Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 2: Dick Gabriel with you on a Tuesday edition of our program.
Speaker 2: It is game week and as I see it, only
Speaker 2: three more days, three plus because yeah, here it is
Speaker 2: a little after six o'clock, so you're looking at tomorrow,
Speaker 2: Thursday and Friday, and then that gets us to Kentucky
Speaker 2: Southern miss on Saturday. It's a game you will hear
Speaker 2: right here on six point thirty WLAP. It's a seven
Speaker 2: forty five kickoff, which means five point thirty pre game
Speaker 2: for us, and tonight you're gonna hear from and you
Speaker 2: may have heard him from him last night on a
Speaker 2: BBN radio on the State Wide Show. Logan Stenberg joins
Speaker 2: our pregame coverage along with Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jarmon.
Speaker 1: They had him on for a few minutes last night.
Speaker 2: We'll go a little bit longer with him tonight and
Speaker 2: make a deep dive on these football Wildcats through the
Speaker 2: eyes of the former UK All American offensive lineman. I've
Speaker 2: already talked a lot of football with Logan so far.
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna really like him, and a good
Speaker 2: combination with him and with Jeremy Jarmon lineman from both
Speaker 2: sides of the football, and Christy Thomas will referee, so
Speaker 2: you'll hear them as we kick off our coverage of
Speaker 2: Kentucky football this year. Also, it is game night tonight
Speaker 2: because the volleyball Wildcats opened their season really in just
Speaker 2: a few minutes over in Louisville and the American Volleyball
Speaker 2: Coaches Association Classic. It is a round robin event, well
Speaker 2: not a round robin, but it's a doubleheader, I should say,
Speaker 2: with the Wildcats taking on Nebraska. That's right, one of
Speaker 2: the top programs in America, and Kentucky has played in
Speaker 2: Nebraska before in the nca Tournament. So and Craig Skinner,
Speaker 2: of course was an assistant coach at Nebraska. That's where
Speaker 2: Mitch Barnard found him. That's one of Mitch Barnart's characteristics
Speaker 2: is he likes to hire up and coming talented assistants
Speaker 2: and give them the opportunity because he was an assistant
Speaker 2: ad for so long before he got his chance to
Speaker 2: be an athletics director out of Oregon State, so he
Speaker 2: appreciates hard working assistants, and Craig Skinner certainly fit that
Speaker 2: build and look at the job he's done at Kentucky,
Speaker 2: as the Wildcats have won or shared seven straight SEC
Speaker 2: championships and this will be their toughest task yet this
Speaker 2: season with Texas and Oklahoma joining the Southeastern Conference. When
Speaker 2: you talk about tough as the Wildcats open up tonight
Speaker 2: with Nebraska, and Kentucky has opened with tough teams many
Speaker 2: times in the Craig Skinner era, and not all of
Speaker 2: them have been wins, but practically all of them have
Speaker 2: paid off down the road with great experience for his team,
Speaker 2: and he expects that to happen tonight as well. But
Speaker 2: more than anything, he appreciates the facts, the fact that
Speaker 2: the eyeballs on volleyball have grown exponentially every year.
Speaker 1: This sport is exploding.
Speaker 3: We've broken a tenants record at the final Championship last year. Again,
Speaker 3: I mean the thousands if you or watching our sport
Speaker 3: just shows the credit to all the people involved that
Speaker 3: have gotten the sport to where it is and where
Speaker 3: it continues to grow.
Speaker 1: Tonight's match is on the deuce on ESPN two.
Speaker 2: That's a big deal for the opener of the season,
Speaker 2: and I know a lot of it has with a
Speaker 2: programming schedule, but that's why they scheduled it. When they did,
Speaker 2: you know, there's no college football, there's no pro football.
Speaker 2: You're going up against baseball. But women's volleyball has grown
Speaker 2: so much. You're coming off an Olympics year when the
Speaker 2: US team medled in part thanks to former Wildcat Every Skinner,
Speaker 2: So lots of people are going to be tuning into
Speaker 2: this one. And what you're going to see when you
Speaker 2: do is a sport that has done away essentially with
Speaker 2: a lot of officials what they call the down officials.
Speaker 2: They're the officials at either end of the court that
Speaker 2: decide whether balls are in or out. And they're going
Speaker 2: to do it more with technology with computers now and cameras,
Speaker 2: and that could take over very quickly in this ward
Speaker 2: to volleyball.
Speaker 3: You know, all kinds of new technology that's happening with it.
Speaker 3: And for US and three other teams be invited to
Speaker 3: an event like this is pretty special for our program
Speaker 3: to kick off the season. So the first serve and
Speaker 3: the last serve of the season will be in the
Speaker 3: Young Center here in Kentucky, so supporting our sport.
Speaker 2: How about that the final four is in Louisville, So
Speaker 2: if the Wildcats can work their way to the final
Speaker 2: four once again, as they did in twenty twenty and
Speaker 2: twenty one the COVID Long season when they won the
Speaker 2: national title. What an advantage that would be, and it
Speaker 2: could be an advantage obviously for U of L, which
Speaker 2: plays the nightcap this evening against Wisconsin. So you've got
Speaker 2: four really good programs in those Midwest powerhouses of Wisconsin
Speaker 2: and Nebraska showing up tonight in the city of Louisville,
Speaker 2: where the final four will be. As Craig said at
Speaker 2: the end of the season, Kentucky recruits Craig Skinner and
Speaker 2: his assistants recruit Louisville really.
Speaker 1: Really well.
