One group of new UK football transfers would do well to follow this Wildcat’s lead.

Two seasons into college football’s transfer portal era, it would be difficult to categorize Kentucky football’s work in the transfer market as anything but a success.

But lumping all incoming transfers into the same category is not a simple exercise.

Unsurprisingly, the most reliable path to landing impact transfers for the Wildcats has been luring players who already had starting experience at Power Five programs to Lexington. Wan’Dale Robinson, Dare Rosenthal, Jacquez Jones, Tayvion Robinson, Keidron Smith and Tashawn Manning all fit into that category then started regularly for the Wildcats. Devin Leary (North Carolina State), Ray Davis (Vanderbilt) and Courtland Ford (USC) fit that description in Kentucky’s 2023 transfer class.

Kentucky’s success in turning former four-star recruits who played sparingly at Power Five programs out of high school into key contributors has been less successful. There will be several chances to reverse that trend in the 2023 transfer class in the form of Keeshawn Silver (North Carolina), Ben Christman (Ohio State), Jantzen Dunn (Ohio State) and Tanner Bowles (Alabama), but the Wildcats are still waiting on recent transfers Dee Beckwith, Darrion Henry-Young and Luke Fulton to flip that script. Even the Wildcats’ transfer record before the NCAA allowed most players to transfer once without sitting out a season suggests players from this group face an uphill climb as much-hyped transfers Joey Gatewood, Xavier Peters and Marceyls Jones left Kentucky without making a significant impact.

But what of the third category for UK transfers? Players that bring starting experience to Lexington but against lesser competition than the players in group one. Players that lack the recruiting hype of group two but have at least gained significant game experience since graduating high school.

Luckily for 2023 transfers Marques Cox (Northern Illinois), JQ Hardaway (Cincinnati), Daveren Rayner (Northern Illinois), Alex Raynor (Georgia Southern) and Kevin Larkins (Livingstone), Kentucky safety Zion Childress is on hand as an example transfers from smaller schools to the SEC can thrive in the proper circumstances.

“No matter how much experience you have at your previous school, when you walk into a new building you’re not just going to be the voice,” defensive coordinator Brad White said of Childress toward the end of spring practice. “You have to earn that, you have to build trust.

“Everybody in that locker room trusts him. Offense, defense, special teams, coaches, everybody trusts him. When he speaks people listen.”

Childress transferred to Kentucky from Texas State prior to the 2022 season after totaling 135 tackles in two years playing in the Sun Belt Conference. He was initially viewed as a depth option for the Wildcats, but a series of injuries in the UK secondary opened up a path to a larger role.

Playing behind sixth-year senior strong safety Tyrell Ajian, Childress tallied three tackles in his first three games for Kentucky. A season-ending injury to free safety Jalen Geiger in September opened up more snaps for Childress, but it was redshirt freshman Jordan Lovett who moved into the starting lineup.

Childress did not record a tackle in four of his first 10 games as a Wildcat, but something changed for him in November when he recorded 14 of his 31 regular season tackles in the final two games. Included in that stretch was a nine-tackle performance against Georgia in his first UK start. Childress closed the season with three tackles and one pass breakup in the Music City Bowl versus Iowa.

“He didn’t feel like he had to just be thrust into a day one starting role,” White said. “Now, he gained confidence through the reps he got. Then he got more and he was starting by the end of the season. Now, that confidence is sort of through the roof right now.”

With Ajian gone and Geiger still working his way back from the injury, Childress, who has two years of eligibility remaining, thrived in a featured role this spring. Coaches routinely pointed to him as one of the veterans stepping up to fill the leadership void on defense created by the departures of captains DeAndre Square, Jacquez Jones and Jordan Wright.

“Coach White will ask the d-line a question and you hear Zion answering first,” Lovett said. “He’s that type of player.”

Like Childress, most of Kentucky’s Group of Five conference transfers this offseason should have the luxury of easing into life in the SEC. Of that group, only Cox, the Wildcats’ No. 1 left tackle, left spring practice with a starting spot locked down. Hardaway will compete for a starting cornerback job in preseason camp. Rayner and Raynor will probably open their UK careers behind returners at inside linebacker and kicker on the depth chart.

Larkins, who is projected to back up Childress at safety, will face an even bigger jump in level of competition after totaling eight tackles in eight games for Division II Livingstone as a freshman. Cornerback Jordan Robinson redshirted for UK last season after transferring from Livingstone but is now part of the competition for two open starting jobs at cornerback.

Time to learn on the job could be essential to following Childress’s lead.

“There’s some guys in the Sun Belt, don’t get me wrong, but every week in this league you’re going to play some elite talent that has a shot at playing at the next level,” Childress said. “Just getting used to playing that talent and then being able to get used to the resources up here. The food we get here is 10 times better than what I used to get. Small stuff like that.

“... Just being familiar with what you do every day. None of this was familiar to me. All this is kind of new, so I just take advantage of what we have here to be successful.”

When Childress arrived at Kentucky, he benefited from the veteran leadership of Ajian and Geiger at his position. But those players arrived at Kentucky as high school recruits.

Childress has an even clearer tie to the next wave of small-school transfers looking to make an impact at Kentucky.

“Coming out of high school not very many people wanted me to play defense,” Childress said. “I didn’t have one opportunity at this level. … It just got to a point at Texas State where I felt like I was just dominating and I needed to challenge myself to be uncomfortable again. I was getting very comfortable there.

“Taking that step and coming here — when I first got here, I was extremely uncomfortable. For like the first month and a half I was here I didn’t talk to anybody. I was just head down, working, because I felt like I had to prove myself to my teammates. That opportunity that it gave me, I’m really, really thankful for.”

2023 Kentucky football schedule

Home games in all capital letters. Remaining game times and TV assignments to be announced later.

Sept. 2: BALL STATE, Noon (SEC Network)

Sept. 9: EASTERN KENTUCKY, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

Sept. 16: AKRON, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sept. 23: At Vanderbilt

Sept. 30: FLORIDA

Oct. 7: At Georgia

Oct. 14: MISSOURI

Oct. 21: Open

Oct. 28: TENNESSEE

Nov. 4: At Mississippi State

Nov. 11: ALABAMA

Nov. 18: At South Carolina

Nov. 25: At Louisville

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