Before Anthony Colandrea became the odds-on favorite to be QB1 for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, there was former Notre Dame QB Kenny Minchey. The longtime backup was finally on the lookout for a starting spot, and it appeared it would be in Lincoln. Then, a day later, Minchey decided he wanted to go to Lexington, Kentucky, instead, and play for the Wildcats. The choice seemed odd at the time, considering that even with the Huskers’ struggles, they appeared to be a better program overall. However, earlier this month, the former Irish quarterback explained what his thinking was behind the decision.
The SEC also-ran is running things with first-year head coach Will Stein and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Minchey recently told On3’s Pete Nakos that playing under those two talented playcallers was a big reason he turned his back on the Huskers.
“These are basically the best two guys at their positions across the country, and with what they’ve been able to do in terms of quarterback development, I think it ended up being a no-brainer,” the one-time Nebraska commit said.
“And then just looking at Kentucky in the past, obviously, it hasn’t gone exactly how they wanted over the last few seasons, but even last year they lost to Ole Miss by seven and should have beaten Texas, losing by three.”
Kenny Minchey’s Kentucky explanation revisits Nebraska football transfer miss
“They were in a position to compete. Things just didn’t go their way. That was very enticing. And then, during that time, they were killing it in the portal. They were getting a lot of the top guys across the country.”
Stein was one of the best offensive coordinators in the game when he was directing the Oregon Ducks’ offense under Dan Lanning. However, he’s never been a head coach at any level and will almost certainly have some growing pains as he gets used to the SEC. That might be the most interesting part of Minchey’s choice.
Even with Stein and Sloan known as great quarterback developers, it’s hard to see the ex-Notre Dame QB having a better season in Lexington than he would have had at Nebraska. That’s especially true considering that Husker head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen talked extensively this spring about how their new quarterback (Anthony Colandrea now) will run quite a bit more than Dylan Raiola did.
Even with a tough Big Ten schedule on Nebraska’s slate, it still feels like Minchey would have had a chance to put up eye-popping numbers with the Cornhuskers. Granted, his stay in Lexington could be more than one year, and with guys like Trae Taylor coming to Lincoln in the next few years, he might have believed he’d be hard-pressed to start two years in a row.
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