Billy Jack Haskins is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

from 1993 through 1996. Haskins won the Kentucky "Mr. Football" Award as a senior at

Paducah Tilghman High School Paducah Tilghman High School is a public secondary school in Paducah, Kentucky. It is the only high school in the Paducah Independent School District. History The school opened at its first location in 1900, and was named Paducah High School, a ...

in 1992. At graduation, he had passed for more yardage than any player in Kentucky high school history. At Kentucky during his sophomore year Haskins beat out incumbent starter Jeff Speedy during the 1995 season, starting the final nine of Kentucky's eleven games. That year, he completed 60.4% of his passes (a school record at the time) for 1,176 yards and four touchdowns. His 47-yard touchdown run against Tennessee in which he broke several tackles gave Kentucky a 31–27 lead and won multiple "Play of the Year" awards. During the 1996 season, Haskins began splitting playing time with highly regarded freshman

Tim Couch Timothy Scott Couch (born July 31, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Kentucky, where he set the Southeaster ...

. After the 1996 season Kentucky head coach

Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player. Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...

was fired and replaced by

Hal Mumme Hal Clay Mumme (born March 29, 1952) is a former American football coach and former player. He most recently served as an offensive advisor for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. Previously, Mumme served as the head football coach at Iowa Wesleyan C ...

. Mumme installed a pass-oriented offense and announced that Couch would be the starting quarterback. Haskins transferred to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

to finish his playing career.

After football

As of 2019, Haskins has worked as an

investment advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

in Alabama for 15 years. He is married and has 2 children.

References

Primary sources

* University of Kentucky Football 1996 Media Guide (1996) American football quarterbacks Kentucky Wildcats football players Rhode Island Rams football players Year of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from Paducah, Kentucky Living people Paducah Tilghman High School alumni {{quarterback-stub