Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Sider. Dick Gabriel with you
Speaker 1: Friday edition of our program, one day closer to Kentucky's kickoff,
Speaker 1: of course, one week from tomorrow Wildcats in Southern Mississippi.
Speaker 1: It's a game you'll hear right here on six thirty
Speaker 1: WLAP and it's a night game. So not only do
Speaker 1: we wait through next week, we wait through several hours
Speaker 1: on Saturday. But I personally like that a little bit.
Speaker 1: I like night games, but at least on that day
Speaker 1: it's going to be a little cooler at night. Plus
Speaker 1: you get to watch a lot of football, don't you
Speaker 1: in the hours leading up to the ballgame. Although I
Speaker 1: get there so early that I'll get involved in a
Speaker 1: game and then suddenly I have to leave and find
Speaker 1: out when I get to the stadium what happened. But
Speaker 1: it's still going to start for reel for the Wildcast,
Speaker 1: we'll talk a lot of Kentucky football tonight. Anthony White
Speaker 1: is going to join us aunt Be they call him.
Speaker 1: He is a co host of Sunday Morning Sports Talk.
Speaker 1: He is a co host of a podcast with former
Speaker 1: UK defensive back Van Hile's Anthony of course announced standon
Speaker 1: running back during the hell Mummy era. He was part
Speaker 1: of the Bill Curry Hell Mummy change over, one of
Speaker 1: the several guys who really benefited from the air raid offense.
Speaker 1: By the time he left, Anthony I always pointed this out.
Speaker 1: Anthony was top five in the history of the SEC. Yes,
Speaker 1: they threw it a lot, but he grabbed it and
Speaker 1: ran with it. He would catch a lot of balls
Speaker 1: behind the line of scrimmage like an extended handoff and
Speaker 1: run like hell. But he was one of the top
Speaker 1: five all time in all purpose yardage when he left
Speaker 1: the UK. Of course, since then more people have racked
Speaker 1: up yards and all that, But for the time he
Speaker 1: was at Kentucky, Anthony Richardson, or Anthony Whitish should say,
Speaker 1: was one of the all time best. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson here in just a minute, but we're going
Speaker 1: to talk to a bee who got his nickname from
Speaker 1: Tim Couch. He told his story more than once on
Speaker 1: a show. For some reason. They were talking about him
Speaker 1: in a meeting room, and I think it might have
Speaker 1: been when Mummy was there. I don't know who said
Speaker 1: he needs nickname and Tim Couch. According to Anthony yelled out,
Speaker 1: let's call him aunt Bee and that was it. He's
Speaker 1: been amby ever since, so we'll talk with him coming
Speaker 1: up at the bottom of the hour. Next hour, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna catch up with Billy rut Ledge. Now we're gonna
Speaker 1: start our state wide show on Monday Night with Billy
Speaker 1: and Aaron, but that has ended in Jeff Pikorro, but
Speaker 1: that is more of a focused show on game week
Speaker 1: and things like that. I wanted to pick Billy's brain
Speaker 1: about what the summer has been like here in election
Speaker 1: in Central Kentucky, the Big Blue Nation. He and Shannon
Speaker 1: the Dude with their show at nine am following the
Speaker 1: Leech report. Has there been as much football talk this
Speaker 1: summer as there has been in the past, So we'll
Speaker 1: talk with Billy about that coming up in hour number two.
Speaker 1: We'll also look back. It's been an eventful week here
Speaker 1: on The Big Blue Insider, including Bill Ransdell dropping by
Speaker 1: the garage, so we will talk about that recap the week.
Speaker 1: Actually got to talk to an Olympic gold medalist this
Speaker 1: week on the show, something I've never done, not a
Speaker 1: current Olympic gold medalist. I talked to people who won
Speaker 1: him back in the day, but we got a chance
Speaker 1: to talk to Messi Russell. So yeah, that was fun
Speaker 1: and we'll hear from her. You may know by now
Speaker 1: the coaches All Conference team preseason is out, for whatever
Speaker 1: it's worth, part of the talking season. Carson Beck quite
Speaker 1: naturally is the first team quarterback. He's been rated as
Speaker 1: highly as fifth in a pre NFL draft poll, so
Speaker 1: people think highly of Carson Beck. No Wildcats first team offense.
Speaker 1: Of course, Dion Walker named to the first team defense,
Speaker 1: but so was Maxwell Hairston, which is great because he
Speaker 1: had such a good year last year and it did
Speaker 1: not go unnoticed. But then again, how can it. When
Speaker 1: you pick off not one, but two passes and run
Speaker 1: him back for touchdowns in one game, you're gonna get noticed.
Speaker 1: Also first team preseason All Conference as a specialist. Barrion
Speaker 1: Brown again because he made quite the impact last year,
Speaker 1: more I think as a return guy than he did
Speaker 1: as a receiver. He is on the verge of setting
Speaker 1: records in that department. Tons and tons of players from Georgia,
Speaker 1: many from Alabama, Texas, from Tennessee players preseason All Conference.
Speaker 1: Nobody from the Wildcats made second team. Quinn Ewers of
Speaker 1: Texas is the quarterback on the second team All Conference squad.
Speaker 1: You go to third team All Conference though Jalen Milroll,
Speaker 1: the quarterback from Alabama, is your QB there. But you
Speaker 1: got two Kentucky offensive linemen, Marcus Cox and Eli Cox,
Speaker 1: the Cox brothers who are not related on that o
Speaker 1: line what they hope will be the second coming in
Speaker 1: a big blue wall. Third team preseason All Conference per
Speaker 1: the coaches, Barry and Brown on the third team as
Speaker 1: an all around athlete if you will, and you look
Speaker 1: at the defense, and Jamon Dumas Johnson is one of
Speaker 1: the linebackers on the third team. So Wildcats well represented
Speaker 1: on the coach's preseason team. I don't know how much
Speaker 1: is expected of Kentucky, but the coaches, like a lot
Speaker 1: of the players that Mark Stoopson's staff have brought in
Speaker 1: a couple of scores from last night. The women's soccer
Speaker 1: team still perfect. They beat Detroit Mercy to nothing, and
Speaker 1: the men's team opened up their season with a victory,
Speaker 1: so it was a doubleheader sweep for Kentucky soccer. The
Speaker 1: men beat Oral Roberts three to two last night at
Speaker 1: the Bell Soccer Complex, which was rocking. So again, if
Speaker 1: you've not been over there, even if you're not a
Speaker 1: huge soccer fan, I recommend it. It's a great atmosphere
Speaker 1: and a great way to go get caught up with
Speaker 1: Kentucky soccer. I mentioned college football beginning for the Wildcats,
Speaker 1: as we all know, it starts internest tomorrow at noon,
Speaker 1: sort of the official unofficial opener. It's the highest profile game,
Speaker 1: of course. Florida State Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. Florida
Speaker 1: State ranked number ten. You might recall last year thirteen
Speaker 1: and oher left out of the playoffs. They went to
Speaker 1: a bowl game, but it seemed like half their team
Speaker 1: blew it off and they lost, so they finished up
Speaker 1: thirteen and one Georgia Tech seven and six. They did
Speaker 1: get a bowl game victory and beat a couple of
Speaker 1: ranked opponents, but not great then. In fact their bowl
Speaker 1: game first time they've been in the postseason since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Florida State is a ten and a half point favorite
Speaker 1: if you have an account somewhere, and the over under
Speaker 1: fifty five and a half. And I always am tempted,
Speaker 1: not that I'm a gambler, but I keep an eye
Speaker 1: on such things. Tempted to take the over almost every time.
Speaker 1: I hate to watch a game and hope neither team scores.
Speaker 1: That's not fun. But fifty five and a half, that's
Speaker 1: a tough number because Florida State could win, you know,
Speaker 1: thirty two to twenty, and that's an easy win, thirty
Speaker 1: five to twenty, and you're still going to lose money
Speaker 1: if you take the over. So it's tough. But you know,
Speaker 1: these guys who set the lines, they know what they're doing.
Speaker 1: A couple of other stories about college football. One of
Speaker 1: these on the Athletic where there's a story out that
Speaker 1: says opposing coaches tampered with a quarterback on Michigan's roster
Speaker 1: who later transferred to Iowa, Hayde McNamara, And in fact,
Speaker 1: a couple of Iowa coaches have been suspended for a
Speaker 1: game because of tampering with him during the recruitment process,
Speaker 1: and there's no surprise that this is going on. I'm
Speaker 1: a little surprised at Kirk Farren's, the head coach at Iowa,
Speaker 1: along with his wide receivers coach, had been suspended. Generally,
Speaker 1: that's something that assistant coaches may do by mistake or
Speaker 1: on purpose, but the head coach is being held accountable.
Speaker 1: Plus the head coach at Miami of Ohio blasting Alabama
Speaker 1: for quote unquote stealing our kicker. He basically flat out
Speaker 1: said Alabama came in and stole our kicker. I think
Speaker 1: you're gonna hear a lot more about that as the
Speaker 1: years go on because of NIL. I don't know that
Speaker 1: it was about tampering, but it was about poaching players.
Speaker 1: And that's the first thing I thought of when NIL
Speaker 1: was approved. Cbssports dot com has a story out there
Speaker 1: one of their surveys, their candid coaching surveys. Guys get
Speaker 1: to vote anonymously and they were asked basketball only, now,
Speaker 1: which program do you believe has the best NIL situation?
