While the story of Stephen Johnson had a sort of storybook feel to it, the opening paragraphs of that story could have been written in the scrawl of a preschooler with a cast on his wrist.
Sure, the Kentucky quarterback came from junior college to lead the Cats to back-to-back bowl games and multiple Southeastern Conference wins.
But that would’ve been difficult to predict when he arrived on campus in January 2016. Coaches tried to act confident about the transfer, but there were plenty of wrinkles to straighten out along the way.
“People forget when Stephen was first here, there was not a whole lot of good things being said,” co-offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw said.