Courtney Love (born September 28, 1994) is an

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 ...

coach and former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is currently the director of player development for the University of Kentucky's

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

. He also played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Kentucky, where he was the recipient of the

Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy is an award given annually to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." The trophy, designed by W. Stanley Proctor and named in honor of former Universi ...

in 2017.

Playing career

Nebraska

Love initially committed to play

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, where fellow Cardinal Mooney alumnus

Bo Pelini Mark Anthony "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is a former American football coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Louisiana State University Tigers football team. He is the younger brother of forme ...

was the head coach at. 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 Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, citing wanting to be closer to his grandmother, as well as his connections to members of the coaching staff at Kentucky.

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. 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 Mark Thomas Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the all time winningest head football coach in the history of the Kentucky Wildcats. Early life Stoops, one of six children born to ...

selected to attend the SEC Media Days in 2016 despite never playing a snap for the Wildcats at that point. 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. Love was named the recipient of the

in 2017, an award given to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." He finished his career at Kentucky with 168 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 forced fumble.

College statistics

Coaching career

At the conclusion of his playing career, Love was hired as a graduate assistant at

in 2018. He was promoted to director of player development in 2019.

Personal life

A native of

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, Love initially split time between his father and mother before later running away to permanently live with his father Cory, a former

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

who had served during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. While playing at Kentucky, he volunteered at Amachi Central Kentucky, a 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.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats coach bio

Kentucky Wildcats player bio

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Courtney 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio American football linebackers Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Kentucky Wildcats football players Kentucky Wildcats football coaches African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople