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He’s played in 33 games — more than any other Kentucky defensive linemen except for all-SEC performer Bud Dupree — but he’s never had a chance to be a major player for Kentucky. That could change this year for 295-pound tackle Mike Douglas, a senior who is determined to help UK reverse its football fortune.
Douglas was a three-year starter who played defensive end, middle linebacker, tight end and fullback at Largo (Fla.) High School when he was timed in 4.6 seconds for the 40-yard dash. He had 75 tackles his senior year along with 17 catches for 320 yards and two scores. His team won a combined 25 games his junior and senior seasons.
He was redshirted his first year at UK under coach Joker Phillips and then played nine games with 16 tackles in 2011 as a redshirt freshman defensive end. In 2012 he played 12 games with 12 tackles. When Mark Stoops took over in 2013, Douglas got a chance to play more and had 28 tackles, one sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Douglas says his versatility to play different spots — along with a coaching change — impacted why it has taken him so long to settle into a bigger role for the Cats that is possible this year after the departure of defensive tackles Mister Cobble and Donte Rumph off last year’s team.
“I think part of it is just because I learn pretty good and I am effective pretty much anywhere you want to play me,” said Douglas. “I was a defensive end when coach (Steve) Brown was (defensive) coordinator here and then played tackle and nose guard when coach (Rick) Minter was here (as coordinator) and then last year they had me playing the tackle and nose and this year I am playing the nose. I think it is just versatility that I can help wherever I am needed on the line that kept me from finding my spot.”
While both head coach Mark Stoops and current coordinator D.J. Eliot are reluctant to praise players, Douglas’ play has impressed them this spring.
“ I guess from what everybody else is saying I am doing well. I just try to get better every day. I wish I could see the negatives to get better on and just keep doing the positives right,” Douglas said.
Douglas jokes that he has been at UK so long that two former teammates, Tyler Sargent and Sam Simpson, are now on the coaching staff.
“Now they are coaches for us. I feel like the old man on the block but I am glad I got to play with so many great guys like Danny (Trevathan), Randall (Cobb), Winston (Guy) and a bunch of other guys like Ricky (Lumpkin). Great chance to meet so many great guys over the years,” Douglas said.
“Confidence was never a problem but last year helped in that it took it to another level knowing I could play at a higher level than even what my expectations were or maybe other people’s expectations were. I think it is just trying now to keep it there and go up another level.”
To do that, he tries to work out with Dupree all he can.
“I try to make everything a competition because Bud is just a high intensity person. I am a high intensity person when it comes to some things, but I am not high intensity person over everything like Bud is. I think hanging around Bud all the time and us being really good friends helps bring my intensity level that much higher,” Douglas said.
“My speed and getting bigger and stronger helps me at tackle. Then I also think having Melvin (Lewis) push me helps me become better. You are always as good as your backup and I look at him as my equal. We always push each other. I make sure he goes hard in the weight room, he makes sure I go hard. We talk trash back and forth. I am talking trash to Bud. It’s all just a big family talking crap to each other and pushing each other.”
Douglas says playing in the NFL would be a “childhood dream” but he is more concerned now with improving.
“The other day I told the team we are not going to go back to where we came from. We started out good my freshman class and went to a bowl game and I want to get back to that and go to a better bowl game,” he said. “With this new era, I want to leave it better than what I found it. That is my main goal right now. Then whatever the Good Lord blesses me with (in the future), I am fine with that.
“We are practicing hard every day and making new habits and we are starting to hold each other accountable for our own mistakes. All the senior and junior leaders are all coming together and just really trying to make this big push and everybody is buying in. Year two, everybody knows the system that much better. Everything is a little more fluent. I think we are going to do good this year.”
Douglas never expected back-to-back 2-10 seasons like UK has had the last two years when he came north to play college football. However, he has no second thoughts about being at UK.
“Not at all. I would do the same thing,” Douglas said. “When I first chose to come here, it wasn’t really about football or anything like that. It was about the relationships I built with people I met.
“I knew that if I did get here, people would have my back and that is what I feel the Wildcat community is all about in supporting each other. I don’t regret anything at all. I like Lexington. Of course, it is a big difference coming from Florida, but I have no regrets with anything I have done.”
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