Donte Rumph (photo courtesy UK)

By LARRY VAUGHT

Donte Rumph doesn’t want to go into the season thinking he has to be “the man” on Kentucky’s defensive front even if defensive line coach David Turner wants the junior tackle to fill that role.

“I just try to focus on doing my job and getting better,” said Rumph, a junior who made 31 tackles in 11 games in 2011. “I don’t focus much on the one-man role. I just try to focus on my role as a teammate and part of the brotherhood on this team. I try to lead by example on and off the field. I am just trying to do what I am told by the coaches and what they expect of me.”

Rumph was an all-state high school player in South Carolina who originally signed with UK in 2008 but did not arrive on campus until 2010 because of academic issues. He went to Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy for two years, got to UK only a few weeks before the 2010 season opened and had 12 tackles in 12 games his freshman year.

“I have changed since I got here,” the 315-pound Rumph said. “I am opening up more. I like being on campus more and just knowing more people. I am trying to introduce younger guys to the Cats family. I am trying to play that role and it feels great.

“But I should be a better player this year. I agree with coach Turner on that. Every year you better strive to be better than the last year. I am trying to practice with that mindset that we can only move in a positive direction.”

Kentucky is coming off a 5-7 season that did end with a win over Tennessee. The Wildcats open the season Sept. 2 at Louisville, a team that beat UK last year.

“I am doing a lot of little things on the field to try to get better and prepared for Louisville,” Rumph said. “During the winter, I really tried to work on getting in better shape, getting stronger and becoming more explosive. I am trying to be a more well rounded player.

“I love my guys on the D-line. We are going to come in here and work hard every day to get ready for Louisville. As a defensive line, everybody has pretty much stepped up his play. I really can’t point out just one person that has got better. Everybody has been getting better and making improvements. It’s not just one person doing that, but a whole unit thing and that’s a good thing.”

Rumph is taking his role as a veteran player seriously and is anxious to help incoming freshmen adjust to college life when they arrive on campus in June.

“According to everybody else, I have always been the older guy,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be in the SEC and be a veteran and playing in the toughest conference in the country. It’s a blessing. I am just trying to set examples for the younger guys because I have been in their spots. I have been where they have been. Just everything is overwhelming.

“I am here to try and help make everything easier for them from college life to football to just getting around campus when the new guys get here. Any way I can help, I will be that big brother to them because if they can come in and help our football team right away, great. That just makes us better and that’s what matters.”