in front of a lot of crowds in the SEC and at home at Kroger Field.
“He’s our quarterback.”
While schools have begun using multi-year NIL/revenue sharing contracts as a method to create more roster stability year to year, they have not yet slowed the constant movement between teams. UK has not made its revenue-sharing contracts public, but most multi-year deals are believed to include some sort of buyout provision if a player transfers. Some schools have threatened legal action against players who transfer without paying the penalty, but the transfers still happen when more lucrative offers are made.
There are plenty of examples of transfer quarterbacks who honored multi-year commitments, too, and Minchey’s circumstances should at least give Kentucky fans hope he will spend two seasons in Lexington.
Minchey received glowing reviews for his performance in the Notre Dame quarterback competition last August that ended with star freshman CJ Carr named the starter. Minchey’s blend of impressive physical tools and accuracy were enough for The Athletic to rank him as a top-40 quarterback nationally entering the 2026 season, despite his 29 career passing attempts coming almost exclusively at the end of blowouts in three seasons at Notre Dame.
In flipping his transfer commitment from Nebraska to Kentucky in January, Minchey pointed to the track record of quarterback development from Stein and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Stein helped turn transfers Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore into college stars and NFL draft picks at Oregon. Sloan coached Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at LSU.
Minchey bought a house in Lexington in March to give him some stability and a financial investment for the future.
“Just coming in knowing that I’m going to be here for two years, how to lead and how to kind of get closer to my teammates, I feel like that’s been a big thing,” Minchey said.
None of the talk of a multi-year commitment will matter if Minchey does not live up to his transfer hype.
Stein’s quarterback track record gives Minchey the benefit of the doubt, but it adds its own form of pressure, too. It is encouraging, then, that Minchey’s new UK teammates have universally voiced praise for his performance in spring practice and summer workouts.
Senior safety Ty Bryant, who tied for the SEC lead in interceptions last season, thought he had Minchey on a blitz during one practice but came away flabbergasted as Minchey made an acrobatic move to drop sidearm and complete a pass under Bryant’s outstretched arm. On another play, Minchey made an off-balance throw as he was backpedaling away from Bryant’s pressure and still dropped the ball perfectly into a receiver’s hands.
“Have you ever seen someone shoot a 3-pointer and then the defender kind of looks back, like, OK?” Bryant said with a bemused grin. “That’s kind of what I did to him.”
By the time Kentucky opens its season Sept. 5 against Youngstown State or takes on Alabama in its SEC opener a week later, the chatter about which players Stein brought to SEC Media Days will have long faded. Even reporters polled Monday struggled to remember the three players Stoops brought to the annual preseason showcase last season: tight end Josh Kattus, linebacker Alex Afari and safety Jordan Lovett.
But Minchey’s inclusion has on-field implications too.
“Whenever you’re the face of the program, I think it’s important that he gets here and can talk to you guys because he’s going to be talking to media a bunch in his career,” Stein said. “And he represents everything that we are. We have 45 new players. This is a completely different team than what it was a season ago, and it’s going to be completely different a year from now.
“He’s one of our best players, one of our leaders, one of our captains on our team, so that’s why he’s here.”
Minchey shrugged off a question about how he was preparing for the off-field spotlight that comes with his new role, choosing instead to devote his focus to developing chemistry with his receivers and mastering Kentucky’s offensive scheme. He plans to approach preseason practice the same way he did while battling with Carr at Notre Dame last season, even though he is the clear starter for UK.
During spring practice, coaches and teammates described Minchey as a lead-by-example type rather than a player who was going to scream and yell in the locker room, but he appears to be finding his voice. Bryant was impressed when he heard Minchey sent some offensive players home after they showed up late for a planned throwing session this summer.
That development should pay dividends for Kentucky in 2026 and could be even more important a year from now if Minchey remains on the roster.
Unless Minchey is so good this fall he vaults himself into the 2027 NFL draft conversation.
“When I got on the phone with him, I thought he had the intangibles that were needed to lead this program,” Stein said. “Because ultimately, when you’re the quarterback of a college football program, you are the face. … They’re going to show me. They’re going to show Kenny. They’re going to show (defensive coordinator) Jay (Bateman) and Joe. That’s about who they show.
“So, you got to be mentally tough. And I think Kenny, with his experience at Notre Dame, going through ups and downs, battling to be a starting quarterback, I think that really grew him. He’s done a phenomenal job so far. It feels to me like he’s been in our system for a while, which is a credit to him and the work that he’s done, and with Joe Sloan as well. So I’m just excited about him getting his opportunity and to do it with us.”
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