Set Your Alarms: The Kenny Tracy Story

OXFORD, Ohio— Kenny Tracy has an alarm set for everything.

Literally, everything: The redshirt senior running back's daily schedule takes 'regimented' to a whole different level.

"Right now, I have a minimum of 10 [alarms set]," Tracy laughed on the last day of Miami Football's 2025 preseason fall camp. "I have my camp scheduled out; it's literally set for every day." Kenny Tracy

Alarms to drink water.

Alarms to take a nap.

(Alarms to wake up from a nap!)

Alarms to stretch.

Alarms to get in the cold tub.

And on and on it goes.

"It comes with experience, and I try to tell the other guys in the running back room that: The most important part of your whole day is the recovery part," Tracy said. "I make sure that every single day, I'm stretching in the training room and I'm always getting in the cold tub."

"Nobody spends more time on [their] body," Miami offensive coordinator Pat Welsh said recently. "He's the first guy in the building getting loose. He's the last guy stretching out and taking care of his body. He has a crazy-strict diet regimen.

"Kenny's professional in every sense of the word in how he carries himself, and our young guys just feed off that. His leadership comes from guys watching him and how he acts every day and how he responds to adversity."

Tracy has had more than his share of adversity during his college football career; the Indianapolis native is in his sixth season with the RedHawks, but this is the first time that he's finished a fall camp healthy.

"In 2020, my roommate got COVID and I had to quarantine because of him, so I missed some practices for that," Tracy recalled. "In 2021 my shoulder popped out of place; that's when I started having labrum problems and I had to get surgery on my labrum [at the end of the season]. 2022 and 2023, I had a hamstring problem."

Kenny Tracy

And then, in 2024 —what Tracy thought would be his final year in Oxford after earning his Psychology degree that spring— he tore his ACL during camp, forcing him to miss the entire season.

"Man, every time I come on this field, I look at the area over there where it happened," Tracy said, gesturing toward the 25-yard line on the south end of Yager Stadium. "It was non-contact; I can't really explain what happened…when I cut back, my knee just gave out…

"I really thought I was doing everything correctly. And maybe I was, and I just wasn't ready. Now I feel more ready than ever. I had a different perspective being a player-coach last year, which helped me tremendously: I understand the game so much more. I see everything slower, and I know what's supposed to happen [and how to react when it does].

"Either way, I think my injury made me a better person and made me more ready for what's to come for me. It taught me so much, it brought me closer in my faith, and it humbled me…

"Everything is a blessing in disguise. I'm truly blessed and I'm just really excited…this year, I finally made it through. I'm feeling the best I've ever felt in my latest year; it's crazy."

"It was devastating when he went down," Welsh said. "To see him still show up every day to physical therapy and training and to coach up the other guys is special. You don't see that often from a fifth-year guy who's about to miss his senior season.

"He was incredible through it last year, and I'm just excited for him to be able to go out there and play healthy and be a focal point of our offense."

Beyond Tracy's obvious on-field ability, the Miami coaching staff raves about his intelligence and versatility.

"IQ, IQ, IQ," said running backs coach Chris Hudson. "Line him up anywhere and he can do all the jobs; his IQ is off the charts." Kenny Tracy

"He's the smartest guy on the field, he knows everything about our offense, and he can play all five skill positions: Wideout, tight end, tailback," Welsh said.

"Losing him last year felt like we lost a guy in each [position] room, so having that versatility back is huge."

"The more jobs you can do, the more you can be on the field, and that's how I was since I got here," Tracy added. "I was on the bus [travel roster] my first year; I could do everything, including special teams."

Tracy began his high school career as a wide receiver before later switching to running back due to his bigger build (now listed at 5-10 and 229 pounds). Although basketball was his first love as a young athlete ('I started on varsity as a freshman in basketball and didn't in football until I was a junior'), he eventually followed in the footsteps of his older brother Tyrone —who's now with the NFL's New York Giants— as a standout on the gridiron.

"He's the reason I'm playing football," Tracy said. "Everything I did was around my brother and because of my brother. We shared a room growing up, and when I say we did everything together, we did everything together.

"That's my literal inspiration."

Despite the injuries Tracy has battled through as a RedHawk since then, he's still made a significant impact on the field, producing nearly 1,200 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns for a Miami team that's been bowl-eligible during each and every one of his seasons in Oxford. A 104-yard receiving game in November 2021 at Kent State helped him realize he could excel at the college level: "That was a turning point for me – It made me feel like I could really do this and I really fit here," he said.

And as the RedHawks head into the 2025 season, which kicks off Thursday, Aug. 28 at Wisconsin, Tracy is more than ready to help carry the load for the Red and White offensively.

"Obviously we're going to rely heavily on Kenny," head coach Chuck Martin said. "Name guys on our offense that have played and had success: Kenny Tracy and…"

The veteran coach then paused for effect before laughing and repeating the same singular name.

"…Kenny Tracy and, um, Kenny Tracy?"

"We've got a good running back group, and they're having a good camp," Martin continued. "But we told the team, even though Kenny's by far the most experienced and most accomplished player, he's still setting the bar in how we do things, which is helping our young guys grow…He's really doing an awesome job.

"They're watching him, how he shows up, how he is in meetings, and how he practices. It's great for them to realize: 'He's the best player and this is what he does every day? Well, maybe we should do it like that!'"

Tracy wouldn't have it any other way. Kenny Tracy

"I want people to look up to me as an inspiration, just like my brother was for me," he said. "Look at me, do the same thing I did, and you'll be great here: Learning the playbook, learning multiple positions, and having coaches rely on you…

"Be that guy for the team. You can still be great while helping others. I feel like that's one of the biggest things I learned coming here, because I would know nothing if my older guys didn't help me.

"Helping somebody is going to help you, and it's going to make the team better as well."

With Tracy leading the way, the RedHawks hope to chase their main goal this season: A third straight trip to the MAC Championship Game for the first time in program history.

The title game kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 6 at noon at Ford Field in Detroit.

Might be worth setting an alarm for.

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

Miami Football season tickets and single-game tickets are on sale now! Call (513) 529-4295 for more information. The RedHawks will kick off their home schedule with a clash against UNLV on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Yager Stadium.

Players Mentioned

Kenny Tracy

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