Did Clark Lea recruit Kentucky quarterback Kenny Minchey? What Vanderbilt coach said

Vanderbillt football coach Clark Lea is plenty familiar with Kentucky quarterback Kenny Minchey.

Minchey, from Hendersonville, attended Pope John Paul II and was a 4-star recruit in the 2023 class. Lea offered Minchey early on in his tenure, but he first chose Pitt, only to later decommit to go to Notre Dame. After three years of sparse playing time, Minchey transferred to Kentucky prior to the 2026 season. This year he has become one of the SEC’s biggest breakout players.

In 2026, Minchey is 141-of-206 passing for 1,552 yards, 13 touchdowns and only one interception.

When Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4 SEC) faces No. 12 Kentucky (6-1, 4-1) on Oct. 24 (6:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network), it will face Minchey with 5-star freshman QB Jared Curtis, a Nashville Christian graduate.

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“We loved Kenny,” Lea said Oct. 22. “I was here during that evaluation process. The guys at Notre Dame called when he was going to go into the portal and had a lot of great things to say about him. He didn’t have the game experience, but I think even in high school here, played for guys at JPII. Always had a ton of respect for him, always enjoyed him when he was around.

” … I’m very happy to see him having success. I think for a local kid to find his way and get into a system that fits him, I think is awesome, and our job is to make it hard on him on Saturday.”

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.