SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 17, 2025

Jordan Lovett

Kentucky Wildcats

Press Conference

Q. How does it feel coming back?

JORDAN LOVETT: It feels great, being an Atlanta, Georgia kid. It feels great coming back to the city.

Q. What are the prospects for the team this year? What does the coach have to say? What's his message this season getting ready?

JORDAN LOVETT: We've just really been working, honestly. Just keeping the blue-collar mentality. Just being determined.

Q. What does it mean to be here back in your hometown and represent Kentucky here on this stage during media week?

JORDAN LOVETT: Being from Atlanta and being a military kid, it was like tough being a military kid, but especially being from Georgia. It's been great, especially just knowing my family's watching. A whole bunch of family members texting me, phone blowing up and stuff like that. It's been great.

Q. You mentioned growing up in a military family. Have you found that that's contributed to any sort of, I guess, your path in football, your work ethic and what you've been able to build at Kentucky?

JORDAN LOVETT: Most definitely. Especially growing up, like, my mom, she's a single mom, two kids, raised by herself, military. It gave me like hard-nosed mentality, like, "yes, sir, yes, ma'am." I grew up, "yes, sir, yes, ma'am," whole bunch of manners, stuff like that. Yes, it definitely gave me an edge.

Q. Does your team have an edge this year? Last year didn't go quite as you wanted to. Is there more impetus to turn it around?

JORDAN LOVETT: Yes, I feel we're a lot more dialed in, especially as a team, especially with all the transfers we got. We have to be, chemistry has to be on 10, and everybody has to be dialed in a lot more than we did last year to overcome this slump that happened last year.

Q. The transfers coming in, what do you tell them about the program and the university?

JORDAN LOVETT: I tell them, like I said, attitude, toughness, discipline, pride is our core value. As long as we go by those core values and as long as we stick together, I feel everything will be great.

Q. The college football video game, ever since it came out, has been a big deal. When it came out this year, you mentioned toughness. Your punter was the only player in the game with a toughness rating of 1. What was the team's reaction to that? I saw that he was training to try to improve that rating?

JORDAN LOVETT: I think his toughness rating was zero. I'm not going to lie. I know Aidin Laros, before he was a rugby player. Rugby dudes, rugby players aren't -- they're not nothing to play with. They're pretty tough. EA has to change that one. I don't know about that one.

Q. What do you think is your team's biggest challenge that you believe you all can overcome this season?

JORDAN LOVETT: The biggest challenge is -- the biggest challenge this season is overcoming what happened last season, just putting your head down, being dialed in, just focused on the little things.

Like I said, we focus on the little things, the big things will come and they'll be easier. Really just the big moments, more film study, more working, more just team bonding.

Last year I would say that our team bonding, we were tight but we weren't as tight as we are now. Like I said, if we just stay together and execute together, I feel we'll be good.

Q. Just to follow up, what has created that enhanced level of connectivity through this year's team?

JORDAN LOVETT: I'm going to give a shoutout to Coach Hood for giving us -- every Wednesday we have a guest speaker. It's called four for 40. We have a guest speaker, certain people just giving us on and off-the-field advice, just like about mental health, about just stuff, just to make us better people in life.

We kind of used that as team bonding, just to get closer as a team. Like I said, we got a lot of new guys. I don't even know they feel -- they feel like they're my brothers already.

Q. A lot of rivalries in the SEC. Is there a particular rival you'd like to play?

JORDAN LOVETT: I want to play everybody, everybody and anybody. Doesn't matter who you is, put the pads on, we're going to get it going.

Q. Alex mentioned a particular in-state team he likes to face and doesn't care for much. Is that quite a rivalry within the state?

JORDAN LOVETT: Well, since I've been at Kentucky, we're up right now, I'm up right now. I think it's 3-2 right now. I don't want to say too much about that team across the road. We're going to see them when we see them.

Q. What about Coach Stoops really appeals to his players? What do they like about them?

JORDAN LOVETT: I love that Coach Stoops is loyal. Loyal to you. Like I say, I've been in the program for five years now. Loyalty is a big thing for me. He's really a chill guy. He's a player-led coach and he's a coach that you can depend on.

Q. Does it help to have a coach who actually played at some point in his life?

JORDAN LOVETT: Yeah, it definitely does. Especially Coach Stoops has coached every -- he's a safety guy. Especially me being a safety, me being a DB myself, it definitely helps.

Q. You've been on record saying you chose Kentucky because you thought it was the best fit. So what skills in game play do you believe you bring to the team that can help contribute to the team's success?

JORDAN LOVETT: First, I want to say my ball skills. Ball skills, turnovers. You've got to turn the ball over, get the ball back to the offense, score touchdowns. My tackling. Tackling is really underrated. Actually, my tackling is underrated. I feel I'm one of the best tacklers in the SEC. I feel I have the stats to back that up.

This year, working on my leadership, leadership skills as well, just being a better leader around the locker room, making sure guys are on their toes and make sure everybody is doing what they're supposed to do.

Q. Are you a leader by example or by words or by both?

JORDAN LOVETT: Last year I was a leader by example. This year, I'm a leader by both.

Q. You think you have to earn that? You can't be loud enough?

JORDAN LOVETT: I think I earned it these past couple of years, I think I earned it. Like I said, I had to work on myself for being a vocal leader. I'm definitely going to be a vocal leader this year.

Q. Is there a teammate maybe that fans don't know about, maybe flies under the radar but actually contributes to the team quite a bit, who would be that player?

JORDAN LOVETT: I'm going to say, I've got a couple of players in mind. I'm going to say Ty Bryant, Ty Bryant and DJ Waller. Everybody feeds off his energy. He's a God-fearing man. He's like when anybody want to pray, he's the first person I'm going to. Ty B was there because I recently lost my father to a stroke. He was one of the first people to help me out, one of the guys to sit me down, just pray with me. I feel like he's a playmaker, of course, as well. On the football field, he gets it done. I feel like he practices like a pro. If everybody feeds off that energy, everybody looks at him, he leads by example. If everybody does what Ty Bryant does, we'll be good.

DJ Waller, like I said, he's slept on -- he's our cornerback, No. 5, his height and fluidity, just his size, it will be a problem this year.