The legend of Kenny McIntosh

Seven games into the 2014 season, Kenny McIntosh was asked to return a punt.

A starting receiver on the University School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) varsity football team as an eighth grader, McIntosh subbed in for a returner who needed some rest on the sideline. While a starter, McIntosh was by no means a focal point in the Sharks' offense.

But then on his first career return—as an eighth-grader, mind you—McIntosh fielded it and ran 72 yards for a touchdown. Head coach Daniel Luque still recalls hearing his linebacker coach’s words through the headset.

“Luq, we got to get that damn boy the ball,” he said.

From that moment, Luque knew he had a special talent in McIntosh. They made an effort to get McIntosh the ball more to close out his eighth grade season. As a freshman, McIntosh became University School’s starting running back.

McIntosh is now set to enter his sophomore season at Georgia after seeing a handful of carries as one of the three rotational backups behind D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien. With Swift and Herrien off to the next level, McIntosh is competing for touches along with Zamir White and James Cook. As a freshman, McIntosh totaled 25 carries for 174 yards and two touchdowns—averaging seven yards per carry in the process. His longest run of the season was a 62-yard touchdown run against Arkansas State.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back has received considerable buzz all offseason, which isn’t a surprise to Luque. If given the opportunity, Luque thinks McIntosh can produce for Georgia the way he did in high school.

“As long as he has an opportunity, which it looks like he does, and he works hard and knows and understands what the job is with the task at hand—and he’s fulfilling that—then he’ll be just fine,” Luque said. “I’m really excited for him. You saw some things he did last year as a true freshman. Now that some of those backs are gone, it’s really about getting an opportunity. And once you get the opportunity, it’s what you do with it.”

As a youth, McIntosh earned the nickname “The Blueprint,” because at running back, “This is what it’s supposed to look like,” Luque said. The way he was used at University School could also be a blueprint for how Georgia could potentially get the most out of McIntosh, too.

As mentioned, McIntosh played a season at receiver before moving to running back full time. With exceptional hands, Luque said they would still run him as a receiver out of the backfield.

“We’re a spread, but we like to do it kind of like USC does, which is incorporate the running backs into the passing game as well as the run game,” Luque said. “There were times when we had mismatches with Kenny on a linebacker, and we felt that our chances were good on winning that, as long as we could protect and get him the ball.”

McIntosh was described as “selfless” since he was fine with sharing the load in the backfield at University School. He also was exceptional when it came to ball security.

Luque said that in five years, McIntosh only fumbled the ball twice. And that didn’t happen until his senior season. The reasons for the two fumbles were quite explainable, too. The first came early in the 2018 season against American Heritage and was due to a shaky exchange. The second came near the end of the final game of his high school career, when an exhausted McIntosh had a linebacker rip the ball out.

But that was it.

“The kid never fumbles,” Luque said. “I’m talking about in practice, too. That’s another thing: a ball-carrier who makes sure he puts that ball away and doesn’t give it up. That’s another one of his strengths.”

While McIntosh left as University School’s career leader in rushing yards, he wasn’t run into the ground during any particular season. The coaches made sure to keep the backs fresh through a rotation.

Still, it was still apparent who the leader of the team was.

Receiver Brandon Inniss, a rising sophomore at University School who holds at least 25 scholarship offers, was starting as an eighth grader when McIntosh was a senior. Inniss remembered how encouraging McIntosh was during his first varsity campaign.

“When I first got there, he saw my skill set,” Inniss said. “I think he just thought I was a regular eighth grader coming in when I first got there. Then he said I reminded him of him when he came into eighth grade. After that he just kept calling me his son and all this stuff. He’d see me in the hall at school and say, ‘Son, what’s up?’ He was somebody I looked up to.”

Georgia got into the picture with McIntosh due to the relationship forged with running backs coach Dell McGee. When McGee came to the South Florida area, he made it a point to stop by University School to see McIntosh. And if he couldn’t see him, he would at least relay a message to Luque wishing the young running back well.

What really stuck out to McIntosh during the recruiting process was how big and powerful Georgia’s offensive lines typically were. It also helped to see how many Georgia running backs have reached the NFL. Right now, Georgia boasts five running backs on NFL rosters in Swift (Detroit Lions), Todd Gurley (Atlanta Falcons), Nick Chubb (Cleveland Browns), Sony Michel (New England Patriots), and Elijah Holyfield (Carolina Panthers).

All things considered, Luque believes McIntosh is the best running back to ever come through University School, edging out Jordan Scarlett, who played college ball at Florida and is now with the Panthers. While Luque said Scarlett had better top speed, McIntosh had better hands and could make people miss at a higher rate.

McIntosh being a five-year starter also helped push him to the top of the list, the head coach said.

“He’s our school’s all-time leading rusher. He’s played in the most games. He had a really stellar career,” Luque said. “He was Broward County’s Offensive Player of the Year. He was first-team All-State four years in a row. There’s not much he didn’t do, and he really did get a lot of accolades for himself in the school. He also brought a winning tradition back to our program. That’s one thing I’ll always be indebted to Kenny McIntosh and his family for.”