Brock Coffman appreciates what former NFL quarterback Chad Pennington did for him during his high school playing career at Sayre. (UK Athletics Photo)
One of the intriguing storylines from Kentucky’s spring practice going into Saturday’s Blue-White game is redshirt freshman receiver Brock Coffman.
Coffman grew up playing basketball and baseball. He did not play football until Sayre High School coach Chad Pennington, a former NFL quarterback, convinced him to play. He finished his prep career with 61 touchdown receptions, fourth most in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association record book and the most by any receiver in Lexington history. He scored his last three touchdowns in the 2024 Class A state championship game when Sayre beat Raceland 27-22 to win its first state title in any sport.
“I started playing football my freshman year. Coach Pennington convinced my mom to let me play, and it just kind of took off from there,” Coffman said. “He’s a great guy. He’s taught me a lot of fundamentals. He’s taught me a lot of things outside of football too. Like how to be a greater man, and I feel like he’s helped me develop into the person I am today. Helped me with connections on and off the field and just being a mentor.”
Coffman grew up a Kentucky fan but Kentucky did not show a lot of interest to him even though he had 89 receptions for 1,387 yards and a state-leading 24 touchdowns his senior season and on defense had 67 tackles, five interceptions and four tackles for loss. He verbally committed to Ohio but got a scholarship offer from Louisville before national signing day. He redshirted in 2025 playing only against Eastern Kentucky and Kentucky.
He transferred to Kentucky and has drawn praise from coaches and teammates during spring practice.
Coffman believes playing multiple sports helped make him a better football player. He averaged 18.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game his senior basketball season at Sayre after averaging 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a junior.
He’s been used as a punt returned in spring practice, a job he likes.
“I caught punts at Louisville. I actually caught a punt against Kentucky,” he said. “I played center field (in baseball). You can relate that to catching punts. You have to deal with the wind. You have got to see where the ball is going. The ball is high in the air. It is just like catching a fly ball in center field or trying to track a ball in center field. That helped me a lot.
“When I played basketball and whenever I played defense (in football), I feel like basketball helped me.because you’re shuffling, you move laterally. In football, you use your hands. I feel like there’s a lot of different movements you use that help me.”