Speaker 2: They've gotten some great players, primarily libro's defensive players. Not
Speaker 2: too many bigs out of the city of Louisville, but
Speaker 2: it's vital for Kentucky to get in there and take
Speaker 2: them away from the Cardinals obviously. And one of the
Speaker 2: players that Skinner got out of Louis's Eleanor Bevin, who
Speaker 2: is probably the best libro in the country. She has
Speaker 2: been the Libro of the Year. She was Liberal the
Speaker 2: Year as a freshman and is tremendous. Went to Mercy
Speaker 2: Academy and excited to be going back to World Stomping Grounds.
Speaker 4: We're really excited. It's my hometown, so a ton of
Speaker 4: people are coming, so I'm really excited. And then we've
Speaker 4: played Nebraska like a lot over the last three years,
Speaker 4: so a familiar team. Hopefully the first year are being
Speaker 4: at the first game, probably be a little bit of
Speaker 4: nerves on both sides, maybe not be the cleanest volleyball,
Speaker 4: but it's a really good opportunity for our program, so
Speaker 4: we're excited.
Speaker 2: One of the players who needs to play big tonight,
Speaker 2: literally assuming she's in there, because Aaron Lamb is one
Speaker 2: of Kentucky's bigs and she was in the lineup out
Speaker 2: of the lineup last year back in played I think
Speaker 2: her best volleyball toward the end of the season when
Speaker 2: they needed her the most. And now she's a senior
Speaker 2: six ' to three from Minnesota and has to hold
Speaker 2: her own tonight against these bigs from Nebraska, and obviously
Speaker 2: she's excited.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's huge to the spot. You see the
Speaker 5: sport grow in the past couple of years, like it's
Speaker 5: timber ben and it's been amazing to be a part of.
Speaker 5: I'm so thankful for that. Kentucky gets the opportunity to compete,
Speaker 5: especially early on such high level team, such a well
Speaker 5: done event. It'll be really really good for this team
Speaker 5: start off playing those teams like that, like Craig usually schedules.
Speaker 5: But yeah, super excited and glad that they could do that.
Speaker 1: That's Aaron Lamb and her swing.
Speaker 2: She got the kill that locked up the SEC championship
Speaker 2: at Arkansas last season. It was a huge match, fifth
Speaker 2: set and she closed out the match. So she needs
Speaker 2: to be big literally and figuratively. Tonight, we soccer has
Speaker 2: already opened its season. Volleyball opens tonight officially, and of
Speaker 2: course football on Saturday coming up in a few minut
Speaker 2: we're gonna hear from Mark Stoops at seven o'clock. You
Speaker 2: will hear the Kentucky Nebraska volleyball match right here. While
Speaker 2: we're on Kentucky football. Will Levis down in Nashville doesn't
Speaker 2: have to look over his shoulder at Malik Willis. He
Speaker 2: was a quarterback drafted by the Titans the year before
Speaker 2: they drafted Levis, and he and Levis were sort of
Speaker 2: in a quarterback battle when will first got there.
Speaker 1: Levis obviously wins the battle.
Speaker 2: Some people wondered would Willis just keep plugging away and
Speaker 2: eventually take over if Levis doesn't perform properly. Well, the
Speaker 2: pressure is still on Levis, but not from Malik Willis.
Speaker 2: The Titans have traded him for a seventh round draft
Speaker 2: pick to my Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: How about that?
Speaker 2: Willis a highly tatted QB coming in, but he goes
Speaker 2: for a seventh round pick because Green Bay can't decide
Speaker 2: or didn't get good play from their backup quarterbacks. The
Speaker 2: Packers didn't get anything we're seeing from Michael Pratt and
Speaker 2: Sean Clifford. Pratt's a rookie, Clifford in his second season.
Speaker 2: And here's the coincidence. Clifford was the guy you might
Speaker 2: recall this at Penn State who was the reason Levis
Speaker 2: transferred to Kentucky. Levis couldn't get past Clifford on the
Speaker 2: depth chart for whatever reason, and so he decided for
Speaker 2: a new start at Kentucky. And look how that's paid off. Well.
Speaker 2: Clifford had a nice career at Penn State, drafted by
Speaker 2: the Packers, but did not play well. And I watched
Speaker 2: a little bit of the preseason obviously, and he was
Speaker 2: not impressive. And so when you think about this, they're
Speaker 2: going into their opener and the Packers trade for a
Speaker 2: backup quarterback. So Lev's former teammate at Penn State now
Speaker 2: with the Packers, Sean Clifford. He's looking over his shoulder.
Speaker 1: How about that?
Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark still making headlines. Twenty first game of the
Speaker 2: year with at least fifteen points and five assists. That's
Speaker 2: almost routine anymore. She made four to three pointers totals
Speaker 2: eighty five. She's tied the rookie record in the WNBA
Speaker 2: set by the Dreams Ryan Howard in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: How about that.
Speaker 2: But the biggest story seventeen thousand, six hundred eight fans
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. As Clark took on Ryan Howard in the
Speaker 2: Atlanta dream they set a record for the highest attendance
Speaker 2: for a WNBA game in Georgia. It's the fifth time
Speaker 2: this year that a team's attendance record has been broken
Speaker 2: with the fever as the Visitors and d has already
Speaker 2: won fourteen games. Now they're third in the East, seventh
Speaker 2: overall in the league's standings. That's their highest regular season
Speaker 2: win total since twenty sixteen. So not only is Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clark packing them in, but they're winning games. By the way,
Speaker 2: Howard had sixteen points for Atlanta teena, Charles at twenty
Speaker 2: eight for the Dream and they're struggling the early ten
Speaker 2: and nineteen on the year. So Howard and Charles they
Speaker 2: need some help up. Next, Mark Stuups talks about his team.
