Like the rest of us, Bryant Koback wonders what might have been last fall.
One minute, the Springfield running back and the Blue Devils were churning toward history. The next, his leg was in pieces, the lights of Friday night gone forever dark.
Except his revisionism is a little different than ours.
The new University of Kentucky signee does not question if he would have traded Big Blue for a blue blood, won Ohio Mr. Football, or led Springfield on a deep playoff run.
No, looking back with pride on the way his teammates rallied in his absence, there is only one thing he would change.
A few months after the late-September game at Southview that ended his senior season, Koback finally cued up the tape of the fateful play. He watched as his tibia and fibula snapped in two, the compound fracture a result of a defender ripping him down from behind along the sideline.
Naturally, it was difficult to relive.
“Yeah, I was upset that I didn’t score,” he said.
Otherwise, Koback has looked only forward.
Forget all that was not. He’s grateful for all that is.
Koback committed to UK last January, and in a college football world where commitments are less bonding than a campaign pledge, the Wildcats did a funny thing after the gruesome injury.
They stuck by him as the only running back in their 2017 class.
That says something about UK coach Mark Stoops but a lot more about Koback, a special talent and kid who we’re thinking will reward that faith many times over.
Already, he is on campus and restlessly targeting his return. The early enrollee awakes at 4 each morning to dive into his strength and rehab work. He expects to be back at full strength by summer and ready to compete for carries this fall.
“[The injury] was a blessing in disguise,” he said. ”Everything happens for a reason. It gives you all the more motivation to earn things at the next level.”
Of course, I might also suggest the injury was a blessing in disguise for Kentucky. Though Koback was firmly committed to UK, some guys can be hard to keep in the fold.
Koback was not merely having a great senior year. He was piling up the kind of numbers that prompt video games to be recalled. Too unrealistic. He set out to run for 3,000 yards and was right on pace. Through four games, the 6-foot, 200-pound burner had 1,096 rushing yards, 21 touchdowns, and an appearance on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays.
In an alternate universe, a healthy Koback might have landed a raft of big-time offers — Ohio State’s Urban Meyer visited Springfield the day of the injury — challenged Central Catholic running back Michael Warren for Mr. Football, and led the Blue Devils (10-1) beyond the first round of the playoffs.
“It was kind of bittersweet, because we were able to do some really good things without him,” Springfield coach Pat Gucciardo said. ”But with Bryant, I really think we would have done some special things in the playoffs and maybe had a shot at the whole thing.”
It would have been fun to see. So will the future.
Contact David Briggs at: dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084 or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.
First Published February 1, 2017, 5:41 a.m.