Speaker 1: Goad and ranked them And as you might expect, Florida
Speaker 1: rank rather, Kentucky rank highly nationally. But some of the
Speaker 1: names might surprise you. Arkansas near the top, was at
Speaker 1: the top seventy three point seven percent of the coaches
Speaker 1: polls said Arkansas. Arkansas Calipari's program far away number one
Speaker 1: according to the anonymous coaches. Kansas next at forty three percent,
Speaker 1: Brigham Young at thirty percent, and Kentucky was fourth twenty
Speaker 1: five percent of the coaches pulled said Kentucky as the
Speaker 1: best Innil situation. Indiana's fifth at seventeen percent, but that
Speaker 1: didn't surprise me. Arkansas's way up there because you know,
Speaker 1: we learned everything about their Nile situation when Caliperi changed,
Speaker 1: and Kansas we kind of knew about Brigham Young. Really Louisville.
Speaker 1: By the way, eleven percent of the coaches thought U
Speaker 1: of l as the best situation. So perception is off
Speaker 1: in reality. But when it comes to cold hard cash,
Speaker 1: not so much. Speaking of cash, this could have a
Speaker 1: far reaching effect. The National Women's Soccer League has granted
Speaker 1: unrestricted free agency to its players and eliminated the draft.
Speaker 1: Now minimum salary had been forty eight five hundred. Next
Speaker 1: year it begins to climb, and by twenty thirty it'll
Speaker 1: be up to eighty two thousand, five hundred dollars a year,
Speaker 1: still a mere pittance compared to other leagues, but when
Speaker 1: you look at attendance and television, maybe where it needs
Speaker 1: to be. But the players love it, obviously because now
Speaker 1: they're free to move. There'll be some backlash and there'll
Speaker 1: be some players without a place to go now that
Speaker 1: you open it up to the highest bidder. But maybe
Speaker 1: this spills over to other pro sports. Just have to
Speaker 1: buckle up and see all Skins and the Pirates beat
Speaker 1: the Reds yesterday seven nothing skiins, going six shutout innings
Speaker 1: only eighty seven pitches, dropped his z the area down
Speaker 1: to two point one six. It would lead Major League Baseball,
Speaker 1: but he hasn't pitched enough to qualify for consideration. And
Speaker 1: while we're talking Cincinnati Bengals and Colts last night, I
Speaker 1: did not watch it's preseason, eh you know, Anthony Richardson
Speaker 1: did not play. Neither did Joe Flacco, his backup. But
Speaker 1: Kirk Herbstreet talking to Al Michaels on the Prime broadcast,
Speaker 1: he wondered about the fact that with Richardson struggling a
Speaker 1: bit and the Bengals very frank and saying they are
Speaker 1: not impressed with what they've seen in the joint practices,
Speaker 1: Herbstreet brought up an interesting point about Richardson, who has
Speaker 1: a veteran backup.
Speaker 2: Let me let me ask you something here. If you're
Speaker 2: Shane Steike in best case scenario, Anthony Richardson, he lives
Speaker 2: up to what we all hope he can do, running, throwing,
Speaker 2: his healthy. This team has a great year, and he's
Speaker 2: a superstar, right, what if he struggles? What if he
Speaker 2: has a good a good drive or a good game
Speaker 2: and then a bad game, a good game.
Speaker 1: And a bad game. He's a pick.
Speaker 2: Everybody's kind of expecting him to be the guy.
Speaker 1: You got a guy like Joe Flacco with the roster
Speaker 1: they have. I just wonder how you handle that if
Speaker 1: it goes down that path, if you're Shane Steiker, because
Speaker 1: you know what you get to get in Joe Flakha.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's Hevin Hall, you know. I think I would
Speaker 3: think you can feel it inside the team at that
Speaker 3: point too.
Speaker 4: What are the guys thinking, you know, do we make
Speaker 4: the change here?
Speaker 5: What do we do? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think you read the room?
Speaker 5: Yeah is what I would do.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson has great skills, great physical ability, But anybody
Speaker 1: who watched him play in college, including the way Kentucky
Speaker 1: beat Florida when aar was there, you had to know
Speaker 1: he was going to struggle in the NFL. So the
Speaker 1: Colts are going to have to be patient with him.
Speaker 1: And why not play Flaco? He knows I don't win
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl all right? Coming up next to UK football,
Speaker 1: Brad White and the Wildcats on six point thirty WLAP
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Big Bull Insider coming up next
Speaker 1: to Anthony White of Sunday Morning Sports. Talk to former
Speaker 1: Kentucky running back. A little bit later on, Billy Rutledge
Speaker 1: talks Kentucky football with us while we talk to Kentucky
Speaker 1: defense going into the weekend. Let's start with the big guy,
Speaker 1: the biggest name, biggest person, Deon Walker. Everybody's all everything,
Speaker 1: preseason listed, tackle, listenman, noseguard, whatever. He will attract a
Speaker 1: lot of attention, but he's not the only guy on
Speaker 1: that side of the football. He listed the strengths as
Speaker 1: he sees it of the Kentucky d We.
Speaker 6: Got a bunch of strengths. You know, I say that
Speaker 6: we play together. You know, we're a bunch of experienced guys.
Speaker 6: We got years together, you know. But like on our
Speaker 6: defensive line, we got me Octavis Oax and Trey Ripka,
Speaker 6: Khalil Sanders Key, Sean Silver, Josiah Hayes. We got a
Speaker 6: bunch of guys. We got our secondary with three four
Speaker 6: years of experience with Maxwell Harriston. You know who just
Speaker 6: had a breakout year last year, Zion Children, who's been
Speaker 6: a consistent player all year. Uh ty Bryant, He's going
Speaker 6: to be a sophomore this year.
Speaker 1: Jordan love it.
Speaker 6: Then we got Pop and d Jack in the middle.
Speaker 6: You know, we're a complete defense right now, but we
Speaker 6: just got to work on and staying together and never wavering.
Speaker 1: As for what the Wildcats need from him and expect
Speaker 1: to see out of him, Brad White answered that question
Speaker 1: yesterday afternoon.
Speaker 7: I want to see what everybody wants to see, right
Speaker 7: We want to see a dominant defensive lineman, you know,
Speaker 7: we want to see a guy that can absolutely alter
Speaker 7: a game, change an offense, how they plan to attack us,
Speaker 7: and so yeah, and I think he's ready to do that.
Speaker 7: He's been dialed in.
Speaker 1: And if they see that, Kentucky will live up to expectations.
Speaker 1: If they do not, they meaning the coaches, the players,
Speaker 1: the Big Blue Nation, And it's a lot to put
Speaker 1: on a guy. But if they don't, it's going to
Speaker 1: be a lot tougher, obviously, But you start with a
Speaker 1: guy in the middle like Deon Walker. He'll command attention.
Speaker 1: He's the guy on the whiteboard every week with an
Speaker 1: opposing team. All right, how do we deal with this guy?
Speaker 1: How do we block this guy? How many people will
Speaker 1: it take. It might take two offensive linemen might take
Speaker 1: what they say one and a half, you know, aligneman,
Speaker 1: and then an end or a running back what they
Speaker 1: call chipping. That's helping out and staying with them or
Speaker 1: hitting him for a little while then going out in
Speaker 1: a route or something like that. But they've got to
Speaker 1: deal with him, and that'll make everybody better. I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see how Alex Safari does at linebacker. We
Speaker 1: talked about this a couple of weeks ago. But here's
Speaker 1: a guy who was a d back and was always
Speaker 1: around the football making plays, and now they've moved him
Speaker 1: to a linebacker spot, which he sold, he has told
Speaker 1: me believes will make him a better player.
Speaker 8: Man, it's been great. You know, I'm closer to the ball,
Speaker 8: you know. I feel like that's what I wanted. That's
Speaker 8: the change I wanted to do too as well. Why
Speaker 8: just because I just wanted to be closer to the ball.
Speaker 8: Just make more plays, you know. I like being physical
Speaker 8: in the bogs and stuff like that, and I feel
Speaker 8: like that's gonna benefit me in the future.
Speaker 1: Seems like you're always around the ball a littt.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I feel like even putting me close to the
Speaker 8: ball would be more even more close to the ball.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: What do you think of the way you've contributed here
Speaker 1: at Kentucky so far?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it's been good. You know, I feel
Speaker 8: like I still got a lot I still gotta do.
Speaker 8: You know, I feel like the job not done. I
Speaker 8: got a live I still got to pool, you know.
Speaker 8: So it's gonna be a great year this year. Why
Speaker 8: just go out the work I put in, all the
Speaker 8: offseason work got put in. You know, I feel like
Speaker 8: it's my junior year and it's my that's my the
Speaker 8: year I got to you know, put everything together. I had,
Speaker 8: I got experience on my belt, so you know, I
Speaker 8: feel like it's the year.
Speaker 1: You really do have a lot of experience. I mean
Speaker 1: from day one, they stuck you in there and you
Speaker 1: made play. Yeah, that's just so vital in the sec Yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I was prepared, you know, coming out
Speaker 8: of high school, I was prepared. So I knew they
Speaker 8: threw me in the fire, I'll be ready.
Speaker 1: That's Alex Safari, And you have a tendency to kind
Speaker 1: of forget about him because but he's played in twenty
Speaker 1: six games the first two years started fifteen in fact
Speaker 1: started twelve out of thirteen games last year, forty nine tackles,
Speaker 1: five and a half for loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry,
Speaker 1: a breakup, of forced fumble, of a fumble recovery. Like
Speaker 1: I said, he was always around the football, it seemed.