Speaker 2: Bottom of the hour Logan Stenberg newest member of the
Speaker 2: UK Radio Network. And then after that we will head
Speaker 2: to Louisville for coverage here on the radio of Kentucky Volleyballs,
Speaker 2: the Wildcats take on Nebraska and the Coaches Association Classic.
Speaker 2: We're back in a minute around six thirty WLAP. Welcome
Speaker 2: back to the Big Moon Cider coming up game day
Speaker 2: on Saturday game night, I should say, really and if
Speaker 2: you need information about how to get in, where to go,
Speaker 2: what to bring all that stuff. UK Athletics dot Com
Speaker 2: is the website for you. They've got a parking map
Speaker 2: where if you have a permit. If you have no permit,
Speaker 2: they have a parking map for you with some suggestions
Speaker 2: on where you can park. If you are a non
Speaker 2: reserve disabled parking person, they'll tell you about that as well.
Speaker 2: The clear bag policy is covered. If you've got to
Speaker 2: find your seats, if you need a snack, if you
Speaker 2: need a beverage. A reminder that they do sell alcohol
Speaker 2: at football games now and there are rules about that.
Speaker 2: So maybe familiarize yourself with that little bit of information
Speaker 2: about the new lighting and ribbon video boards during timeouts
Speaker 2: and breaks, if you want to get on the video
Speaker 2: board instead of using a hashtag, and this is really popular,
Speaker 2: fans like to get up there in the pregame. There
Speaker 2: are dozens and dozens of photos that they put on.
Speaker 1: The video board.
Speaker 2: Well, now you scan a QR code to add photos
Speaker 2: and text. They will be monitored, so you're not going
Speaker 2: to sneak anything on there. But yeah, use the QR code.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: Farm Road and parts of the Orange Lot you've seen
Speaker 2: this if you've driven by, are under construction for the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season. I park in the Orange Lot
Speaker 2: a lot of you do. So Farm Road and parts
Speaker 2: of the Orange Lot are not going to be accessible
Speaker 2: all year long, both for vehicle and foot traffic. So
Speaker 2: that's going to cut down on some of the available
Speaker 2: tailgating area. So you can't get there too early. Well
Speaker 2: I guess you can, but think about that if you
Speaker 2: like to tailgate any Orange lot, your options are going
Speaker 2: to be not severely limited, but somewhat limited. This season,
Speaker 2: the non reserve disabled lot has been.
Speaker 1: Relocated to the William T.
Speaker 2: Young Library lots at the corner of Woodland and Columbia,
Speaker 2: and there's a shuttle that will pick up there.
Speaker 1: It's free.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot to consider, as you know, when
Speaker 2: you go to the ballgames, and you can find out
Speaker 2: how and the best ways to do it at Ukathletics
Speaker 2: dot Com. Can also find out about Mark Stoops and
Speaker 2: his team, and of course the UK coach getting his
Speaker 2: routine underway. He likes the routine of gameweek, what coach doesn't.
Speaker 2: And when it comes to the media, he does his
Speaker 2: new news conference, he does his radio show on Monday nights,
Speaker 2: but then it's game prep after that, and he's talked
Speaker 2: a lot of course, and every coach does this about continuity.
Speaker 2: You know, I was talking the other night about how
Speaker 2: it seems like every baseball season we talk about dominating
Speaker 2: the routine play like routine ground balls. But routine is
Speaker 2: important for every sport. You know, how you set up
Speaker 2: and shoot your free throws, how you set up your practices.
Speaker 2: If you're a football coach and the little things you
Speaker 2: have to do to make sure everything is covered, and
Speaker 2: Soup said, they've been working hard on that, specifically, any
Speaker 2: problems they might run into with the new offensive coordinator,
Speaker 2: with the new language, a new verbiage. You've got the
Speaker 2: microphone and the helmet. You've got the iPads sort of
Speaker 2: tablets on the sidelines.
Speaker 1: The teams can use now.
Speaker 2: And get used to that as being part of your
Speaker 2: sideline routine. But anytime you bring in a new offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator and a new way of playing, this uptempo style
Speaker 2: that Kentucky's going to employ, you've got to make sure
Speaker 2: that everything you do at the very beginning is going
Speaker 2: to be routine.
Speaker 1: You're going to run.
Speaker 2: Into problems, but if you can take care of the
Speaker 2: little things, you're ahead of the game.
Speaker 6: We've really tried to head off all those issues, you know,
Speaker 6: if we you know, running the problems. We do have
Speaker 6: timeouts for a reason. Obviously, we want to save them
Speaker 6: for two minute situations at the end of the half
Speaker 6: in the games, if you should you need them, but
Speaker 6: also we want to make sure we don't waste place.
Speaker 6: We have worked the communication, the new communication, you know,
Speaker 6: over and over again all the way from spring all
Speaker 6: the way through camp. We've practiced it. We've practiced live
Speaker 6: in the stadium. You know, we we try to anticipate
Speaker 6: those things and head them off before they happen. You know,
Speaker 6: nothing you know is ever perfect. We're going to I
Speaker 6: have to be, but you know we will say, you know,
Speaker 6: we're going to go out there with a confidence that
Speaker 6: we are going to be able to operate smoothly.
Speaker 2: And of course, so much of that revolves around avoiding penalties,
Speaker 2: pre snap penalties, having people lined up in the right place,
Speaker 2: having the right people on the field for the right formations.
Speaker 2: There are always problems and you can only rehearse so much.
Speaker 2: But you've just got to be ready to deal with
Speaker 2: the little things. Let the big things take care of themselves.
Speaker 2: I mentioned new offensive coordinator Bush Hamden. He's going to
Speaker 2: be in the press box, not on the sideline, as
Speaker 2: Liam Cohen often was in his two stays at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: Coen also spent some time in the press box, but
Speaker 2: Hamden will be up there exclusively, and Stoops likes that.
