The next phase in the evolution of Kentucky football under Mark Stoops

Usually a program's identity changes from one head coach to the next. Under Mark Stoops' watch, Kentucky's identity has shifted shapes under the watch of one coach.

From the short-lived and unsuccessful Air Raid experiment to the smash mouth success of 2017, Kentucky's football program is evolving before our very eyes.

What's the next phase of this evolution, and where does the process need to go for UK to take the next step and compete for SEC East championships?

Use this limited-time offer to go premium and get free months added to your account

If competing for East championships isn't the goal then you can rightfully wonder why you're even trying. If it seems like a lofty hope based on UK's football history then that's because it is, but the Cats probably aren't far from realistically expecting to do that, not just for one year but for a run of years, because of the narrowed talent gap and newfound identity the program has.

Neal Brown was hired to bring the Air Raid back to Kentucky. It was a big selling point for quarterback and skill position recruits. That's the system the first Kentucky team was working towards, and that was the trajectory even as the program struggled with mediocre (to put it mildly) talent.

When Brown left Kentucky for the Troy head coaching position and Shannon Dawson arrived, the Air Raid label might still have been appropriate, but it was clear there was a different emphasis with more of the vertical passing game. It seemed like there was plenty of room for optimism, with a big-armed and athletic quarterback in Patrick Towles and a promising cast of young receivers who seemed to have dynamic ability.

Ironically, though it was the Air Raid that helped propel Kentucky to lots of early hype and recruiting success in Stoops' tenure (though certainly not the only factor), only when Kentucky cast the system aside for more of a smash mouth identity did it start to make the next step, finally reaching a bowl game, seven wins and a victory at Louisville.

There were three main ingredients in last year's success: An improved quarterback situation, a dynamic backfield duo, and a suddenly-imposing offensive line.

Whether you want to credit Stephen Johnson for the quarterback improvement, or Darin Hinshaw and Eddie Gran, credit goes somewhere.

RELATED: Kentucky's dark horse All-SEC candidates going into 2017

RELATED: Everything you could want to know about USC OT transfer E.J. Price

RELATED: What E.J. Price's high school coach says about what, and who, Kentucky's getting

It's easy to see where the running back success came from. Boom Williams was one of the most explosive backs in UK history, and Benny Snell one of the best freshman backs in the recent history of the Southeastern Conference. Not a bad duo. And that leads into the third factor which drove last year's improvement: A much better, deeper, stronger offensive line under then-fourth year line coach John Schlarman.

A common theme running through some of that, not all of it, is continuity. Going forward the continuity theme could play an even bigger role in helping UK to sustain success, with Gran, Hinshaw and Johnson returning, with Snell returning (and Gran returning to coach him), and with so much of UK's line rotation and John Schlarman back.

Here's the really good news for Kentucky. If the offensive staff continues to remain intact, especially with Hinshaw and Gran, if the recruiting success continues as all signs indicate that it will, and if the line continues its improvement and strong play, there's no reason to believe we aren't witnessing the beginnings of a true foundation being built.

Depth upon depth. That's one reason fans should be excited. The long-term depth of the program at quarterback, the offensive line, tight end, linebacker and in the secondary should be very encouraging.

When Kyle Meadows and Cole Mosier move on after this year, Kentucky will replace its two tackles with the first five-star in program history (Landon Young), with an experienced and versatile specimen (George Asafo-Adjei) and with a player thought to be the best tackle signed by Southern Cal in the Trojan's recent history (E.J. Price).

That's not a rebuild. It's a reload that has, arguably, the potential to produce an even better situation.

When Jon Toth moved on he was replaced by Bunchy Stallings, an experienced, talented and custom-made, worthy successor. Up through the ranks it's easy to see the guard talent being replenished as well. And the same is true at linebacker, where Kentucky currently has two or three All-SEC linebacker candidates who will, in two years, be replaced by Eli Brown, Jamar Watson, Jamin Davis, Kash Daniel and the next wave of talented young players who have already shown glimpses of big potential.

In short, the last phase of UK football evolution under Stoops has been about building continuity and building depth.

If Kentucky has proven that it's possible to build long-term quality depth and strength on the offensive line in the SEC, and it certainly seems they're proving that now, then the next step has to be to do the same on the defensive line.

That may be a tougher task, in part because there's already been some recent turnover on the coaching staff there and it will take some time for Derrick LeBlanc to make his mark on the program. It's also not easy to recruit high-level defensive linemen.

But there are signs that Kentucky's starting to move in the right direction here.

When LeBlanc first took the Kentucky job the first player he singled out as having impressed him in film study was Adrian Middleton, a rising junior who can be the centerpiece, or main building block, of UK's line over the next two seasons.

There's also rising sophomore T.J. Carter and redshirted freshman Kordell Looney, a pair of bigger, versatile linemen who have good long-term potential.

Hopes have to be high for players like Quinton Bohanna, Jordan Wright, Chris Whittaker, Joshua Paschal and that big class of defensive line recruits from the Class of 2017.

And when you consider that commits like Marquan McCall and Davoan Hawkins have such immense talent, and such impressive size, there are signs that Kentucky's defensive line has a bright future. Maybe a much brighter future.

Now it falls to the strength program, LeBlanc's coaching and the will of those young defensive linemen in the program or committed to the program to take Kentucky to the next level.

On the strength of a deep and promising offensive line, which looks deep and promising for the foreseeable future, Kentucky seems to have established a certain baseline for success in the future. No amount of wins are guaranteed, but the starting point, for the next few seasons barring something unforeseen, should be an offensive line with depth, experience and talent. That should be something to lean on; something that will help give the offense an identity.

The next phase in the evolution and progress of Kentucky football under Mark Stoops needs to be for Derrick LeBlanc to orchestrate the same kind of defensive line renaissance that John Schlarman did on the offensive side of the ball.

Schlarman had Toth, a veteran leader of the line calling the shots in the middle to help serve as the glue guy, to lift the entire unit and to bring a measure of cohesiveness that comes through great leadership. There's no obvious candidate to do that on the defensive line. And there will be a steady stream of turnover in the trenches over the next year, with Naquez Pringle and Matt Elam leaving a void at the nose after the 2017 season. In the meantime, young players (and next year a new batch of freshman) will be vying to prove themselves and earn playing time.

It's tough to project how the defensive line will progress this year, and in the future. But there are reasons to believe that, at least, the talent level is on the rise, so LeBlanc should have some pieces, if young, to work with. Bringing it all together and forming a formidable front four on defense, in much the same way as Schlarman has with the offensive line, will complement with impressive back seven on the depth chart. And everyone knows the big games are won in the trenches.

Use this limited-time offer to go premium and get free months added to your account