Speaker 1: Had his best game against Florida with nine tackles, including
Speaker 1: five solos. And it's just a guy, it's a cliche,
Speaker 1: but knows for the football. So Alexafari a linebacker. I
Speaker 1: expect even better numbers from him. Everybody expects better numbers
Speaker 1: and better performance from the safeties who did not play
Speaker 1: too terribly well last year except for Afari and at
Speaker 1: times Jordan love it. He had a pick against Louisville.
Speaker 1: He had a pick in the bowl game, but was
Speaker 1: a little inconsistent. But Jordan said, it's been a good
Speaker 1: camp so far. That's a good sign.
Speaker 9: Camp's been great for everybody, literally both sides of the ball.
Speaker 9: Can's been great though.
Speaker 5: It's made it great this year.
Speaker 1: It was made it great.
Speaker 5: I feel like just the cams to the defense to
Speaker 5: bring it back.
Speaker 9: He know, like really like like coach who said, you know,
Speaker 9: we're having more like a player led like player lead team.
Speaker 9: You know, and it's like we're developing the young guys,
Speaker 9: young guys coming along.
Speaker 5: Everything's been executed.
Speaker 1: Will like Afar, I love it. As a junior to
Speaker 1: be who has played a lot of football, twenty five
Speaker 1: career games, twenty one stars. They just threw him out there.
Speaker 1: Eleven games last year, ten starting assignments, thirty tackles, those
Speaker 1: two picks that told you about total of three and
Speaker 1: the fumble recovery. Had to sit out a couple of
Speaker 1: games with injury, missed the Tennessee game, missed the Mississippi
Speaker 1: State game with injuries, but he says the entire safety
Speaker 1: crew he hopes and believes will be better this year.
Speaker 9: Yeah, we didn't have the year we had last season,
Speaker 9: and you know, we had a really high expectation. But
Speaker 9: this year just just looked forward to us being different,
Speaker 9: you know, like we're gonna set the standard. We're really
Speaker 9: not trying to talk too much. We're really trying to
Speaker 9: put the film out there. Y'all gonna see what we do.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 1: Well, getting back to that de front with Dion Walker
Speaker 1: and Octavia Sox and Dine and all those guys should
Speaker 1: help the back seven obviously create those quarterback hurries, give
Speaker 1: them a chance to pick off some passes, and generally
Speaker 1: Greek have it all right. Coming up next to Anthony White,
Speaker 1: co host of Sunday Morning Sports Talk, former Kentucky running back,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about these football Wildcats and get his take
Speaker 1: a little bit later on Billy Rutledge on six point
Speaker 1: thirty Wlap Welcome back to the Big Blue side of
Speaker 1: joining us now is a former football Wildcat and the
Speaker 1: current host of Sunday Morning Sports Talk. Here meachin every
Speaker 1: week in this radio station. Anthony White, Anthony, I know
Speaker 1: you have got to be as happy to get this
Speaker 1: season started every week. You're looking for something new to
Speaker 1: talk about, aren't you.
Speaker 10: Yeah, when you go into the off season and you
Speaker 10: come into we will coming to our defense is stack
Speaker 10: got a couple new people on the offense and the
Speaker 10: offensive positions that we gotta see what.
Speaker 5: They gotta do.
Speaker 10: But I think everybody's optimistic about it. I will say
Speaker 10: this Thoughkay. The pleasure we did half this year was
Speaker 10: that we came into it where we didn't have to
Speaker 10: worry about a lot of talking because we had a
Speaker 10: lot of people in the Olympics. The last two weeks
Speaker 10: we were talking about UK players, UK.
Speaker 5: Athletes the Olympic.
Speaker 1: That's very true. Yeah, uh, and we'll come back to that.
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about that with you, But
Speaker 1: you talked about the defense. I got to start with
Speaker 1: you on the offense. That was a position you played
Speaker 1: and played very well. And for those of you who
Speaker 1: don't know, I talk about it all the time. He's
Speaker 1: too modest to say it. Anthony was one of the
Speaker 1: best and still is in the history of the SEC
Speaker 1: when it came to running the ball and catching the ball.
Speaker 1: One of the best combo backs ever. And I think
Speaker 1: Anthony you could talk about quarterback, but with Chip train
Speaker 1: him out. Are you worried about the power run game
Speaker 1: because I am power?
Speaker 11: I don't know.
Speaker 10: I'm I think. I think Wish Hampden wants to run
Speaker 10: fast pace. He wants so fast, and Demy can line.
Speaker 10: Demy can do everything I can do, and Demmy's bigger
Speaker 10: than me. So I think that Ship being out will
Speaker 10: not hurt us against Southern Mys. South Carolina will be
Speaker 10: a challenge, but I.
Speaker 5: Still think our deferens is gonna keep us in the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 10: I mean, the big thing about him being out is
Speaker 10: you got younger backs that may have said step up.
Speaker 10: I was a younger back at one time, Gay, and
Speaker 10: I think that will Cotch Jamrin Willcox gonna get a
Speaker 10: couple more carries and every there's not one person I've.
Speaker 5: Talked to he hasn't said he is a dude.
Speaker 10: He hasn't done everything off the field. I think is
Speaker 10: why we haven't seen him on the field. But I
Speaker 10: think opportunity is knocking and I think he's doing all
Speaker 10: the right things.
Speaker 5: Keep that name in the back of your mind. Gay,
Speaker 5: keep that name in the back of your mind.
Speaker 1: Willcott right there on the depth charge you see it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I don't know how much about him, if anything.
Speaker 1: You mentioned a new offense, and of course you played
Speaker 1: any air raid, which was great for your skill set.
Speaker 1: Although I think you could have played in any offense
Speaker 1: except maybe the wishbone. I don't know.
Speaker 10: But right now I want under that.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be up tempo. That's got to excite you, right.
Speaker 10: Yeah, we got to get more plays in, and Larry
Speaker 10: Bought asked me every Saturday morning, well why we got
Speaker 10: to get more plays in?
Speaker 5: And this is my thing.
Speaker 10: You got to get more plays in if you are
Speaker 10: converting on third downs, if you go one, two, three out?
Speaker 10: How many more plays you gonna get? Gay, What do
Speaker 10: you get if you on third and eight and you
Speaker 10: don't convert, what do you get? You don't get three plays?
Speaker 10: So it's not really dictated on the pace of the game,
Speaker 10: I don't think, but I do think if the pace
Speaker 10: the game can keep the defenses in the SEC off balance,
Speaker 10: I think it will it will work. And I think
Speaker 10: Bush has played in a fast paced, offensive powered office,
Speaker 10: but he hasn't played against he hasn't designed against these
Speaker 10: type of defenses that we're gonna be playing against the SEC.
Speaker 5: But I'm here for it. I'm here for it.
Speaker 1: Well, what kind of challenges do you think that this
Speaker 1: offense will we'll run into? I mean, we all know
Speaker 1: SEC defenses are good, but uh, I mean Tennessee runs
Speaker 1: up tempo, Oh Miss runs up tempo, and Kentucky's not
Speaker 1: looking to duplicate that and just looking to pick up
Speaker 1: the pace a little bit or a lot.
Speaker 10: Tennessee doesn't have the defense we have. Old Miss doesn't
Speaker 10: have the defense we had.
Speaker 1: Gay.
Speaker 10: I will say I think that stoops there's a person
Speaker 10: that wants to rely on this defense. Hey, if we're
Speaker 10: in third, if we in third and five calls something
Speaker 10: that we're not going to turn the ball over if
Speaker 10: we pick up the first rown, we do. If we don't,
Speaker 10: we don't, then we punt. And I'm fine with that,
Speaker 10: Like I am fine with that. So I so hear
Speaker 10: you're right, Lane Kiffin And some of the teams I
Speaker 10: played against back in the nineties, they were you had
Speaker 10: to put offensive power on because you needed to to
Speaker 10: get the possession. You need to keep the ball in
Speaker 10: your position. Our team don't need to have the ball
Speaker 10: in preposition because our defense is going to be great.
Speaker 5: Great. They gonna be top five game. I'm telling you
Speaker 5: they wow five. They're gonna be top five, no doubt.
Speaker 1: I don't know when the last time is I've heard
Speaker 1: you so positive at least about the Kentucky defense. And
Speaker 1: that's got to start with uh. With Dion Walker, I
Speaker 1: got to think with you. But what else is there
Speaker 1: about the Kentucky defense?
Speaker 10: I asked, uh, And you've been around just as long
Speaker 10: as Larry vaud has been around. When if you cover
Speaker 10: the linebacking corps like pop and Deer.
Speaker 5: And uh JJ like that, that.
Speaker 10: Is that talented that's been around their experience and talented yeah.
Speaker 10: Now we've had Now, we've had better. We have had
Speaker 10: better linebackers on our core than some of the guys here.
Speaker 5: But to have three.
Speaker 10: Guys who are talented and and if you got a
Speaker 10: question about their talent, I mean, I'm here to listen
Speaker 10: to it. But that line back at core and I'm
Speaker 10: not That is not to say that the defensive core
Speaker 10: is so in tune. And I you know, I know
Speaker 10: the defen the line coach closely. So he's meticulous and
Speaker 10: they are. Dion is talking about making the small things
Speaker 10: and you're down to the small things now, which means
Speaker 10: you figured out.
Speaker 5: The big picture.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. He's all about the details, isn't he.
Speaker 1: I mean, and that's that's leadership, isn't it.
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 10: Yeah, And that's all coach Stu won't he wants somebody
Speaker 10: Last year, I mean as a freshman, he couldn't do it.
Speaker 5: Last year.
Speaker 10: He was trying to, you know, get to that point.
Speaker 10: But now we're not gonna see Deon Walker. If anybody,
Speaker 10: if you want to get a Dion Walker autograph, you
Speaker 10: need to get it this year. We're not gonna see
Speaker 10: him another year. But the one thing is he's absorbing
Speaker 10: everything Coach Stu is giving him. He's absorbing everything Coach
Speaker 10: Stu is giving him. So it's not the you know
Speaker 10: you're looking at the bull rusher, hit me get into
Speaker 10: the corporate No, it's the where's your first step at,
Speaker 10: where's your hand placement? That is down to that point
Speaker 10: because everything else is solid.
Speaker 1: You and you're talking about Anne war Stewart. You have
Speaker 1: been high on him since the day he got it.
Speaker 1: What is it about him? And you're not the only
Speaker 1: former Wildcat who has bragged on Anne war Stewart? What
Speaker 1: is it about him? Do you think that it makes
Speaker 1: him such an effective teacher?
Speaker 5: I think two things.
Speaker 10: I think his passion for the game has always been there.
Speaker 10: His passion for the game was there back in the late.
Speaker 5: Nineteen hundreds when we played.
Speaker 10: But the one thing about it is I think he
Speaker 10: could have done more and tip I think he could
Speaker 10: have done more and got them to the point where
Speaker 10: he could have achieved more, and I don't think he did.
Speaker 10: So now he's looking at these kids and he don't
Speaker 10: want them to go through the same thing. He went
Speaker 10: through an academic probation year, which set him back a
Speaker 10: little bit. As why he went to Canada. Yeah, and
Speaker 10: had the opportunities there. But I think he knows what
Speaker 10: it takes to make it, and he has what it
Speaker 10: takes to make it. He's just not gonna do that.
Speaker 10: So he's not gonna let these guys fail. He's gonna
Speaker 10: push them. And that's why he's pushing them to see
Speaker 10: if you look at it, go back, if you want
Speaker 10: to take an opportunity, go look back at what he
Speaker 10: did in Canada.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, as a defense.
Speaker 10: Lineman, interceptions, touchdown, sacks, whatever your name. He did everything
Speaker 10: because he played linebacker, he played d line here. He
Speaker 10: could do anything. And I think he's not going to
Speaker 10: let these kids miss an opportunity, and I think they
Speaker 10: feel it.
Speaker 5: I will tell you this though. Okay, but we had.
Speaker 10: Walker on Sunday Morning Sports Talk one day doing nil Talk,
Speaker 10: and we were talking about some of the things he
Speaker 10: was going through, and he said he would not be
Speaker 10: at the University of Kentucky if it was not for
Speaker 10: for coach Stu because he know Coach Stewart is putting
Speaker 10: stuff in his toolbox that he needs, which he probably
Speaker 10: can get it somewhere else. But that says a whole
Speaker 10: lot about a guy who's probably who's definitely gonna be
Speaker 10: a first rounder. I'm thinking top fifteen or whatever. That
Speaker 10: is the whole I think that's the deal.
Speaker 1: We talk a lot about how oftentimes the position coach
Speaker 1: has a tighter relationship with a player than the head coach.
Speaker 1: That's not that unusual, is it.
Speaker 10: No, it's definitely not.
Speaker 1: And I remember talking to a kid, a guy, well,
Speaker 1: he was a grown man by the time I talked
Speaker 1: to him, playing for the Bengals, and I cannot remember
Speaker 1: the name. I'll think of it, I hope before we
Speaker 1: go off the air. But we were talking to him
Speaker 1: over at Bengals camp many years ago, played at Florida
Speaker 1: All Conference d back right, and we were like, what
Speaker 1: about Spurrier. He goes, I never really talked to him.
Speaker 1: We're like, what he said, I never talked to him ever,
Speaker 1: he said after I signed, I never spoke to him again.
Speaker 1: I talked to the decoordinator and my position coach. But
Speaker 1: Spurriers spent all this time of the offense. So this
Speaker 1: guy never talked to his head coach. So that it varies.
Speaker 1: I know from team to team. We're talking to Anthony White,
Speaker 1: former Kentucky running back and a co host of Sunday
Speaker 1: Morning Sports Talking. Hear him on with Larry Vaud and
Speaker 1: Van Hiles and the Gang Jack Pilgrim each week on
Speaker 1: this very radio station. We'll come back and talk more
Speaker 1: football and a little bit of Olympics with Aunt B
Speaker 1: on the other side of the break. Here on six
Speaker 1: thirty WLAP, Welcome back, We're talking with Anthony White, former
Speaker 1: Kentucky running back, slash receiver and the co host of
Speaker 1: Sunday Morning Sports Talk. Here on six thirty WLAP, we
Speaker 1: talked about the linebackers and of course Jamon Dumas Johnson
Speaker 1: transferring in a former All American at Georgia. It's got
Speaker 1: a national championship ring a couple of them actually, but
Speaker 1: also Rock Vandergriff coming in as the starting QB from Georgia.
Speaker 1: Which is why I think, Anthony, you got Kentucky way
Speaker 1: down in some of the way too soon preseason polls.
Speaker 1: Not that any of this matters, but it does give
Speaker 1: the team a chance to play with a chip on
Speaker 1: his shoulder, doesn't it.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think most of them, I think Big Blue
Speaker 10: Nation likes is that way. They like to get rowdy
Speaker 10: and throw.
Speaker 5: Cans or go through at trash hands around.
Speaker 10: And get upset about it. I do think they like
Speaker 10: when we're when we're ranked down there. But when I
Speaker 10: every time I talk to Visit, VISs likes being underdog.
Speaker 10: We like being under dog because at this day and age,
Speaker 10: the NIL transport portal kids can get complacent, you know.
Speaker 10: I mean, Dion Walker could have went anywhere in the
Speaker 10: nation and play D line. He could have played on
Speaker 10: the D line where there's other top first round picks
Speaker 10: on the D line and so he don't have to
Speaker 10: deal with double teams all day. But no, he wanted
Speaker 10: to be here in Kentucky unders and that's why people
Speaker 10: don't understand that we are turning the corner at at Kentucky.
Speaker 10: So yeah, put us down there if you want to,
Speaker 10: and I'm a.
Speaker 5: Big fan of and we will show you.
Speaker 10: It's not where you start at is where you finish at.
Speaker 10: But the fact that people are still disrespecting us, I
Speaker 10: think that's just the history of Kentucky. You know, we
Speaker 10: have a bad we have a great basketball program. I
Speaker 10: think those are the two things. A few years Duke
Speaker 10: has been really good at football. I don't even remember them.
Speaker 10: And that's no disrespect to Duke it's just that, you know,
Speaker 10: when I watched a Dupe or North Carolina, I just
Speaker 10: think of basketball, and we're dealing with the same thing.
Speaker 1: I know I always have and likely always will. But
Speaker 1: there are schools that have balanced both. And there's no
Speaker 1: reason why you can. I can tell you all the
Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball. It's so big, so high profile that it
Speaker 1: you know, yes, it's always going to take the front seat.
Speaker 1: If you can share the front seat from year to year.
Speaker 1: Tell me what you think of the old line. What
Speaker 1: did you think of what you saw last year? They
Speaker 1: definitely took a step forward, But what can they do
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 10: That that is a huge question mark. That's a huge
Speaker 10: question mark. They took a step forward last year, and
Speaker 10: maybe because they were so horrendous the prior year, but
Speaker 10: they had taken a step forward. And we and but
Speaker 10: the off offensive line coach was fired or was relieved
Speaker 10: of his duties, and so that brings the question and
Speaker 10: we brought back to the guys who was there before that.
Speaker 10: The one thing that does bring me solace, the one
Speaker 10: thing that does bring me hope. We got Elik Cox back.
Speaker 10: Who's gonna he's gonna, he's gonna get free he's gonna
Speaker 10: get post these accolades. He will Jack Jack Burton, He's gonna.
Speaker 10: You know, he got in early because he had to.
Speaker 5: He didn't want to.
Speaker 10: He got it early because he hadd you he's cut
Speaker 10: his TV. I mean, he did a decent job and
Speaker 10: he was part of the reason our office line was
Speaker 10: off balance. But he found his way as the least
Speaker 10: as the season went on. Last year, Dylan Ray got
Speaker 10: Genie of reps and he started off rough and got solid,
Speaker 10: gave he got solid.
Speaker 5: As the year went on. And this is the thing.
Speaker 5: He's a backup now.
Speaker 10: Yeah, so so, which means we have depth, and he
Speaker 10: he progressed throughout the year. I would not say anything
Speaker 10: bad about him. He was thrown in there just like
Speaker 10: Jack is thrown in there. So so when I say solace,
Speaker 10: there's solace in knowing that they have put some of
Speaker 10: the guys who played last year on the back burner,
Speaker 10: and we brought some transfers in. We brought Farmer in,
Speaker 10: we brought Mensi in and some of those guys. I
Speaker 10: think that we have depth. I think we have depth
Speaker 10: at this point and that's what with Slarman built his
Speaker 10: offense lines off of that's why every year, after two
Speaker 10: or three years, you didn't have to start up with
Speaker 10: the whole new line. You had guys just rotating in,
Speaker 10: the younger guys rotating in another position. So I think
Speaker 10: we're on the right trajectory. I just got to see
Speaker 10: it on Saturday, you know.
Speaker 1: And that was unheard of what what John Schlarman did
Speaker 1: because he had number two's, He had backups who could
Speaker 1: go in and carry a team down the field. Seeing
Speaker 1: old line, an old line coach who would substitute I
Speaker 1: won't say substitute freely, but wasn't afraid to do it.
Speaker 1: I think they really opened a lot of eyes. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, you got to have numbers to do that,
Speaker 1: don't you. You can't just do it on the fly.
Speaker 10: Yeah, And that's why I think coach Stewart on the
Speaker 10: everybody knows the SEC is won in the trenches. Coach
Speaker 10: Stewart is so confident even though he had injuries in
Speaker 10: the offseason and you know, some cosmetic surgeries to some guys.
Speaker 10: Uh So he still has seven or eight guys that
Speaker 10: can go in a three man front, so he can
Speaker 10: go two or three deep and not worry about losing
Speaker 10: the beat, and that's where we were at with Swarman,
Speaker 10: and I think that's what coach Wolford either had. I
Speaker 10: don't think he understood that the first go around. I'm
Speaker 10: hoping him and Coach Stup's had a conversation where, you know,
Speaker 10: we've been really successful. You know, I know you've heard
Speaker 10: Denny Snell, I know you heard the Chris Rodriguez, AJ Rose,
Speaker 10: you know, I.
Speaker 5: Know you heard some of these guys.
Speaker 10: So this is what we want to continue because we
Speaker 10: brought him back. So I'm hoping that's where we're at
Speaker 10: with it. And I hope we were in the rotation
Speaker 10: and getting guys so we don't have to renew every year.
Speaker 10: Half of these guys just rotate through.
Speaker 5: Sty'll be familiar the next year when they become the starter.
Speaker 1: YE believes in Walford and the way he coaches, So
Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting to see what kind of
Speaker 1: step forward they take. I assume they will this year.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Anthony White a couple more minutes for
Speaker 1: the former Kentucky running back in the co host of
Speaker 1: Sunday Morning Sports Talk. We all know the divisions are gone.
Speaker 1: We all know Kentucky has swapped some tougher opponents for
Speaker 1: the ones who rotated off the schedule. We were talking
Speaker 1: earlier about the Big Blue Nation. Clearly they've been a
Speaker 1: little bit spoiled with nine to ten wins seasons here.
Speaker 1: But realistically, given this worksheet and be what do you
Speaker 1: think this team can do? What do you think fans
Speaker 1: can expect? And I mean, you know, in a way
Speaker 1: that is not pie in the sky. I know that's
Speaker 1: a tough one.
Speaker 10: I'm going to say this ad and Ford is a given.
Speaker 10: I'm say and there's people who are saying, I think
Speaker 10: we can go six or six. I think you look
Speaker 10: at Texas on the road, and you look at Old
Speaker 10: Miss on the road. I think you look at uh,
Speaker 10: Georgia anywhere, and you look at Tennessee on the road. Now,
Speaker 10: I'm gonna ask you this, and whoever's listen, I'm gonna
Speaker 10: ask you. And you gave mis is Tennessee better than
Speaker 10: us athletically? Now there's that thing. But Bion Walker don't
Speaker 10: know how long Tennessee has been beating us, and they
Speaker 10: that they don't beat us like fifty and sixty points
Speaker 10: at some point. No, he don't know that, and he
Speaker 10: doesn't care Texas is new to the conference. It's gonna
Speaker 10: be late in the season, but it's still gonna be
Speaker 10: a little warm down there. In the speed of Texas,
Speaker 10: people are gonna be speed.
Speaker 12: George, I think has.
Speaker 5: Lost the step. I think it's lost the step.
Speaker 10: Yeah, Georgia, Yeah, I don't think Georgie's rein up the
Speaker 10: way they have been in Old Miss.
Speaker 5: I got it.
Speaker 10: I do like Old Miss. But I don't know if
Speaker 10: you remember two years ago Dick down in Oxford, we
Speaker 10: had him on.
Speaker 1: The road, beat him, then had to get a touchdown back.
Speaker 10: We had him on the route. So so I'm not
Speaker 10: I'm not scared of Old Miss down there. Although they
Speaker 10: are a good team. You always got to be concerned
Speaker 10: about lane kipping, but our defense against their offense is
Speaker 10: the measurable, and I like our defense against their offense.
Speaker 10: I love Lane Kiffen, but I love Brad White Moore.
Speaker 5: Do you exact say? I think the technics.
Speaker 1: But I was gonna say, what do you think? Go ahead?
Speaker 1: You were going to say about Texas.
Speaker 10: No, the Texas is unknown, so I can't say. I
Speaker 10: can't just give.
Speaker 5: It to him.
Speaker 10: I'm just giving it to them off history and them
Speaker 10: not being in the league, and like I said.
Speaker 5: Georgia has.
Speaker 10: Nine to three, ten to two is not impossible. It
Speaker 10: is not impossible. And one thing I've been hearing from
Speaker 10: the coach is that Brian brad White has been saying it,
Speaker 10: Mark Steuts has been saying it, and Mark Stewart has
Speaker 10: been saying it. Detail how many times you hear sports
Speaker 10: people say, if they didn't make this mistake, if we
Speaker 10: execute what this call to the teeth were right there,
Speaker 10: Alabama and Georgia only do what they do because they
Speaker 10: just wait on. They just fay comfortable, play play found,
Speaker 10: and when you make it, you make a mistake, they capitalize.
Speaker 10: I'm not sure if we're at that point. I'm hoping
Speaker 10: we're at that point, and I'm hearing we're at that point.
Speaker 1: Well, it's going to be fun to find out, and
Speaker 1: it's coming up fast and you'll have much to talk
Speaker 1: about on Sunday mornings in the near near future. Anthony White,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, and you can listen to him
Speaker 1: as I said right here on six point thirty WLAP.
Speaker 1: You've also got the Locker four one one on Wednesdays
Speaker 1: at nine pm with Van Hiles. You guys get it done.
Speaker 1: Don't you.
Speaker 10: Yeah, you get a little insight, you get a little
Speaker 10: grid on what's going on in the locker room. We
Speaker 10: tell a little bit of downtold stories in there, man.
Speaker 1: That's why it's fun. Thank you, Sarah, see you down
Speaker 1: the road.
Speaker 5: Appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Up Next, Billy Rutledge pops in and hour number two
Speaker 1: we take look back at an eventful week here on
Speaker 1: the Big Blue and Sider six point thirty Wlap Welcome
Speaker 1: back to the Big Blue Insider and joining us now
Speaker 1: is a longtime friend colleague, formerly the co host of
Speaker 1: this show. Now you hear him every morning on this
Speaker 1: very radio station, Billy and the Dude. Just after the
Speaker 1: Leech report, Billy Rutledge joined us. And we're going to
Speaker 1: talk with Billy and Aaron Gershan on the state Wide
Speaker 1: Show on Monday. But I wanted to wrap up the
Speaker 1: week in part talking with Billy to find out a
Speaker 1: couple of things. First of all, Billy, last time we spoke,
Speaker 1: we were shamelessly plugging your video features Bogie's with Billy.
Speaker 1: How has the summer of golf gone for you?
Speaker 13: Well, the summer of golf's been great, Dick. I really
Speaker 13: can't complain if you're playing any golf, even though the
Speaker 13: quality of played definitely goes up and down. I just
Speaker 13: got back from a week long vacation New Hampshire. Didn't
Speaker 13: take the clubs up there because you know, it's a
Speaker 13: nightmare to travel with clubs, especially via airport, so didn't.
Speaker 12: Want to risk it.
Speaker 13: So I haven't played a lot today or a lot
Speaker 13: last couple of weeks. I am playing in a golf
Speaker 13: scramble today, so I might get a couple video shots.
Speaker 13: But it's been good. It's been a humbling experience to
Speaker 13: see that that shot over your swing over and over again.
Speaker 13: But you know what, I'm looking forward to getting back
Speaker 13: out there and producing a couple more videos and seeing
Speaker 13: you and Aaron on the state wide showing there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Once you've got to New Hampshire though, and I've
Speaker 1: driven through and I've not spent much time, but I've
Speaker 1: been a lot in New England. Did you regret not
Speaker 1: at least running clubs cause it is so pretty up there.
Speaker 13: Oh, all the courses that we pass each one. My
Speaker 13: fiance reminded me that we could have brought my clubs,
Speaker 13: and I was like, well, you don't realize how often
Speaker 13: those things break and they just don't take care of them.
Speaker 13: But yeah, I could have definitely could have rented at
Speaker 13: some beautiful courses up there. We drove along the coastline
Speaker 13: and it's just a different world up in New England,
Speaker 13: it really is. It had about if we were there
Speaker 13: for seven days. I think I had six lobster rolls.
Speaker 13: I'm good on that quota for a little bit. But Dick,
Speaker 13: if you're ever looking to swing the club around, maybe
Speaker 13: we'll go to a top golf and maybe see how
Speaker 13: you're doing.
Speaker 1: Why did you choose New Hampshire.
Speaker 13: We put all fifty states in a hat and then
Speaker 13: we drew out three. And the three that we drew
Speaker 13: out were Indiana, which we weren't going to go there,
Speaker 13: and then Hawaii, which was a little out of the budget,
Speaker 13: and the third one was New Hampshire. So a little
Speaker 13: tradition that me and the fiance started a couple of
Speaker 13: years ago.
Speaker 1: Did she get excited when you pulled Hawaii out of
Speaker 1: the hat?
Speaker 13: She did, But then then we quickly realized that that
Speaker 13: wasn't going to be maybe more of a honeymoon than.
Speaker 5: Afterrough the wedding.
Speaker 13: Maybe we can check that off, but you know, it
Speaker 13: keeps interesting. And after we drew Indiana as the first one,
Speaker 13: I said, okay, we're allowed to draw three and then
Speaker 13: we can pick from the three.
Speaker 1: There are some nice spots in Indiana, but not enough.