Speaker 6: I love the way he operates, I like the way
Speaker 6: he thinks, I like the way he anticipates his calls
Speaker 6: he is in the box, so he could write down
Speaker 6: his notes and have his thoughts and his ideas handy
Speaker 6: and at his fingertip. So I think it also helps
Speaker 6: with the communication to be able to see the defense,
Speaker 6: see the big pitcher, and possibly adjust at times as well.
Speaker 1: It should be a good night for football.
Speaker 2: We may get a little wet at some point on Saturday,
Speaker 2: but as we always do, we're going to get a
Speaker 2: weather forecast from my man Chris Bailey from WKYT.
Speaker 1: Before the week is up. I may get Bill Mechacall
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: Nobody tailgates more enthusiastically than Bill mex so we may
Speaker 2: have battling weather forecasts. We'll see if we can make
Speaker 2: that happen this week here on the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: In case you're.
Speaker 2: Wondering, of course, a college football beginning Saturday with Georgia
Speaker 2: Tech's upset over Florida State. The SEC schedule actually begins
Speaker 2: Thursday night. Arkansas Pine Bluff plays at Arkansas, Murray State
Speaker 2: plays at Missouri, so the Racers don't have far to travel.
Speaker 2: But that's a future Kentucky opponent opening up against an
Speaker 2: SEC team. So that's some of the video that UK
Speaker 2: asses and coaches will be studying guarantee they'll be flipping
Speaker 2: back and forth between those two games. Oklahoma plays its
Speaker 2: first game as an SEC team on Friday night at
Speaker 2: seven o'clock against Temple. Those owls go to Norman, Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: Virginia Tech on Saturday plays at Vanderbilt. Chattanooga plays Saturday
Speaker 2: at twelve forty five. That's a noon Vandy game. Chattanooga
Speaker 2: plays Tennessee at twelve forty five on Saturday as well,
Speaker 2: But the big one, Clemson at high noon takes on
Speaker 2: the Georgia Bulldogs at high noon in Mercedes Benz Stadium
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. That is a noon start, so you have
Speaker 2: a chance to put your feet up and check out
Speaker 2: Kirby Smart's dogs on the Kentucky schedule in week three
Speaker 2: on Saturday. So some interesting SEC games coming up to
Speaker 2: help prep you for the Wildcats and the Golden Eagles
Speaker 2: of Southern Myths. Before we hit the break, Aaron Judge
Speaker 2: just an incredible season. He could get sixty three three
Speaker 2: home runs, that would be the American League record, and really,
Speaker 2: when it comes to performance enhancing drugs, some people would
Speaker 2: look at this as the record for home runs, but
Speaker 2: he's just phenomenal, hitting three thirty three, fifty one home runs,
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty two runs batted in, and he
Speaker 2: still has thirty one games to go. He's gonna be
Speaker 2: the MVP. And what's amazing is on April twentieth, he
Speaker 2: went zero for four with four strikeouts. It was Aaron
Speaker 2: Judge Bobblehead day at Yankee Stadium and they booed him.
Speaker 2: But his batting average dropped at like one seventy nine
Speaker 2: three days later bottomed down at one seventy four. But
Speaker 2: since then, in one hundred and six games since then,
Speaker 2: and he adjusted his approach at the plate. Obviously, he's
Speaker 2: batted three seventy on base percentage five hundred slugging percentage
Speaker 2: eight twenty eight ops, which is on base plus slugging
Speaker 2: one point three two eight. That's phenomenal, and forty eight
Speaker 2: home runs. Next closest Shoaiotani with thirty six. He's kept
Speaker 2: this up for four months, phenomenal and by the way,
Speaker 2: those strikeouts, he's cut him down in the last eight
Speaker 2: days twenty seven played appearances since he struck out, So
Speaker 2: whatever he did, whatever he's doing, and he's a bottle
Speaker 2: it and sell it if he can up next Logan Stenberg,
Speaker 2: former Kentucky All American lineman. Now remember the UK Radio
Speaker 2: Network team. Then it's UK Volleyball against Nebraska here on
Speaker 2: the six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider,
Speaker 2: Logan Stenberg making the media rounds now is on with
Speaker 2: Darren Hedrick last night. We've got him tonight a little
Speaker 2: bit longer, a little more time to spend with Logan,
Speaker 2: our newest member of the UK Radio Network team. He's
Speaker 2: going to be on the pregame show with Christy Thomas
Speaker 2: and Jeremy Jermys.
Speaker 1: So we have linemen from.
Speaker 2: Both sides of the football and guys who played in
Speaker 2: the NFL. Jeremy of course with a wash and back
Speaker 2: then Redskins and I was injured when he was traded
Speaker 2: to the Denver Broncos, which forced his retirement a little prematurely.
Speaker 2: Logan spent three seasons with the Lions, spent some time
Speaker 2: in camp with the Bears and the Bucks, and now
Speaker 2: he is part of our radio crew and had a
Speaker 2: chance to talk some football with Logan. Logan, congratulations, welcome
Speaker 2: to the party.
Speaker 7: Big thanks for having me Meam Pump to be here.
Speaker 2: Other than challenging Jeremy Jarman about who's tough or offensive
Speaker 2: and defensive lineman. What do you hope to bring to
Speaker 2: the pregame show.
Speaker 7: I just hope to bring a little offensive line insight,
Speaker 7: kind of break down the offense, you know, to simple
Speaker 7: terms where people can understand what the main goal is.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 7: I just want to make it fun and accessible for everybody.
Speaker 2: This is a great time for you to be joining
Speaker 2: because there is a big question mark hanging over the
Speaker 2: offensive line, Isn't there?
