Kentucky DC D.J. Eliot names team’s defensive standout player from spring ball
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Kentucky wrapped up its spring practice session on Saturday, concluding with its annual Blue-White game.
Asked who stood out the most throughout the course of spring ball, Wildcats defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot needed little time to come up with a response; he had a certain player in mind before the question was even asked.
“I think Courtney Miggins has had a great spring,” Eliot told the Courier-Journal. “He was in (junior college) through summer school and he didn’t get here until training camp of last year. He’s been able to go through an offseason and now he’s been able to go through a spring ball, and I think he’s really improved a lot as a player.”
Miggins (6-foot-5, 285 pounds) is entering his senior season and has been competing for a starting role on the defensive line, particularly at end where Farrington Huguenin — who is out of eligibility — lined up in 2015. Miggins joined the team last fall after transferring from Pearl River C.C. as a JUCO.
He recorded just 12 tackles in 11 games as a reserve last season, but with an entire offseason in the program and 15 spring practices in the books, his production should increase dramatically as a senior.
That’s the hope, at least.
“The thing people don’t understand is I had Za’Darius Smith in junior college, so all those things I broke in junior college and then when he got here he just had to learn the speed of this game,” UK defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh said. “Once he had that, then his second year he blossomed and when he got to the pros, I mean he moved in and he was a starter.
“It takes those guys (time),” he added. “Courtney Miggins hasn’t even been here with me a year.”
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
