Vicky Graff Photo
One of the early surprises for the Kentucky football team has been safety Ty Bryant, a Frederick Douglass High School product and son of former UK receiver Cisco Bryant.
He was on the kickoff team for the opening game and has worked his way to No. 4 on the overall depth chart at safety already.
“Ty’s been really solid. I really have been impressed overall with Ty, just the way he approaches it,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “He did come in early [enrolled in January]; I like the way he’s progressing.
“I like the way he approaches the game. I like the way he’s very serious about it. He takes pride in it. He’s getting better. He’s instinctual. He helps us on special teams. He’s our fourth safety, and so he will play, and I have confidence in him.”
What does Stoops want to see from him going forward?
“He just has to continue to stay the course. He’s doing good things and, if every freshman approached every workout and every practice and everything, the way he does, then, they’d be further along and he’s done a good job,” Stoops said.
Bryant’s high school coach, Nathan McPeek, has not been surprised by Bryant’s success after his versatility helped the Broncos go 15-0 in 2022 and win the Class 5A state title (he was the most valuable player in the state championship game).
“Coach (Vince) Marrow tells me every time I talk to him how impressed he has been and how impressed everyone in the (football) building has been,” McPeek said. “He was committed so long that a lot of people forgot about him.
“He always wanted to go there (his father played at UK). I told coach Marrow and coach Stoops when they signed him that he would be a team captain because of his intangibles. He is a great kid from a great family and if he’s not good at something, he works at it until he is good.”
It also didn’t surprise McPeek that Stoops praised Bryant’s work ethic.
“That is Ty. I cannot tell you how many nights he stayed with the coaches (at Frederick Douglass) watching extra film,” McPeek said.