Speaker 1: Not in a bad way.
Speaker 2: Because I thought they took a step forward last year,
Speaker 2: But there's going to be a lot to look at,
Speaker 2: isn't there.
Speaker 7: I agree, and I think that we've got a lot
Speaker 7: of young guys backing up some veterans. I think it
Speaker 7: all starts with Eli Hawks up front at center. I mean,
Speaker 7: I think if he is a good year, they offensive
Speaker 7: line will have a good year. I think we're booke
Speaker 7: ended pretty well at left and right tackle. I'm just
Speaker 7: excited to see what those boys can put together this year.
Speaker 2: You've been busy off playing pro football now that you've retired,
Speaker 2: I don't know how much you've had a chance to
Speaker 2: watch this team or if you've got a chance to
Speaker 2: see him much last year. But let's start with Eli.
Speaker 2: What do you think he brings to a position that
Speaker 2: as you know, there have been some really talented centers
Speaker 2: at UK over the years.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think he's very similar to one of my
Speaker 7: good friends, Luke Portner currently in Jacksonville playing center down there.
Speaker 7: And I think that they're just smart, witty guys. They
Speaker 7: can they understand the offense. They grasp that, they know
Speaker 7: exactly what the plan is and how to get it done.
Speaker 7: And the thing that is underrated at center is they're
Speaker 7: good at getting everybody else where they need to go.
Speaker 7: He's good at calling the plays, getting the guards and
Speaker 7: the tackles where they need to be, and really kind
Speaker 7: of running the ship up front.
Speaker 2: And it's more than just calling out od or even defense,
Speaker 2: isn't it if the nose guards over the center or
Speaker 2: if he's not. I mean you can clearly see that.
Speaker 2: But what other things does the center have to point out?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean we could go on for hours about that.
Speaker 7: Identifying defenses. We can go into you know, oh, the
Speaker 7: nose has his right hand down or is left hand down,
Speaker 7: he's a shade or he's a three of us. So
Speaker 7: there's a lot that goes in, and you know, each
Speaker 7: week is a little different because the coaches will come
Speaker 7: in and game plan make it simple for the guy
Speaker 7: so everybody can grasp it and really hit home on
Speaker 7: the main goal. But you know, when he gets up there,
Speaker 7: he's got a play and the first thing he's doing
Speaker 7: is he's identifying the mic, what what linebacker are we
Speaker 7: working to And then basically off of that one point,
Speaker 7: it tells the rest of the offensive line what's to do.
Speaker 7: It tells the right guard and the right tackle, Oh,
Speaker 7: I've got plus one or my it's one at that point,
Speaker 7: and then so on and so forth on the backside.
Speaker 7: So it's really more than just saying an even for sure.
Speaker 7: And I mean, of course, depending on what defense they're in,
Speaker 7: identifying that mike. Linebackers could be pretty hard sometimes.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I heard a story not long ago when Eli Manning
Speaker 2: was a rookie and he came to the line of
Speaker 2: Scrimmers who were playing the Ravens, and he yelled something about.
Speaker 1: Whatever ray Lewis was.
Speaker 2: I think ray Lewis was fifty two, and it was
Speaker 2: only fifty two is the mic? And ray Lewis said, no, Eli,
Speaker 2: I'm not the mike, He's the mic. I don't know
Speaker 2: often that happens in the NFL, but I'm guessing it
Speaker 2: doesn't happen much in college, does it.
Speaker 7: There's there's a lot of test match being played up
Speaker 7: there at the at the line of scrimmers, that's for sure,
Speaker 7: and I was like trying a little light on that
Speaker 7: this year. I'd like to highlight those guys more than
Speaker 7: they usually are. Well.
Speaker 2: Speaking of Cox's brother from another mother, Marcus is I
Speaker 2: guess in his seventh year at O tackle and as
Speaker 2: you well know, being a former interior lineman, there's there's
Speaker 2: no substitute for experience, and that's going to be huge
Speaker 2: for Kentucky literally.
Speaker 1: Isn't it.
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, the Northern Illinois guy, I think he is
Speaker 7: going to be a bright spot on that offensive line.
Speaker 7: Like you said, experiences everything, and he's got plenty of it.
Speaker 7: I think he's going to add a little bit of
Speaker 7: astiness to that west side as well with Jagger and
Speaker 7: I think they're going to have a big year together.
Speaker 7: I'm looking forward to watching them double guys into the ground.
Speaker 2: Jagger had some problems last year with penalties and a
Speaker 2: few situations. Uh, do you believe that he's worked through that?
Speaker 2: I mean, where there's only one way to find out,
Speaker 2: but that's it's vital for him, I think to have
Speaker 2: his best year this year, obviously, isn't it.
Speaker 7: Yeah. I may not be the one to talk about penalties,
Speaker 7: but I truly believe that there's a fine line you
Speaker 7: have to walk, and I think he's going to find
Speaker 7: that line this year. I think he's figured out, like
Speaker 7: you know that there I need to be a aggressive
Speaker 7: I need to finish guys, but within the confines of
Speaker 7: the game. And I struggled with that as well. And
Speaker 7: one thing that coach Suit's always told me is it's
Speaker 7: a lot easier to say WHOA than giddy up? So
Speaker 7: I think that's a good thing to have sometimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've heard that before from coaches talking about aggressive penalties.
Speaker 2: You know, it's one thing to line up off sides
Speaker 2: or something like that, but it's another just to be
Speaker 2: a little too aggressive, isn't it.
Speaker 7: Of course. I mean if there are mental mistakes, then
Speaker 7: I think that is a direct reflection of coaching. To
Speaker 7: be honest with you, not having your guys ready or
Speaker 7: prepared or confident in what the scheme is going to
Speaker 7: be and what you guys want to do now, if
Speaker 7: it's aggression, I mean I'll take one a game.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, no question.
