SEC Football: Offseason grades per school

Kentucky (A-)

Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Brock Vandagriff will be starting for the first time entering his fourth season of college football and will be doing some for head coach Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats. This is promising news for the Wildcats heading into 2024.

Following Vandagriff over from Athens is linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson who figures to plug and play at the position for the Wildcats in 2024. Dumas-Johnson and Vandagriff have each been on two national championship teams as a member of the Bulldogs.

For the Wildcats, it is not so much about what they gained, but what they did not lose. The Wildcats return their entire starting offensive line intact, as well as returning nine of their 11 starters on defense.

One thing the Wildcats did almost lose that could be seen as a negative is their head coach, Mark Stoops. Stoops himself at SEC Media Days stated he was “aggressively pursued” by the Aggies, but ultimately remained in Lexington. Rumor has it that the move may have been vetoed by folks within the Aggies program, which could bring into question Stoops’ loyalty towards his current program in the Kentucky Wildcats.

LSU (A)

The LSU Tigers have been crushing in on the 2025 recruiting trail with four five stars currently committed. One of which is the top quarterback in the class of 2025 in Bryce Underwood.

On top of that, Brian Kelly has made some big time staff changes that appear to be paying dividends in Baton Rouge this offseason. Kelly brought in defensive coordinator Blake Baker, defensive line coach Bo Davis and defensive backs coach Corey Raymond who are all making waves this off season in a good way for the Tigers.

Davis and Raymond both have had commits come out and express that their decisions to commit to the Tigers had everything to do with the positions coaches in Davis and Raymond respectively.