Speaker 14: Uh.
Speaker 1: Hawaii is one of the four states on my list.
Speaker 1: I have not visited, so I'll get there someday. Well,
Speaker 1: let's get to football. We've talked a lot of football
Speaker 1: on my show, you have on your show, But let
Speaker 1: me ask you. This friend of mine said he felt
Speaker 1: like there wasn't as much chatter. There isn't as much
Speaker 1: sizzle about Kentucky football this summer as there's been in
Speaker 1: the past, based on your on air work and just
Speaker 1: hanging out in the community. Do you agree with that
Speaker 1: or do you think there's been the usual amount.
Speaker 12: Maybe a little less.
Speaker 13: And maybe that's by design because Mark Stoops isn't boasting
Speaker 13: as much. Maybe this year maybe getting burned after the
Speaker 13: back to back seven and six seasons. You know, I
Speaker 13: feel like there's been times where Mark Stoops comes into
Speaker 13: the SEC media days and talks about Kentucky taking over.
Speaker 13: That just wasn't the tone this year. Maybe like a
Speaker 13: cautiously optimistic Mark Stoops in Kentucky football, and I feel
Speaker 13: like some of that spotlight's been taken by the Kentucky
Speaker 13: basketball team and the excitement of Mark Pope, and you know,
Speaker 13: is he really going to get all these in state recruits?
Speaker 13: And if he is, then this guy is just nailing
Speaker 13: it when it comes to winning the press conference and
Speaker 13: everything that you can do in the offseason. So I
Speaker 13: think there was a little fit league with Caliperry and
Speaker 13: this transition with Mark Pope has re energized that part
Speaker 13: of the fan base. But also I think there's been
Speaker 13: some disappointments and there's a new expectation with Kentucky football,
Speaker 13: fair or foul, that you know, what Marks Stoops has
Speaker 13: did has done that many expect eight or nine wins
Speaker 13: every year, and that's just you know, that is a
Speaker 13: stark contrast from what the expectations were when Mark Stoops
Speaker 13: took over. So you know, I think there is a
Speaker 13: little bit of a mystery, like the myth of Brock Vandergriff,
Speaker 13: and everybody's just waiting to see what this guy is
Speaker 13: going to do. And maybe you see a big win
Speaker 13: versus Southern Myths and then a huge mass up against
Speaker 13: South Carolina Week two, and you get that real excitement
Speaker 13: and everybody's bought in and we see the true big
Speaker 13: Blue nation come out with their Kentucky football fandom. But
Speaker 13: I would I would somewhat agree it's been a little
Speaker 13: bit it's a little bit a little bit subdued this summer.
Speaker 13: And maybe for a multitude of reasons, but maybe everybody's
Speaker 13: just playing the new college football video game did and
Speaker 13: they just been so busy with them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sure that's it.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: You hit on one of the first things I was
Speaker 1: going to bring up, and that was Mark Polpe. I
Speaker 1: just still think there's such, in a good way, a
Speaker 1: hangover from when he arrived, because there has been more
Speaker 1: media time, inches airtime, whatever spent on his new team,
Speaker 1: because we've been given access unlike years gone by where
Speaker 1: you got to wait until the fall to talk to
Speaker 1: the basketball players. I know that you because of your shift,
Speaker 1: you can't get out to some of these media gatherings,
Speaker 1: but you can benefit from them. And we've all had
Speaker 1: a chance to interview every basketball player you know here
Speaker 1: in the in the heart of the summer. So naturally
Speaker 1: you're going to be talking a little more basketball and football.
Speaker 1: But that's not necessarily a bad thing to your point,
Speaker 1: Billy about expectations. Maybe that helps Kentucky football.
Speaker 13: Right, Yeah, maybe a little bit. And with the new
Speaker 13: look as the it's just going to be tougher and
Speaker 13: tougher to get to that win total that you want.
Speaker 13: Going on the road at Texas this year, I mean,
Speaker 13: you've got a very tough schedule. I thought, I think
Speaker 13: it was top five in the country when it comes
Speaker 13: to playing playing teams like Old Miss and Georgia and
Speaker 13: Texas in Tennessee even add to that list, it's not
Speaker 13: an easy road for these guys. Maybe even a little
Speaker 13: college baseball took people's minds off of football. With the
Speaker 13: great run that UK had, there's been a lot of
Speaker 13: excitement in a lot of different areas of that athletic department.
Speaker 13: And with football with a couple disappointing seasons, with the
Speaker 13: news of the vacating the wins, maybe it's time for
Speaker 13: Mark Stoops to get a couple of big victories to
Speaker 13: get this fan based really back on track with them.
Speaker 1: You went to Western Kentucky University, who came to our
Speaker 1: station from w HS over in Louisville, So you have
Speaker 1: witnessed a lot of UK football, you know, throughout your
Speaker 1: college career and then of course your professional career. So
Speaker 1: you've seen much of the Mark Stoop's era, and it
Speaker 1: is interesting. The last couple of seasons seven wins have
Speaker 1: been disappointing. Of course I go back to when seven
Speaker 1: wins was a cause for a parade, but that is really,
Speaker 1: I think, been an interesting dynamic here in the Big
Speaker 1: Moon Nation. They're finding out what it's like to be
Speaker 1: forced to live with seven wins, you know what I mean?
Speaker 13: Yes, And I think we all just so badly want
Speaker 13: this college football playoff with the expanded twelve teams for
Speaker 13: Kentucky to be in the mix. I mean, I think
Speaker 13: it's more likely that Kentucky makes their college football playoff
Speaker 13: game than they do an SEC championship game. In the
Speaker 13: next five years, I mean it's gonna I think we'll
Speaker 13: see multiple SEC teams in this playoffs. And Kentucky just
Speaker 13: a few years ago, I think if they were going
Speaker 13: to beat Tennessee, then they would have been right in
Speaker 13: that top twelve and they would have been right there.
Speaker 13: So I think that it's possible and people see that
Speaker 13: and then they expect it because they've seen two ten
Speaker 13: wins seasons over the last five or six years, so
Speaker 13: even one with one being vacated. You know, when I
Speaker 13: went to Western Kentucky, Dick, my first year was twenty thirteen,
Speaker 13: the first Western game, I went to the first Mark
Speaker 13: Soups games, which was at meath On Stadium between Western
Speaker 13: and UK and that it was the second year in
Speaker 13: a row. Western had beaten Kentucky and it was like,
Speaker 13: oh my god, here we go. Western already beaten the
Speaker 13: new coach, Mark Soups. You know, is he the guy
Speaker 13: for the job. And it's just been a slow build
Speaker 13: ever since then. And credit for Soups in this staff recruiting.
Speaker 13: I mean, Vince Marrow could get a statue at this
Speaker 13: university one day down the line just because of the
Speaker 13: efforts that he's done recruiting and maybe even with Jasper
Speaker 13: Johnson as we've heard that he's been called in to
Speaker 13: help a little bit with that, but just his ability
Speaker 13: to recruit Ohio and get guys that not only are
Speaker 13: playing in the NFL. You look at the secondary guys,
Speaker 13: you look at Josh Allen and doing everything that he's done.
Speaker 13: While the tight end position has been a little bit
Speaker 13: of a disappointment. I feel like Vince Merrow and John
Speaker 13: Calipari being at the Universe at the same time. I
Speaker 13: don't know if we'll ever see a duo like that
Speaker 13: of how good those guys were at recruiting actual talent.
Speaker 13: And maybe that's what comes with some of this risen
Speaker 13: expectations for Kentucky football, is that you're starting to get
Speaker 13: that better talent. You're getting the best player in the state,
Speaker 13: so why not win more than seven games? But we
Speaker 13: know the reality, Dick, is that that is extremely hard
Speaker 13: to do, especially if you stumble in the non conference.
Speaker 1: Yeah, i'dn't even talk about it. That's a great point.
Speaker 1: Caliperry and Vince Merrow among the very best in their
Speaker 1: respective sports and recruiting on campus at the same time.
Speaker 1: And if Vince can get in front of Jasper and
Speaker 1: of course you know I saw him at a UK
Speaker 1: basketball game talking to Jasper's dad, so yeah, that could happen.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. I remember you've told me that you had
Speaker 1: been at that Western Kentucky game down in Nashville, and
Speaker 1: of course I covered it, and those two Western games
Speaker 1: both won by the Toppers. That you said kind of
Speaker 1: micro cosmic one coming in Joker Phillips last year when
Speaker 1: Western Kentucky wins it on a trick play catches the
Speaker 1: Wildcats flat footed. There was a lot of that that
Speaker 1: year under Joker Phillips, and then the following season, Billy,
Speaker 1: to your point about recruiting, Western Kentucky had the best
Speaker 1: player on the field both on offense or running back
Speaker 1: in defense, a linebacker, which tells you just how Kentucky's
Speaker 1: football fortunes had sagged. But now, thanks to Meryl stoops
Speaker 1: cling scale all those guys who've been out recruiting through
Speaker 1: the years, Kentucky's talent level is probably at a point
Speaker 1: that it's never been at. But the league is so
Speaker 1: much tougher. You still got to go grind it out, don't.
Speaker 5: You you do?
Speaker 13: And just to kind of go back down memory lane
Speaker 13: a little bit, it was so hot that game, Dick.
Speaker 13: It was really hot an stadium. Don't know how I
Speaker 13: survived it, but I do remember meeting some some buddies
Speaker 13: and some friends that I still know and I will
Speaker 13: know for the rest of my life. So it's special
Speaker 13: to have that game in my memory as my first
Speaker 13: Western game. It just happened to be Stoops' first game
Speaker 13: as well. And you know, we have seen quite a change.
