In just more than a year on the job Kentucky defensive backs coach Steven Clinkscale has already made his mark as a recruiter.
When he was hired, few probably would have imagined that he would have successfully led the charge for one of the top two players in Michigan, offensive and defensive lineman Marquan McCall, one of the Midwest’s top linebackers in DeAndre Square, and a big-time interior line prospect from Cincinnati in Quintin Wilson.
Hard work has been the secret to his success in the talent acquisition business.
“Clink works hard, like these other guys in recruiting,” director of football recruiting operations Dan Berezowitz told CatsIllustrated.com this week. “And he had those relationships in Michigan. He’s got those relationships in Cincinnati with the high school coaches, but when you come in the middle of a cycle, he came in the winter, he had to get a full cycle under his belt to start recruiting those kids to a different school, that he had been recruiting at other places.”
The domino effect could help Clinkscale moving forward, especially with two high profile players like McCall and Square on board from Michigan. Square is trying to recruit four-star running back Jaren Mangham from the 2019 class, while McCall’s teammate, 2020 offensive lineman Justin Rogers, has an Ohio State offer but is very high on Kentucky.
“Now you get a couple of kids that come and look around, they go back and tell kids how great our place is, how great our staff is, how great Lexington is. That’s what it takes sometimes. You’ve just got to get one and then it spirals from there,” Berezowitz said.
Clinkscale was, of course, at Cincinnati before moving over to Kentucky around the same time that Mark Stoops hired fellow Bearcat assistants Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw away from the program.
“He had to be honed in on those relationships with those guys so they would know what we have to offer at Kentucky. Because it’s different than the other schools he was at, what they have to offer and what we have to offer.”