Speaker 2: We're talking to Logan Stenberg, former UK All Conference and
Speaker 2: All American offensive lineman's joining us now on the UK
Speaker 2: Radio network as part of our pregame coverage and as
Speaker 2: he said, he's going to be highlighting maybe a little
Speaker 2: more than we have in the past, the offensive line play.
Speaker 1: But that's vital.
Speaker 2: You've got two new starters, it looks like, with Jalen
Speaker 2: Farmer a transfer coming in, and Gerald Minci another transfer.
Speaker 2: Tell me about the process, of course, you started as
Speaker 2: a red shirt freshman and started from then on, but
Speaker 2: working new faces in to a unit that has to
Speaker 2: has to perform as one, tell me about the challenge there.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and that's all off season work. That's training camp.
Speaker 7: You know, you you spend all off season getting your
Speaker 7: your test pieces all in one room, and now you
Speaker 7: got to figure out how they form together and work together.
Speaker 7: And you know, oh, well he worked well at right guard.
Speaker 7: Oh let's put him at lest guard. Let's try this out.
Speaker 7: And it's really just a trial and error at that point.
Speaker 7: That's what they've done this past six weeks in camp,
Speaker 7: and I have full faith in the coaching staffs where
Speaker 7: they figured it out, and I think there's gonna be
Speaker 7: no hitches at all. I think those guys are probably
Speaker 7: comfortable next to each other, and I'm excited. I'm glad
Speaker 7: you mentioned Farmer. I'm excited to watch him. I heard
Speaker 7: he's got a little nasty streak in him, so I
Speaker 7: think these guys are going to be one of the
Speaker 7: be reckoned with. I'm pretty excited for it.
Speaker 2: Of course, Eric Wolford is back as the O line coach.
Speaker 2: You did not play under him, but do you know,
Speaker 2: do you.
Speaker 1: Know him at all? And what do you know about him?
Speaker 7: I know Wolf's pretty well and I'm excited that he's back.
Speaker 7: I know it was, you know, semi controversial getting them
Speaker 7: back here, but I'm glad he's here. I think he's
Speaker 7: a great asset to this coaching staff and not only
Speaker 7: an incredible recruiter, but a great coach makes it. You know,
Speaker 7: one thing that coaches do is they have to take
Speaker 7: their players, realize what they can handle, and then teach
Speaker 7: it to them in that way, and I think he's
Speaker 7: great at doing that. He understands people. He reads people well,
Speaker 7: he knows when they get it, when they don't, and
Speaker 7: how to modify it.
Speaker 2: Zach Enzer was well like, well respected. In fact, he
Speaker 2: had just signed a contract extension when Wolford became available,
Speaker 2: so that's when he was let go. Of course, financially,
Speaker 2: he's taking care of it for a while. But a
Speaker 2: different style of O line coach, and that matters, doesn't it?
Speaker 7: It does? And I think he's close then, yinser. Uh,
Speaker 7: of course, I'm very biased. I don't think any coach
Speaker 7: will ever be as good as coach Swarman. Yeah, but
Speaker 7: I think he is the best closest we can get.
Speaker 7: He's in your faith. He loves on the guys. But
Speaker 7: you know, Henna, he's gonna coach you hard and if
Speaker 7: you can't take that, you can't play on his offensive line,
Speaker 7: which is something I think is vible.
Speaker 2: I covered John Schlarman as an athlete, as a player
Speaker 2: from the day he came to campus, so I knew
Speaker 2: him pretty well, uh, just as a media person, and
Speaker 2: that's something I think logan that people don't remember or
Speaker 2: don't know about John is that he was as pleasant
Speaker 2: and nice and gentlemanly as could be off the field,
Speaker 2: but as a player and a coach, he had that fire,
Speaker 2: didn't he?
Speaker 7: Oh? He did well. He was undersized, you know, he's
Speaker 7: an undersized guy, and he wanted to play. He loved
Speaker 7: the game, and more importantly, he loved Entucky. So he
Speaker 7: wanted to be out there and he knew that the
Speaker 7: only way they were gonna put him out there is
Speaker 7: if he had that Knean streak in him, and he
Speaker 7: definitely did.
Speaker 1: And he coached that way, didn't he?
Speaker 7: Of course, yeah, he coached the way he played. He
Speaker 7: demanded a lot from us, but like I said earlier,
Speaker 7: he loved the stuff even harder. So he was a
Speaker 7: great name to play for.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, being down there on the sidelines
Speaker 2: each game watching him come off the field as a player.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you ever saw a video, but
Speaker 2: the heavily bandaged and you know, bracketed knees. I don't
Speaker 2: know how he played out there, but it was all
Speaker 2: desire and drive. One last question before the break, a
Speaker 2: friend of mine media person told me he thought maybe
Speaker 2: that the UK offensive line needs to forge its own
Speaker 2: identity and move away from the big blue wall label.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about that. Do you think it's
Speaker 2: still something that they need to aspire to.
Speaker 7: I don't care what name we put on it. Let's
Speaker 7: let's be honest here, Dick. I just want those guys
Speaker 7: to go out there and win football games. Yeah, and
Speaker 7: I think it truly starts up front with the offensive
Speaker 7: line and the defensive line play. We can call him
Speaker 7: the big teleteby's for all I care. Let's just go
Speaker 7: out there and win games.
Speaker 2: Well, Frank Kersey did football one oh one with me
Speaker 2: back in the day, and he said, every game begins
Speaker 2: with the old line. Everything revolves around the old line.
