Tim Couch was on the brink of transferring. His coach, Bill Curry, had just been fired in the middle of Couch's first season in Lexington. Kentucky had won just a single game at that point. Hal Mumme, he of the unconventional offense and personality, and Mike Leach, he of the even more unconventional offense and personality, were coming aboard as head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively. How, exactly, was this all going to work?
 
"They really hadn't been in major college football before," Couch said. "They were at Valdosta State University and they were putting up big numbers and everything there, but when they got the job here at UK, the kind of talk was, 'Well, you can't run that kind of offense in the SEC. The defenses are too good. You're not gonna be able to block these guys if you drop back and throw it 40-50 times a game,' like we were going to do. We heard we heard all those things."
 
Couch sat down with Mumme, and he was on-board after one meeting.
 
"He was saying everything I wanted to hear," Couch said. "And just the way he was so passionate and so confident about his system and that it was going to work and we were going to make it make it work at this level of college football, and I just bought in immediately, and we just hit the ground running with that thing."
 
No kidding.
 
Couch and the 'Cats took off and never looked back. Couch threw for 398 yards — a school-record at the time — in a win over rival Louisville in the opener. He followed that up with a school-record seven touchdown passes in a rout of Indiana.
 
And if there were any remaining doubts about whether the Air Raid could work in the SEC, Couch put them all to rest with an upset overtime win over Alabama, marking the Wildcats' first win over the Crimson Tide in 75 years. The fans rushed the field. The goalposts were torn down.
 
A new era of Kentucky football was officially born.
 
Those moments alone don't make Couch a College Football Hall of Famer, but they sure helped propel his legendary career. The 6-foot-4 signal caller becomes the sixth former Kentucky player to make the Hall, and the ninth Wildcats member overall when including coaches.
 
The Hyden, Ky., native joins former UK player and coach Jerry Claiborne as the only Kentuckians who played at UK and have made the Hall.
 
"We play such a team sport. Anytime you accomplish something like this, it's obviously never done as an individual," Couch said. "So many people helped me get to that point and I had great teammates and great coaches and I'm just very thankful for all of them."
 
Couch set multiple school and SEC passing records in both 1997 and '98. He finished Second Team All-SEC in '97, behind Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, and he was named an FWAA and Walter Camp First Team All-American in '98, in addition to winning SEC player of the year honors.
 
Couch finished in the top-10 of the Heisman Trophy voting both years, making it to New York as a finalist in 1998, when he finished fourth.
 
Kentucky followed a surprising 5-6 campaign in '97 with a 7-5 mark the next season, making a New Year's Day bowl (Outback Bowl) for the first time in 47 years. Couch completed 72.3 percent of his passes that season, an NCAA record.
 
The former No. 1 overall pick of the Cleveland Browns remains heavily involved with Kentucky, which named its practice fields after Couch for giving the lead financial gift during renovations. He has a suite at Kroger Field and is at every game. Fittingly, the stadium is nicknamed "The House That Couch Built," as the school decided to expand the venue after Couch's playing days, given the rising interest in the program.
 
Couch sponsors a charity event every year with head coach Mark Stoops, donating money to Kentucky Children's Hospital. His son, Chase, is a freshman defensive end at Holy Cross. Tim and his brother Greg are part owners of Meridian Wealth Management, and Tim has partnered with Limestone Farms on a bourbon offering as well. There was never much of a doubt that he would end up back in Lexington once his NFL career was over.
 
"I really, really loved Lexington and just this community," Couch said. "I knew once I started having children, this is where I wanted to be and raise kids here."
 
TIM COUCH: UP CLOSE
 

• Named a consensus First Team All-American in 1998, claiming SEC Player of the Year honors in 1998 while finishing fourth in Heisman balloting in 1998 and ninth in 1997.
• Landed seven NCAA records, including single-game completion percentage (83%), single-season completions (400), and career completion percentage (67.1%). 
• Completed 795 passes for 8,435 yards and 74 touchdowns during his career.
• Played for head coaches Bill Curry and Hal Humme
• Becomes the sixth Wildcat player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.