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Maybe he’s not counting the days until the season starts, but Kentucky running back Braylon Heard is ready to play.
“I am really anxious to get out and play,” said Heard, who could not play last year after transferring from Nebraska. “I am sure it is going to be fun out there. Our fans were great all spring and I can only imagine what the regular season is going to be like.”
Heard, an Ohio prep star, figures to give UK a fast, elusive back.
“I am not sure how fast I am. I guess I am pretty fast,” he laugh and said.
Can anybody on the team catch him?
“I don’t think so. But football speed is different,” Heard said. “However,I would say my speed is my strength. I try to make moves. You have to make moves in this league to keep people off you and keep from getting bumps and bruises.’
He admits last season “was a little frustrating” after he made the decision to get back closer to home to finish his collegiate career.
“I knew my time was coming. I feel I learned a lot from coach (Chad) Scott and other guys,” Heard said. “It was the first time that I was on a team and not playing. Coming out of high school I had a break and wasn’t on team. Just some school stuff caused that. But that did help my redshirt year some because I kind of knew what not playing was like.”
Heard admits he’s a “lot older than most of these guys” including those — JoJo Kemp, Josh Clemons, Mikel Horton, Boom Williams — he will compete with for playing time in the deep Kentucky backfield.
“When I wasn’t playing that year out of high school, I just trained, got ready and worked out until I could go to Nebraska,” Heard said. “I worked a little, basic job. Just a little bakery stuff. That’s in the past, but it does make me appreciate what I have now. And I would say I am more mature now than when I came into college.”
He played in 19 games in two years at Nebraska and rushed for 462 yards and four scores. He averaged 6.7 yards per attempt in 2012 as a sophomore before transferring to UK. At Cardinal Mooney High School in Ohio, he rushed for 1,973 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior. H is team went 15-0 record and won the Division III state championship. He was ranked among the top five running backs nationally by Rivals.com.
The versatile Heard was also a member of the state champion 4x100-meter relay team as a senior and as a junior earned Division IV All-Ohio honors as a cornerback.
“He took as much advantage of a redshirt year as anybody I've seen,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “He was a little stiff in his hips and in his movements when he got here. He did a great job with our strength and conditioning coaches, became much more flexible and looks a whole lot different now.”
Heard says he can run inside as well as he outside. He’s worked to become a better receiver, a must for backs in Brown’s offense.
“They call it the Air Raid offense, but Neal likes to run the ball, too,” Heard said. “I catch the ball well and have good hands. I work on that all the time because you have to be able to do everything in this offense. I just want to be successful and help out the team as much as I can. If we're winning, then I'm happy.”
He admits the Kentucky winter “was pretty tough” weather-wise, but says he loves being at Kentucky and closer to his family.
“My mom is really happy. She doesn’t have to pay $400 or more for a plane ticket. She can just drive right down now (from Youngstown),” Heard said. “I had to do my homework on Kentucky. I had to weigh my options and make sure this was right place and turned out it was. I like the offense. It is similar to Nebraska’s. I just saw a great opportunity here , and it was closer to home. It was an easy move to make.”
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