Courtney Love (American football)

Courtney Love (born September 28, 1994) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the director of player development for the University of Kentucky's football team. He also played college football at Kentucky, where he was the recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy in 2017.

Courtney Love
Current position
TitleDirector of player development
TeamKentucky
ConferenceSEC
Biographical details
Born (1994-09-28) September 28, 1994
Youngstown, Ohio
Playing career
2013–2014Nebraska
2015–2017Kentucky
Position(s)Linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2018Kentucky (GA)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2019–presentKentucky
(Dir. of Player Development)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Wuerffel Trophy (2017)

Playing career

Nebraska

Love initially committed to play college football at Nebraska, where fellow Cardinal Mooney alumnus Bo Pelini was the head coach at.[1] At Nebraska, he compiled 6 tackles in 2014 after redshirting his freshman year in 2013.

After Pelini was fired in 2014, Love announced his intention to transfer to Kentucky, citing wanting to be closer to his grandmother, as well as his connections to members of the coaching staff at Kentucky.[2]

Kentucky

Love initially applied for a hardship waiver when transferring to Kentucky that would have allowed him to play immediately, but was denied and forced to sit out the 2015 season.[3]

Despite sitting out the 2015 season, Love's impact on the program was not affected, as he was one of the players head coach Mark Stoops selected to attend the SEC Media Days in 2016 despite never playing a snap for the Wildcats at that point.[4] In addition to attending media days, he was one of three players to help show off Kentucky's new uniforms and was seen to be the leader of the Wildcats defense.[5]

Love was named the recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy in 2017, an award given to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement."[6] He finished his career at Kentucky with 168 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 forced fumble.[7]

College statistics
Season Class GP Tackles Def Fumbles
Solo Ast Total TFL Sacks PD FR Yards FF
Nebraska Cornhuskers
2013 Freshman Redshirt
2014 Freshman 4 4 2 6 1.0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Kentucky Wildcats
2015 Sophomore Sat out due to NCAA transfer rules
2016 Junior 13 39 37 76 1.0 1.0 1 1 0 1
2017 Senior 13 34 58 92 3.5 1.0 3 2 0 0
Career 30 77 97 174 5.5 2.0 4 3 0 1
Source: [8]

Coaching career

At the conclusion of his playing career, Love was hired as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 2018.[9] He was promoted to director of player development in 2019.[10]

Personal life

A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Love initially split time between his father and mother before later running away to permanently live with his father Cory, a former Marine who had served during the Gulf War.[11] While playing at Kentucky, he volunteered at Amachi Central Kentucky, an mentoring program that pairs adults with children in Kentucky who have parents that are affected by or incarcerated in prison. Love was paired with Antonio McKinney, a boy whose father was incarcerated and quickly formed a bond with him, spending time with him between practice and classes.[12]

References
  1. "Courtney Love Talks Husker Commitment". Husker Corner. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. "Husker transfer Courtney Love 'loved everything' at NU, but drawn to Kentucky coaches". Omaha-World Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. "NCAA rules Kentucky LB Courtney Love, TE Greg Hart ineligible for '15". ESPN. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  4. "UK's Love embracing spotlight before debut". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  5. "Nebraska transfer taking on leadership role". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. "Courtney Love Accepts 2017 Wuerffel Trophy". The Wuerffel Trophy. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  7. "Courtney Love Career Game Log". College Football at Sports Reference. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  8. "Courtney Love College Stats". College Football at Sports Reference. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. "Former UK football captain Courtney Love joins staff as grad assistant". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  10. "Courtney Love named UK football director of player development". WKYT. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  11. "How Kentucky's Courtney Love Became College Football's Ultimate Humanitarian". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  12. "His father went to prison. Now UK athlete helps kids through struggle he endured". Kentucky Sports. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
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