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How has Kentucky been able to sell players in the transfer portal on joining the Wildcats after the team went 4-8 last season?
“The record did not concern me at all,” said linebacker Landyn Watson, a Marshall transfer. “I have been on both sides. At TCU we went 6-7 and then turned around with portal additions and went to the national championship game the next year.
“At Marshall we were 6-7 and then won the Sun Belt (conference championship) this year. You use the previous record as motivation. We wore 6-7 shirts all season at Marshall to remind us that we did not want to feel that way again.”
He believes UK coach Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White have made “great additions” to the team to get things turned around for the 2025 season.
Watson was also impressed with Jamon Dumas-Johnson, a Georgia linebacker who had earned all-American honors who transferred to UK last year.
“On my visit I talked to him about being a transfer from Georgia and coming to Kentucky last year and getting up to speed,” Watson said. “He was very helpful and very honest. We had a lot of similarities and I appreciated what he told me.
“I heard from a lot of schools but with this being my last year I wanted to go to the SEC. It came down to Mississippi State and Kentucky but when I went to Kentucky it just felt different and the vibe from the players and coaches were just different.”
The 6-1, 232-pound Watson had 66 tackles and one interception last season at Marshall after transferring from TCU. He had offers from LSU, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Michigan State, Penn State and others when he signed with TCU.
Watson quickly learned about the player development White has done to help put players into the NFL — something he hopes Kentucky can do for him.
“I play with relentless effort. I want fans to know every time I am on the field they will get my all,” he said. “I made a commitment to this team and BBN to go win. To win it takes it all on the field every play. If people are doing their job and taking the strain off others it helps everyone out.
“Football is football. I know I am coming into a conference now with bigger and better players but that just means I have to step my game up and I am confident I can do that.”
Watson said White told him he would likely be used as an inside linebacker but that he could also be used at multiple spots to create mismatches with opposing offenses.
Watson believes his past experiences will help him appreciate what he is part of at Kentucky even more.
“This has all definitely been a humbling process. I originally committed to LSU before choosing LSU because with COVID I could not take any visits and I had already been to TCU multiple times,” Watson said.
“Every highly recruited kid in America expects to go to college and play instantly. I had high expectations for myself. When I was not playing, it was very humbling. It made me work a lot harder and I want to continue to prove people wrong and show I can play in the SEC.
“The transfer portal has changed things. Schools want to bring in experienced players who have been on a national stage because they can get acclimated quicker and help rather than waiting on a high school guy to develop. I know I am being counted on to produce and that’s what I plan to do.”
