Senior TE Henry Boyer announces return to Kentucky

Kentucky bringing back Willie Rodriguez was one of the highlights of the offseason for Will Stein — a star in the making at tight end, catching 23 passes for 310 yards and a touchdown in 2025 to finish third on the team in receiving and become the first at his position since CJ Conrad in 2018 to hit the 300-yard mark. Now, the Wildcats have earned a commitment from Rodriguez’s complementary blocker to return in the tight end room. Henry Boyer is back in the blue and white for his senior campaign in Lexington.

“I’m back,” he shared on social media.

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Boyer, a transfer from Illinois, caught five balls for 62 yards in his debut season as a Wildcat. He was a participant in all 12 games, giving the offense some juice in the run game behind Rodriguez and Josh Kattus as primary pass-catchers, combining for 40 receptions, 505 yards and three touchdowns.

Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan has made it clear from the beginning that utilizing the tight ends will be a top priority — just as it was for him at LSU and for Stein at Oregon. He singled out Rodriguez there, obviously, but also Boyer and redshirt freshman Mikkel Skinner, a former four-star recruit.

“I think when you look at both Coach Stein’s offense at Oregon and what we did at LSU, the tight end has been a focal point of the offense in the passing game. I think you can create really good matchups with tight ends,” Sloan said in December. “We’ll absolutely use our tight ends in our offense to create advantages and create matchups where we win. I know Willie’s excited about that, and I know we’re excited about him.

“And I’ll say this, we’re excited about Henry (Boyer), we’re excited about Mikkel (Skinner), we’re excited about all the guys at that position, because I think we can be really creative with what we’re going to do moving forward.”

Boyer joins DL Tavion Gadson, OL Aba Selm, LB Grant Godfrey, RB Jason Patterson, DB Martels Carter, DB Grant Grayton, TE Willie Rodriguez, DB Terhyon Nichols, K Jacob Kauwe, DB Nasir Addison, DE Sam Greene and DB Ty Bryant as players confirmed to return for Kentucky in 2026.

Kentucky transfer commits

Player	Position	High School	Former School	Year
Olaus Alinen	G/T (6-6, 322)	Windson (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School	Alabama	Redshirt Junior
Jesse Anderson	S (6-0, 180)	Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons	Pittsburgh	Redshirt Junior
Max Anderson	iOL (6-5, 311)	Frisco (Texas) High	Tennessee	Redshirt Sophomore
Elijah “Bo” Barnes	LB (6-1, 244)	Dallas (Texas) Skyline	Texas	Redshirt Freshman
Jovantae Barnes	RB (6-0, 211)	Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines	Oklahoma	Redshirt Senior
CJ Baxter Jr.	RB (6-1, 227)	Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater	Texas	Redshirt Junior
Ahmad Breaux	iDL (6-3, 278)	Ruston (La.) High	LSU	Junior
Jordan Castell	S (6-2, 213)	Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange	Florida	Senior
Brock Coffman	WR (6-10, 155)	Sayre (Ky.) School	Louisville	Redshirt Freshman
Xavier Daisy	WR (6-3, 210)	Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School	UAB	Junior
Ja’Kayden Ferguson	WR (6-2, 187)	Missouri City (Texas) Thurgood Marshall	Arkansas	Sophomore
Aaron Gates	Nickel (6-0, 198)	Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian	Florida	Redshirt Junior
Jamarrion Harkless	iDL (6-3, 315)	Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass	Purdue	Redshirt Junior
Lance Heard	T (6-6, 330)	Monroe (La.) Neville	LSU | Tennessee	Senior
Mark Manfred III	CB (6-1, 175)	Marietta (Ga.) Sprayberry	Missouri	Redshirt Freshman
Kenny Minchey	QB (6-2, 208)	Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II	Notre Dame	Redshirt Junior
JacQai Long	QB (6-2, 205)	Hurricane (W. Va.) High	Marshall	Redshirt Sophomore
Antonio O’Berry	EDGE (6-6, 240)	Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne	Tiffin (D-II) | Gardner-Webb	6th-Year Senior
Tom O’Hara	P (6-1, 197)	St. Bedes College (Melbourne, Australia)	Murray State	Junior
Coleton Price	iOL (6-3, 318)	Bowie (Texas) High	Baylor	Redshirt Senior
Spencer Radnoti	LS (6-3, 230)	Canton (Ga.) Cherokee	Georgia State	Redshirt Sophomore
Cyrus Reyes	S (6-1, 200)	Taylor (Texas) High	Mississippi State	Junior
Mark Robinson	T (6-5, 320)	Longwood (Fla.) Lyman	UTEP	Junior
Hasaan Sykes	CB (6-0, 185)	Tucker (Ga.) High	Western Carolina	Junior
Tegra Tshabola	iOL (6-6, 322)	West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West	Ohio State	Redshirt Senior
Tavion Wallace	LB (6-1, 239)	Baxley (Ga.) Appling County	Arkansas	Sophomore
Dominic Wiseman	iDL (6-2, 300)	Davenport (Iowa) High	South Alabama	Redshirt Senior
Adam Zouagui	K (5-11, 188)	Herndon (Va.) High	Davidson | South Florida	Senior