Willie Rodriguez (Vicky Graff Photo)
If you are looking for the biggest surprise about Kentucky’s football season, there is only one choice — the tight ends are catching passes.
How many years have UK fans — and probably tight ends — clamored for more targets and opportunities to make plays? During the Mark Stoops era, no tight end had more than 30 catches for 318 yards in a single season by C.J. Conrad, the only tight end with 1,000 career receiving yards under Stoops.
The Houston Texans just put tight end Brenden Bates on the active roster. He played six years at UK and had 26 catches for 272 yards in his career.
Now three games into the season, tight ends Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez have combined for 13 catches for 180 yards. Kattus has eight receptions for 112 yards and Rodriguez five catches for 68 yards. Both have a receiving touchdown — something no other UK receiver has this season.
Kattus praises new tight end coach Derek Shay, who took over after Vince Marrow left for Louisville after spending 12 seasons at UK working for Stoops.
“I think the addition of coach Shay. He’s done an incredible job,” Kattus said when he was on Stoops radio show Monday night. “He’s a younger coach, but he’s experienced. He’s coached some really talented tight ends in the past — some of them being in the NFL right now. He has brought a lot to the table. He’s taught us a lot of new things.”
Shay was already on the UK staff as an analyst when Marrow left a few months ago. He previously coached at Marshall, Missouri, LSU, Bowling Green and McNeese State.
“I think just his mentality each week inspires us. One thing I’ll say about him — not to expose him, but just watching how much this game means to him. He’ll have us all in our little tight end huddle right before the game, and he’ll tear up just like talking about how much this game means to him,” Kattus said.
Tear up? On the football field?
“That fires you up as a player, that makes you want to go pull your heart out for him. I’m really thankful for how he’s been developing us. We got a really close-knit group of guys in that tight end room,” Kattus said.
The senior tight end also shared a unique motivational technique Shay has.
“He’s helped us in the run game, he’s helped us in the passing game, and then also, mentally. We kind of have a quote that we put on our board each week. It’s ‘The bull don’t care.’ Early in camp, he showed us the story of this famous bull rider. I don’t know all the details, but he was maybe in Texas or something. He was the best of the best,” Kattus said.
“I think the story said he was like the Joe Montana of bull riding. He won this big championship, and the next day, he packed up his bags. He didn’t celebrate, he moved elsewhere, and he was going to go on and continue to do what he was doing. When they asked him why he did that, he answered, ‘The bull don’t care what I did last week.’
“I think we take that really personally in the tight end room. It’s like, okay, you have a good day at camp, you have a good practice, you have a good game, whatever. But the bull is going to try to buck you off the next week. I just think the mentality that he’s brought into the room has been incredible.”
7 Responses
Rodriguez will be here 4 years and then he will be in the NFL. We need to do everything we can to keep him on the roster. It's young players like Rodriguez, Boley, Patterson, Quisenberry, Gilmore, Strey, Selm, Wood. This is the nucleus of the offense. Everyone I mentioned are freshman on the offense besides Gilmore who is a true sophomore. These players are who are going to dominate in 2026-2028. They will get better and more fluid every year. I wouldn't worry about paying transfers unless you need a plug and play. You have to try to develop the talent that you are getting every year. The main problem with this years team is continuity. Just about every recruit from 2022 Kattus class and the 2023 class are just about all gone. They are supposed to be out juniors and seniors on this team. We have all transfer replacements.
Everyone was blaming Stoops for the tight ends lack of production. Sounds like it could have been the Dirty Dogs. Recruiting isn't any worse now that Marrow is gone. He could have been a problem.
I think he was a lot of the problem. The same problem people have when they hire there friends. Your not going to need the results that you want with friends on your staff. All of Kentucky staff is Stoops friends. Gran, his brother. Coaches the linebackers. Then you have the offensive line coach who is from Youngstown. This is why we get bad results
Jimmy, I thought the same thing.
Really…..How bad is UL kicking our butt?
If it happens it won't be because of Marrow that's for sure.
Great article! It sums up 12 years of the TE prison that has limited UK offensive production.
The Marrow recruiting bonanza seems to have been offset by his lack of coaching ability. I knew he should never be the HC anywhere when he was assigned to be the OC in a bowl game where was too incompetent to replace the QB after one half of an absolutely terrible QB fiasco! Wqs it a racist decision to not replace that QB after playing one of the first halves in UK history or was it because he was absolutely clueless in the OC position? Or a combination of the 2?
What a valid point about the “Youngstown club” holding so many position coach positions! Personally, I think his brother has done a very good job with the linebackers. The secondary hs been the total wreck on D year after year.
Kattus & Rodriguez need Cutter at QB to get the most out of these productive players!
Even Bill Curry (nearly clueless on offense) had an OC who produced a future pro at TE with record setting numbers and even thr least knowledgeable fans have known the TE has been a wasted offensive weapon for 12 years!
I hope to see Cutter, Kattus & Rodrigues light up the scoreboard the rest of the season to give UK at least a slim chance of 6 wins. It has to start with these 3 @ SC or else the season is over.