Speaker 13: You know, Bobby Petrino was the head coach of Western
Speaker 13: at the time. His offensive coordinator was Jeff Brohm, who
Speaker 13: has now obviously did great things with Western and the
Speaker 13: head coach at Louisville now. And you know, let's think
Speaker 13: about last year for a second Dick Kentucky season, I
Speaker 13: think was salvage to a degree by beating a top
Speaker 13: ten ranked Louisville team last year. I mean it was
Speaker 13: you know that that gets you at seven and five
Speaker 13: instead of six and six. I think we completely look
Speaker 13: at the season differently if you lose to that rival.
Speaker 13: Ray Davis really had one of his shining moments of
Speaker 13: the season in that game that I think that if
Speaker 13: we didn't have that, you know, maybe people would be
Speaker 13: even a little bit even in.
Speaker 5: A more panic mode.
Speaker 13: But you know, my prediction is that Stoops's record will
Speaker 13: have nothing to do this next year with if he
Speaker 13: will be back at Kentucky the following year. I mean,
Speaker 13: he could go I think he could go winless, sick,
Speaker 13: and I still think it would be his decision whether
Speaker 13: he'd be the coach of Kentucky or not. That's that's
Speaker 13: that's credit to just the man bringing this program out
Speaker 13: of the gutter.
Speaker 10: Let's be honest.
Speaker 13: There was nobody I mean at that Vandy Kentucky game
Speaker 13: before the Stoops there. I mean, it was embarrassing.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 13: And so I think he deserves a lot of credit.
Speaker 13: But we have short.
Speaker 5: Attention spans nowadays, Dick, and.
Speaker 13: It's what have you done for me lately? And I
Speaker 13: think for some in the fan base that are tiring
Speaker 13: of Stoops, they just need to look back a little
Speaker 13: bit farther and see where he's brought.
Speaker 1: I agree, And Joker Phillips himself said when he walked
Speaker 1: out saw the crowd for the Dandy game, he knew
Speaker 1: he was done. Billy Rudli is on the line with us.
Speaker 1: Billy has been following Kentucky football, as he said, since
Speaker 1: that game in Nashville. And by the way, look at
Speaker 1: the parallels. Stoops fortunes with Kentucky football has risen. He's
Speaker 1: got a fat contract and since then, Billy's fortunes have risen.
Speaker 1: He has his own radio show now on this very
Speaker 1: radio station. His contract not quite as fat as Stoops,
Speaker 1: but he's getting there. We'll come back and talk more
Speaker 1: with Billy in just a minute. On the Big Boin
Speaker 1: Siders six thirty Welcome back. We're talking with Billy Rutledge,
Speaker 1: my buddy who was the co host of this show
Speaker 1: and now is on every morning Billy and the Dude
Speaker 1: right after the Tom Leach Leach Report on this very
Speaker 1: radio station. And we talked a lot of Kentucky football
Speaker 1: so far, but we do need to look ahead the basketball.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Billy will join on the state
Speaker 1: Wide Show Monday night with Aaron Gershan. But we're kind
Speaker 1: of touching on things that we're not gonna have a
Speaker 1: chance to talk about on Monday. But you know, we
Speaker 1: talked about Mark Pope arriving and putting this roster together.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how much you and the Dude
Speaker 1: have talk much because I'm always producing my show while
Speaker 1: you're on yours. But I heard you a little bit
Speaker 1: talking about the excitement about Kentucky basketball. But you talk
Speaker 1: about a program flying below the radar. Nobody's got him
Speaker 1: in their preseason top twenty five. Does that surprise you.
Speaker 13: A little bit, especially because how meaningless preseason polls are.
Speaker 13: I feel like the name Kentucky usually gets you in
Speaker 13: that twenty five, just because you get the fan base's
Speaker 13: reaction and you get more clicks. Camra Millk can tell
Speaker 13: you more about how much he hates preseason ranking usher
Speaker 13: he will on countdown to kickoff. But you know what,
Speaker 13: it's just been fun to see this roster take shape
Speaker 13: in real time, and you know, as the fan base
Speaker 13: jumped on board with Mark Pope and they had that
Speaker 13: revival at Rupp Arena with the press conference, just he
Speaker 13: has checked all the boxes. I don't know who gave
Speaker 13: him a checklist on things to say at the press conference,
Speaker 13: but they did a great job talking about the SEC
Speaker 13: tournament meaning something to him, and all the stuff that
Speaker 13: Cal said did not matter, Mark Pope saying it did matter.
Speaker 13: And then you know, continuing the love affair with this
Speaker 13: fan base and players from in state. You know, is
Speaker 13: it Trent Noah as one of the guys that's in state,
Speaker 13: There's Travis Perry, who's gonna who's score? I mean, we've
Speaker 13: seen guys in the last couple of years like Reed
Speaker 13: Shepherd come in and just loved by this fan base.
Speaker 12: And I think there's always.
Speaker 13: Should be a place for the top players in state
Speaker 13: to be on Kentucky's So now you've got Malachi Moreno
Speaker 13: there's rumors that Jasper Johnson is now leaning Kentucky. Now
Speaker 13: that would be a huge gate, huge get and continue
Speaker 13: that in state love. You know, Mark Pope being one
Speaker 13: of big Blue Nations own winning that championship, that bus
Speaker 13: being at rapp Arena, Dick, is a moment we are
Speaker 13: gonna remember. And you know, the only natural thing that's
Speaker 13: next is success, and I do think it's going to
Speaker 13: come now.
Speaker 4: Is it year one?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 13: I think that we should allow some patience for this
Speaker 13: guy to work with a whole new of coaches, Cody
Speaker 13: Sieger and whole players that don't know his system and
Speaker 13: are still learning it. But just think if he can
Speaker 13: start to build something at Kentucky, it's really exciting and
Speaker 13: it's just it's just different, and you know, and sometimes
Speaker 13: it's necessary to have something a little different. I think
Speaker 13: if we had a whole off season of cal talk,
Speaker 13: then we may have gone a little bit crazy, Dick
Speaker 13: as we approached this first call in show. But Mark Pope,
Speaker 13: I feel like has gotten people back on board. And
Speaker 13: with all the news we've heard about Nil and how
Speaker 13: much Kentucky has to offer in that department as well,
Speaker 13: you can't help but be excited about the future of
Speaker 13: this program in the immediate future too, because I feel
Speaker 13: like Mark Pope has a system that actually works with
Speaker 13: modern basketball. Yeah, it's not dribble dribble, dribble drive. It's actually,
Speaker 13: let's shoot threes. Let's average more threes a game than
Speaker 13: Alabama last year. Let's do it in moderation. But I
Speaker 13: think that that's that's something that can get people really excited.
Speaker 1: And let's get some shots up now instead of grinding
Speaker 1: out the shot clock. And you know a couple of
Speaker 1: things I've learned since about Mark Pope's arrival. I had
Speaker 1: said the same thing you. I said, Man, he has
Speaker 1: been prepped brilliantly. There was no checklist. Cameron Mills told
Speaker 1: me Mark did that on his own. I'm sure he
Speaker 1: did some research, but nobody came to him and said, look,
Speaker 1: you need to touch on this and this. Mark did that,
Speaker 1: and I believe it. He's a brilliant guy. And the
Speaker 1: other thing was when they stepped off that bus, which
Speaker 1: and you, as you said, people just win nuts and
Speaker 1: Mark held the trophy up. They choreographed it before they
Speaker 1: got off. They got together in the back of the bus,
Speaker 1: the former players, and so they could recreate accurately what
Speaker 1: happened that night in nineteen ninety six. They were, like
Speaker 1: Mark said, who carried the trophy off that one? You did?
Speaker 1: Which hand? Did I have it in your right hand?
Speaker 1: Or whatever it was. So they were they were so
Speaker 1: ready for that. But now, yeah, they're going to have
Speaker 1: a team. Here's the other thing we got to remember.
Speaker 1: Excuse me. He built his team to your point about shooting.
Speaker 1: He built this team around defense. I mean, look at
Speaker 1: the first guys he signed, Billy, the first guys who
Speaker 1: transferred in were almost defensive specialists, and I think people
Speaker 1: forget about that.
Speaker 13: You know, Yeah, there's definitely an emphasis there. I mean,
Speaker 13: there's maybe some concerns that Jackson Robinson is the only
Speaker 13: guy that can beat a guy one on one and
Speaker 13: get his bucket. But it's a different way of recruiting, Dick.
Speaker 13: It's not just amassing as much talent as possible and
Speaker 13: making it work and fitting squares into round holes. Yeah yeah, right,
Speaker 13: It's it's more of I have a system, this is
Speaker 13: what would fit my system. We need defensive guys, we
Speaker 13: need shooters. We need somebody that can dribble on the
Speaker 13: ball and then if Kerkkrisa isn't my favorite player. Within
Speaker 13: the first two games, you know, I'm going to lose
Speaker 13: a lot of money because I just I feel like
Speaker 13: that guy and his trash talking of Luka Doncic and
Speaker 13: I saw a video of him back in Estonia just
Speaker 13: chopping wood. You know, he's got the charisma that I
Speaker 13: think could really attach with Big Blue Nations. But you know,
Speaker 13: I saw a headline Dick just to stray a little
Speaker 13: bit that you know, Big Z at Arkansas with John
Speaker 13: cal Perry is not going to be allowed to shoot
Speaker 13: threes anymore. Oh my god, He's gonna have to shoot
Speaker 13: long two's and elbow jumpers. And I started to pull
Speaker 13: my hair out a little bit because I love Big
Speaker 13: Z Man.
