Dakota Holtzclaw will be a can't-miss presence whenever he steps onto a football field wearing a Kentucky jersey. It's that 6-foot-7 towering build that made him an intriguing receiver recruit for the Cats coming out of the 2016 class.
Upon arrival in Lexington last January the early enrollee from Worthington Kilbourne in Ohio immediately stood out to the Kentucky coaches. But an injury setback put his progress on pause, temporarily, and he redshirted during Kentucky's 7-6 season.
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During the spring Mark Stoops took a media appearance as an opportunity to praise Holtzclaw for making "competitive catches" in practice. Holtzclaw should have still been a high school senior, but he had already caught the eyes of SEC coaches as he competed against older, more seasoned SEC players.
"It was unfortunate that he broke his hand in practice before the spring game," Ray Holtzclaw, the player's father, told Cats Illustrated this week. "He also had a laceration on one of his fingers on his other hand and for a receiver that's not good. But I think his freshman season went very well and he learned a lot. We learned a lot as parents."
It was a transition period for everyone and it required an adjustment, especially for Holtzclaw himself.
"He went from being the high school star to, when you get to the university, you're not the big dog anymore. It's a little humbling," Holtzclaw's father said. "I think for him it was tough because he started playing football when he was a freshman in high school and he played varsity from that point until he went to Kentucky. He's always been a starter so for him not to play was difficult."
What helped was the time Holtzclaw spent on the scout team.
"They moved him around quite a bit," the elder Holtzclaw said. "From receiver to tight end and he even played tackle because of his size. I guess they were getting ready for Georgia Tech and their tackles do a lot of pulling. They needed somebody with size and quickness, so he jumped over and did that."
Holtzclaw believes his son will benefit this season from that experience, not just because it helped him get used to the speed and strength of SEC players he competed against, but also because he learned some valuable technique as a blocker that he can apply to his game as a redshirt freshman.
"Blocking probably wasn't his strong suit coming in, but playing tight end and even tackle, he learned a lot of technique on the scout team and going against the first team defense," he said. "If you're going to redshirt you might as well be playing hard against the first team. I would prefer that to being a second or third stringer and not playing as much."
When Holtzclaw arrived on campus more than a year ago his 6-foot-7 frame carried 210 pounds, so while he was very tall he wasn't exactly lean.
Heavy conditioning caused Holtzclaw to lose some weight, but he has since added about 20 pounds of muscle and his father estimates he's probably around 225 pounds.
"There's not an ounce of fat on him," he said. "They'll probably see if they can add another ten pounds before the season."
Holtzclaw was recruited as a wide receiver but given his experience on the scout team during UK's last season it's fair to ask whether he might be in line for a position switch.
"He may be looking at tight end," Holtzclaw's father said. "We'll see. They'll get into spring practice and everything. If he moves over to tight end I think he could definitely do well there. On the scout team he played a lot of tight end because of some of the tight ends they were up against. South Carolina and Florida both had really good tight ends and he was that tight end for them. I think that's what kind of opened their minds up.
"Dakota's pretty flexible. He wants to play. If they said, 'Hey Dakota, we want you to be a punter,' he'd do it," Holtzclaw said.
Actually, that's not an entirely ridiculous thought. There's been no talk of it from the coaches and he certainly hasn't practiced there, but a little-known fact about Holtzclaw is that he was a very successful high school punter. As a high school junior he punted 39 times and didn't allow even a single return yard. His punting average was also his net. Had he reached the 40-punt threshold he would have been recognized as the best coverage punter in the entire nation. Hang time was his specialty.
"He'd say, 'Sure, I'll punt. I could play defensive end.' Whatever they want him to play," Holtzclaw's father said. "But I think they're more attuned to him being a receiver or a tight end."
While Holtzclaw's injury last year prevented him from competing in the spring game, the coaches are still bullish on his potential.
"Even after the injury I was talking with Coach (Vince) Marrow and he said that even with the broken hand he was making some really excellent catches," Holtzclaw said. "I think being there early last year definitely helped and I think it's going to help even more coming into this season with the spring and him being healthy. He hasn't been injured at all since then."