Speaker 2: You know, how long you have the ball, how long
Speaker 2: your opponent doesn't have the ball. So I learned early
Speaker 2: on about the importance of it. We're talking with Logan Stenberg,
Speaker 2: former UKL American offensive lineman. He is now a member
Speaker 2: of the UK Radio Network team. He'll be on the
Speaker 2: pregame show with Christy Thomas Jeremy Jarmo will come back
Speaker 2: and talk more Kentucky football in just a minute with
Speaker 2: Logan on the Big Blue Sider here on six thirty WLAP.
Speaker 1: Welcome back.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Logan Stenberg, former Kentucky All American offensive lineman,
Speaker 2: NFL veteran and now a member of the UK Radio
Speaker 2: Network team. He'll be pregame show with Christy Thomas and
Speaker 2: Jeremy Jarman. All right, now, you're Oklahoma drill you against Jeremy?
Speaker 1: Come on? Who wins?
Speaker 7: Oh? It's me every day? And I think Jeremy would
Speaker 7: say the same. You know, he's had a couple of
Speaker 7: years on him here, so I think I've got him.
Speaker 1: I think maybe right now you probably do too.
Speaker 2: But you need to learn from him when it comes
Speaker 2: to radio experience, because Jeremy is a natural. As you know.
Speaker 2: We're talking, of course, about the Kentucky offense as the
Speaker 2: Wildcats open up with Southern Miss new oc new quarterback.
Speaker 2: Let's start with bush Ham Dan. Changing coaches is a
Speaker 2: way of life in football at whatever level. But this
Speaker 2: is a Kentucky offense where each of the last three
Speaker 2: years they've had to learn new verbiage. How much of
Speaker 2: a challenge is that logan and it seems like they've
Speaker 2: had quite a while to get that done. Going back
Speaker 2: to the spring, do you expect that to be an issue?
Speaker 7: I don't see that to be an issue. We've had
Speaker 7: plenty of time in the offseason to get all that
Speaker 7: ironed out. One thing that I'm super excited with Bush
Speaker 7: is I heard him say that if he could run
Speaker 7: the ball fifty times a game, he would, and like
Speaker 7: you said earlier before the break, controlling that line of scrimmage,
Speaker 7: controlling the ball and time possession of huge. I think
Speaker 7: if we control the ball and we beat them up front,
Speaker 7: it's going to be a long game for them. If
Speaker 7: we get to run at forty fifty times a game,
Speaker 7: I'll be loving it.
Speaker 2: I feel a lot better if and this is not
Speaker 2: a reflection on any other running back, but if Chip
Speaker 2: train and were healthy, because he appears to be the
Speaker 2: guy who can get you a yard and a half
Speaker 2: or two when you really need it. How concerned are
Speaker 2: you about the power run game.
Speaker 7: I think we're getting lucky that it's only is it
Speaker 7: a two week we think, yeah, okay, we're thinking two weeks.
Speaker 7: I think Sumo's going to hold it down. Fine. I
Speaker 7: think it's going to be good. It's it's not going
Speaker 7: to be a Parle medal, But I am excited to
Speaker 7: have him back. I think he's going to be a big,
Speaker 7: big asset for us this year.
Speaker 2: Well, Demi on the edge gives you a lot, though,
Speaker 2: doesn't he He's got the speed.
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, he's definitely got the breakaway speed. And then
Speaker 7: when we get chipped back, he'll be He'll be the
Speaker 7: ground and pound kind of guy.
Speaker 2: And he thoughts on Rock Vandergriff because he was a
Speaker 2: five star guy coming out of high school, lost in
Speaker 2: a close battle to Carson Beck for the starting job
Speaker 2: at Georgia.
Speaker 1: But we're not sure what we're going to see, are we.
Speaker 7: I like him. I think he's composed. I've lost my
Speaker 7: practice a couple of times. He puts the ball where
Speaker 7: he wants to put. He's got a great throw. I
Speaker 7: think that the switch up with Gavin as well is
Speaker 7: going to be off. You know, a lot of people
Speaker 7: are scared about running two quarterbacks, but I'm not subscribing
Speaker 7: to that whatsoever. I think if you can effectively do it,
Speaker 7: it just makes it so much harder for that defense
Speaker 7: to game plan.
Speaker 1: Well that's a great plus, But why are you confident
Speaker 1: they can do it.
Speaker 7: I'm confident because we've done in the past, even just
Speaker 7: due to injuries. I mean, I think when we had win,
Speaker 7: nobody could. Nobody could game plan against the lyn They
Speaker 7: knew we were going to run the ball. They stacked
Speaker 7: the boss with eight nine guys and we still ran effectively.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 7: So I think that we're going to be able to
Speaker 7: game plan all these teams and do what we want
Speaker 7: to do upfront.
Speaker 2: For sure, you block Berlin Bowden, What what was it
Speaker 2: like when you suddenly had to change the offense so dramatically.
Speaker 7: When's one of those guys, He'll make you look good now?
Speaker 7: So it was it was pretty easy to block for Lynn,
Speaker 7: believe me. I mean we could go sweet to the
Speaker 7: right and he would do a reverse run to the left,
Speaker 7: sideline hurdle of guys and score. And so it was
Speaker 7: pretty easy blocking Prownd. He just found a whole win.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he could throw it better than most people thought.
Speaker 2: And of course, you guys win the Bell ball on
Speaker 2: a touchdown pass. It was highly unexpected. Tell me a
Speaker 2: little bit about the white outs for this Kentucky team.
Speaker 2: How special are they and what do you expect from
Speaker 2: them this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 7: I think Barry, ar and Dane are gonna have a
Speaker 7: big year. It's obviously a pivotable year for them going
Speaker 7: into their junior year. I expect a lot out of
Speaker 7: them and I think that the experience is going to
Speaker 7: really bode well for them in this offense. They're going
Speaker 7: to have better route running, better awareness, and I think
Speaker 7: it's going to be a big year.
