Ty Bryant. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Keeping safety Ty Bryant at Kentucky for his senior season was a priority for new UK coach Will Stein and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman.
“Getting recruited out of high school was one thing. With his new NIL and transfer portal it is different. The recruiting is more upbeat and more direct and I was stunned at how many teams reached out about Ty to his agent,” Cisco Bryant, a former UK player and Ty’s father, said. “However, his staying had to do with the head coach and defensive coordinator, and some NIL as well.”
Bateman made a quick impact on the player and his father.
“The biggest thing about Bateman was that he was truthful. He never once said if you go somewhere else we will understand. It was always, ‘We want you here.’ That was a different selling point and certainly caught my attention,” Cisco Bryant said. “It was eye-opening for him to say it that way. That just doesn’t happen in this day and age very often. It was a very trustworthy way for him to say to us how much he wanted Ty to be here at Kentucky.”
Cisco Bryant also liked that Bateman and Stein worked their magic with Florida transfer Jordan Castell, a former four-star safety in the 2023 recruiting class who also had scholarship offers from Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, Auburn, Texas A&M, Penn State, Ole Miss, and LSU. He was a freshman All-American at Florida and in 2025 he had 54 tackles and two interceptions in 10 games.
Bateman was on the Florida staff when Castell started his collegiate career.
“I saw he was coming and that put a smile on my face,” Cisco Bryant said. “I watched him for three years when we played against them. He’s a big deal.”
Ty Bryant had a special relationship with former UK defensive coordinator Brad White, who is now on Jon Sumrall’s staff at Florida.
“Him and coach White did Bible study together all the time. They spent a lot of time around each other reading the Bible and going to church,” Cisco Bryant said. “He was a big mentor in Ty’s life. Their personalities just meshed and Ty will miss him.
“The good thing is that Will communicates a lot. Out of the blue, Ty will get a call from him. Even after Ty’s commitment and signing, Will still communicated with him and I like that.”
2 Responses
Communication is a big deal with kids. Like I have said on hear before, I have worked with HS and College students for over 30 years. If you communicate honestly, including about your own faults and shortcomings, they will listen. I have had students come to my office and say they came to me because they wanted an honest answer. I like that and my own kids do the same thing even though they are all grown.
Looks like Bateman made Bryant feel the same way.
With Castell and Bryant we have the best safety duo in college football. Both have started for multiple years in the SEC. They will be have at least 9+ ints combined this year. Our corners will also be much better. Nichols will start one corner and the other position will be up for grabs with about 4-5 quality dbs who can start. Most teams have one position area that pops out on paper. Ours is the secondary and the defensive line. With Humphrey Grace, Harkless, Gadson, Breaux, Williams, and Wiseman. Our defensive line is stacked with SEC bodies. I think some players will have a slight position twist. Like Cedric Works is my dark horse to lead the team in sacks. He was incredible for a true freshman last year and I can see his game having a major jump. I also really like Lorenzo Cowan. I think he will be very very good this year as well. Sam Greene was starting to really come on before a injury ended his season. Godfrey will start at one of the linebacker positions and I think it will be a battle between Elijah Barnes the redshirt freshman who was a 5* recruit and showed promise for Texas last year as a redshirt. Also Wallace could also be a factor. I think he plays this year but I think he really pops in 2027. Our linebacker unit is the only question mark on the defense and I think we will be fine there. We're just kinda young but we have more talent than we've ever had at linebacker.