Kentucky Football: UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen laser focused on Dane Key

Kentucky football coach Liam Coen’s top priority is getting Dane Key to Lexington.

I remember back when there was a time that the top football recruit in the state of Kentucky would go play football at Western Kentucky who was an FCS school at the time, and it was considered a huge deal. Kentucky football wasn’t on their radar.

The tides have turned though, the state of Kentucky is producing top-notch football talent at a much higher level. The top ten football players in the class of 2021 in Kentucky are all getting D-1 scholarships across the state and country. Kentucky Football is in a better position than it has ever been. The Wildcats have 6 of the top 10 in the Rivals ranked inked to play in Lexington.

Schools like Frederick Douglass are a huge part of that and have produced a lot of talent some of which ended up at Kentucky. Most recently Jager Burton, and Dekel Crowdus will be on the roster for the 2021 season and could be immediate impact players for Kentucky’s offense and for years to come.

Now Kentucky has its sights set on wide receiver Dane Key who is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals, and the second-rated player in the state of Kentucky. Key is being sought after by a lot of the football “big boys” like Texas, Tennesee, Penn State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Louisville, Oregon, and many others. Key already received an offer from Kentucky way back in August of 2019.

His dad Donte was a star player for Kentucky and ironically his oldest son Devon Key recently completed a record-setting career at Western Kentucky as a linebacker leading the Hilltoppers in tackles. Donte Key also coaches linebackers at Frederick Douglas as well.

This past season at Frederick Douglas Dane Key caught 37 passes for 625 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Broncos averaging 16.9 yards per catch. That ranked 39th in the state of Kentucky for receiving yards for all classes and ninth in Class 5A.

Key recently spoke to rivals Josh Helmholdt on his first chat with Coen.

"“He was talking about the new offense he is going to run. We didn’t really get in too much depth. We just wanted to reach out to each other and start a relationship. I liked him and he seemed to really like me a lot. He just wanted me to know I am the top receiver that they wanted and they want me to come be a program-changer because they need a big, outside receiver to help their offense out.”"

I imagine Key has his eyes on a career playing in the NFL in the future, and he would have someone in Coen who knows what that will take. It’s unknown when Key will announce his decision, but he’s considered to be leaning hard towards Kentucky.

A three-sport athlete he also plays basketball and baseball for the Broncos.

Key ending up at Kentucky would make sense, local Lexington kid staying home, NFL co-ordinator with NFL connections, and his father played at Kentucky. Not to mention his former high school teammates already playing for the Cats.

Key will be a Wildcat, it’s not a matter of if but when?