Speaker 2: I know how much they really liked a new wide
Speaker 2: receivers coach, Takeuill Schwartz. We had a chance to talk
Speaker 2: to him, the media did the other day. Younger guy,
Speaker 2: but as I understand it, logan really demanding, I unlike Wolford,
Speaker 2: and apparently they're leaning into that, aren't they.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I think coach Steps liked a certain
Speaker 7: guy on his coaching staff. I think he hits the
Speaker 7: mold pretty well. And you mentioned his age. I think
Speaker 7: that having a young guy in the receiver's room is
Speaker 7: always big. To be able to relate to them, be
Speaker 7: able to get them to buy into the system. It's
Speaker 7: huge and I think he's going to be super successful
Speaker 7: at that.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question that people were asking
Speaker 2: the guys who went to media day down to the
Speaker 2: SEC media.
Speaker 1: Did you ever do that, by the way, go to
Speaker 1: Birmingham or.
Speaker 7: Did you we went down? I think we were in Hoover.
Speaker 7: We went down one year.
Speaker 1: Do you enjoy it?
Speaker 7: It was good? It was kind of my first like
Speaker 7: open to the media side, so I was a little nervous,
Speaker 7: but enjoyed the process and they make it easy for you,
Speaker 7: so it was a good time.
Speaker 2: Well, one question that people were asking the Kentucky players
Speaker 2: down there was what is it like to play for
Speaker 2: Mark Stoops? What would you say if somebody asked you
Speaker 2: that question why you were a Wildcat or now as we.
Speaker 1: Ask you tonight.
Speaker 7: He's a player's coach. I mean, if you give him
Speaker 7: effort and you play hard, you do what you're supposed
Speaker 7: to do, you know he'll take care of you. There
Speaker 7: have been plenty of week that we have been playing
Speaker 7: and everybody's banged up, and he's like, guys, take the
Speaker 7: pads off, we're good. We're just gonna do a walk through,
Speaker 7: take care of your body, get home early, go to bed.
Speaker 7: So he understands the grind in a full twelve week
Speaker 7: season and hopefully even longer, and he's definitely gonna have
Speaker 7: those guys ready to play and take care of them.
Speaker 2: What was your reaction when it looked like he was leaving.
Speaker 2: I mean, in a way, I wasn't surprised because he
Speaker 2: has built something special at Kentucky where a lot of
Speaker 2: people said that could never happen, and he's done it,
Speaker 2: so that didn't really surprise me when I heard these rumors.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction, I was.
Speaker 7: The same way. I wasn't surprised at all. I mean,
Speaker 7: he's built an incredible culture around this team, one that
Speaker 7: has not been here. I don't know, Dick, You've been
Speaker 7: covering way longer than I've been alive. I don't think
Speaker 7: that it's ever been like this, and that's something special.
Speaker 7: I mean, there's not a lot of coaches walking the
Speaker 7: street right now. They can build a program from the
Speaker 7: ground up, and I don't want that to be overlooked.
Speaker 7: I think we have something special in Mark Stoops here UK.
Speaker 2: Well, Rich Brooks had success, but not as long as
Speaker 2: Mark Stoops. And by the way, Brooks thinks the world.
Speaker 1: Of Mark Stuops. You know how Mummy had it going.
Speaker 2: For a couple of years and then it all fell apart,
Speaker 2: same with fran Kersey, but no to sustain it is
Speaker 2: what's incredible about what Stuops has done. But now Logan,
Speaker 2: the job's so much tougher with the SEC expanding. I
Speaker 2: don't know if you would I'm sure you would have
Speaker 2: liked the challenge of facing Oklahoma and Texas, but I
Speaker 2: do believe doing away with divisions and all this stuff
Speaker 2: just makes it that much tougher on the Kentuckys of
Speaker 2: the world. The Georgia's and Alabama's can handle it a
Speaker 2: heck of a lot easier, don't you think.
Speaker 7: I completely agree, And I think that it's all about
Speaker 7: depth in that situation. I think that the depth problem
Speaker 7: will be fixed here shortly, especially at the nil and
Speaker 7: all that, And I mean, that's what the fans need
Speaker 7: to do. They need to buy in. We need to
Speaker 7: be able to have depth, and we don't need true
Speaker 7: freshmans backing up our starters all the time. And I
Speaker 7: think slowly, within the next two or three years, we're
Speaker 7: going to see that change in that gap from in
Speaker 7: Alabama Georgia versus the Kentucky is going to slowly shrink
Speaker 7: when you can start, you know, paying players and getting
Speaker 7: guys to come over. And I think that that's really
Speaker 7: just going to change the whole landscape of college football.
Speaker 2: He is Logan Stenberg, former Kentucky All Conference and All
Speaker 2: American offensive lineman and now a member of the UK
Speaker 2: Radio Network. Listen for him on our pregame show with
Speaker 2: Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jarman. Follow him on X or Twitter,
Speaker 2: whatever you want to call it at lb Stenberg, ste
Speaker 2: n b E R G. Hey, thanks for the time
Speaker 2: and looking forward to seeing you Saturday. Good luck to
Speaker 2: you break a leg.
Speaker 7: Big thanks man see Saturday.
Speaker 1: Now I do it.
Speaker 2: For now, We're going to make way for UK Volleyballs.
Speaker 2: The Wildcats take on Nebraska over in Louisville and the
Speaker 2: Coaches Association Classic.
Speaker 1: That's a good night in the garage.
Speaker 2: And the.
Speaker 1: Man Mass
Speaker 7: Masses sang