Speaker 12: That debut at Rupp was incredible.
Speaker 13: It's incredible of a basketball moment I've had with the
Speaker 13: UK Sports Network, that debut, that behind the back path
Speaker 13: and the floyees that he had. Why would you limit
Speaker 13: somebody in such a way. And I just don't get
Speaker 13: that vibe with Mark Pope in Kentucky. And you can
Speaker 13: and you call that what you want. Maybe you think
Speaker 13: it's good coaching, maybe you don't, but it's different and
Speaker 13: I think it was just after fifteen years, we needed
Speaker 13: something a little different and that's why we've seen, I think,
Speaker 13: such an energy when it comes to boosters, when it
Speaker 13: comes to the fan base, and Big Blue Mannus is
Speaker 13: going to be awesome, Is it not?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 13: I feel like that's going to be one of the
Speaker 13: better Big Blue Manuss we've had in years, just because
Speaker 13: it's something different.
Speaker 1: Billy rud Ledge Follow him on this very radio station
Speaker 1: at nine am each day. Follow him on social media
Speaker 1: Billy are Sports on x or Twitter and on Instagram.
Speaker 1: Look for boogies with Billy and Sir. We will see
Speaker 1: you on Monday night.
Speaker 13: Appreciate it, Jake, looking forward to it up next.
Speaker 1: It's been a busy week here on the Big Boom Sider.
Speaker 1: We'll take a look back and heroes, fools and flakes
Speaker 1: on six thirty WLAP.
Speaker 15: That was the week, tuk waw, let it go, that
Speaker 15: was the week. Was It's not it way up Rock and.
Speaker 1: That. It was an eventful week here on the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Insider, as really all of us in the media
Speaker 1: and the BBN as well, moved one week closer to
Speaker 1: Kentucky football. We talked a lot of football this week
Speaker 1: and it's going to be even bigger next week, of course.
Speaker 1: But we also talked about basketball recruiting, we talked about volleyball,
Speaker 1: We talked about the Olympics, because on Monday we got
Speaker 1: a chance to talk to UK Olympian Messiah Russell, the
Speaker 1: gold medalist in the one hundred meters, along with coach
Speaker 1: Lonnie Johnson, the UK coach. It was in Paris, but
Speaker 1: basically for moral support and that comes in handy of
Speaker 1: course in all sports. But Russell talked with us about
Speaker 1: the joy of winning, what her life has been like.
Speaker 1: But at one point she mentioned all the downs, you know,
Speaker 1: the tears, the long nights, and that's something we really
Speaker 1: never realized as fans and media people. We see them
Speaker 1: on the podium getting their medals, we see him hitting
Speaker 1: the finish line first, but we rarely think about what
Speaker 1: happens when things don't go well. And I asked her
Speaker 1: to share some.
Speaker 16: Of that with us, Like you have to go through
Speaker 16: those failures, you have to go through those tough times,
Speaker 16: those uncomfortable moments. Because last year when I used to run,
Speaker 16: I mean I broke the CLESI record indoor, I told
Speaker 16: coach Jeni, Like afterwards I started to overthink everything, Like surprisingly,
Speaker 16: I'm like, how did I do that? What do I
Speaker 16: need to do? What do I need to fix? How
Speaker 16: do I get back to that? So like when I
Speaker 16: ran to SECS, it was like I kind of found
Speaker 16: it again and then I won, and then I was
Speaker 16: like all right. I was like living in fear of
Speaker 16: not performing to that. So that's when I came up
Speaker 16: short at NCAA's and then I broke the CLESI record
Speaker 16: to get outdoor. I had the talent, I had the capability,
Speaker 16: but it didn't show up when it needed to because
Speaker 16: I didn't believe. I was living in fear of what
Speaker 16: if I'm not this athlete again, rather than just like
Speaker 16: being in the moment and just allowing what God has
Speaker 16: for me, like wherever, like I said, wherever the chips falls,
Speaker 16: where it falls. I can't force to create anything that
Speaker 16: wasn't there. So I'm just glad that I went through
Speaker 16: those opportunities to come second place and to lose and
Speaker 16: to come up short, you know, I mean it was
Speaker 16: heartbreaking when you know that you have the fastest collegiate
Speaker 16: time ever but you don't put it together on that day.
Speaker 16: So I mean, I'm an Olympic Goo medalist now, and
Speaker 16: I mean I had to go through those losses to
Speaker 16: be having this conversation with you, So I mean, I'm
Speaker 16: blessed and thankful for it, even though it was uncomfortable.
Speaker 5: At the time.
Speaker 1: Obviously as a veteran coach, he was successful at Purdue
Speaker 1: before coming to Kentucky. Lonnie Green has worked with so
Speaker 1: many great athletes, and it's not all about patting him
Speaker 1: on the back after they win. He said, he has
Speaker 1: had to put his arm around a lot of athletes
Speaker 1: through the tough time.
Speaker 17: If she would permit me to tell a story of
Speaker 17: the NCAA Championship indoors, you know, and she lost the meat,
Speaker 17: she lost to meet by like two one hundreds of
Speaker 17: a second, and then she went into the bathroom. I
Speaker 17: had to send Devn to go get I said, Devn,
Speaker 17: go get her because I couldn't follow her, you know
Speaker 17: what I mean. And when she was done, I looked
Speaker 17: at her and say, you done?
Speaker 5: And so you're done?
Speaker 17: You're done? Are you done? And I said you can't.
Speaker 17: You can't call that back. You can't un ring that bell.
Speaker 17: Now we gotta get ready for the next event, you
Speaker 17: know what I mean. And she said to me, if
Speaker 17: court me, if I'm wrong, correct me, if I'm wrong.
Speaker 17: I just want to cry because I didn't lose. I
Speaker 17: just want to cry it. So, okay, cry and pick
Speaker 17: it up it, pick it back up. But we still
Speaker 17: got a my relay, we got to run and she
Speaker 17: was a part of that relay, you know. So it's
Speaker 17: just I think it's just it's it's just the rigors
Speaker 17: of competition. It's just the things you go through when
Speaker 17: you're competing, you know, the ups and downs, you know.
Speaker 5: I think that's one of the reasons.
Speaker 17: I think you see people shed a tear when they're
Speaker 17: on the on the on the metal stand, you know
Speaker 17: what I mean, Because in that moment when they're when
Speaker 17: they're recognized for what they've accomplished, it all just comes
Speaker 17: flooding back in and the like jingle bells.
Speaker 5: I gave up all of this, you.
Speaker 17: Know, all of everything. I've get to put this moment
Speaker 17: right here now it's actually reality.
Speaker 1: And of course that was Lonnie Johnson chiming in. So
Speaker 1: I thought that was fascinating. I've never interviewed somebody right
Speaker 1: after they won a gold medal in the Olympics, but
Speaker 1: interesting to hear both sides of that story. We also
Speaker 1: talked early in the week about Kentucky volleyball. As I said,
Speaker 1: Texas has joined the conference now, so you know that's
Speaker 1: the team to be unanimous voting in the preseason Paul.
Speaker 1: But Kentucky is the seventh time SEC defending champion, and
Speaker 1: Missy Woodmore of the SEC Network, one of the analysts
Speaker 1: for the SEC net, said that she sees a strong
Speaker 1: season coming up for the Wildcats.
Speaker 18: Yeah, I'm really excited to see what the flavor is
Speaker 18: of the Wildcats this year. Because we talked about that
Speaker 18: national championship. Well, that group of players has filtered through
Speaker 18: now and so this group has an opportunity to really
Speaker 18: create an identity for themselves. And traditionally, the identity of
Speaker 18: Kentucky has been all about building on great libor play
Speaker 18: and great set and Kentucky has both of those things
Speaker 18: this season. And you add to that Brooklyn Delay a
Speaker 18: young star in this game, and I think the recipe
Speaker 18: for success is there and if anyone can do it,
Speaker 18: it's Craig Skinner.
Speaker 7: Brick by Brick, he has.
Speaker 19: Built that program.
Speaker 1: One of the topics that Craig Skinner brought up on
Speaker 1: media day was the fact that the folks who won
Speaker 1: the championship for the Wildcats, the nca title three years ago,
Speaker 1: they've all moved on. So now this team wants to
Speaker 1: set about creating its own legacy. They won a national
Speaker 1: championship of their own.
Speaker 11: You know, our team has brought that up. They're excited
Speaker 11: for the fact that no one on this team was
Speaker 11: part of the twenty two or twenty championship team, and
Speaker 11: so they want their identity to be what this team
Speaker 11: is about, and they want to build their own expectations
Speaker 11: and owned results and not be compared to that team.
Speaker 11: And you know, I think that's fair. It's it's like
Speaker 11: we talked, you know, Saturday night. As you know, comparison
Speaker 11: is it can be the evil, you know, empire, and
Speaker 11: so comparing ourselves to ourselves the most important thing. How
Speaker 11: do we do yesterday? How are we going to do today?
Speaker 11: How are we gonna do tomorrow? So it's this team
Speaker 11: is excited about the chance to prove themselves and show
Speaker 11: people what they're made of.
Speaker 1: I mentioned recruiting earlier, and of course Mark Pope has
Speaker 1: landed his first big recruit, and that's a big guy,
Speaker 1: Malchia Moreno and we talked with Chris Fisher, the recruiting
Speaker 1: analyst for two four seven Sports and the Cats Pause,
Speaker 1: about what this means for Pope and his fledgling program.
Speaker 4: It was a big first addition. It was a natural addition,
Speaker 4: you know, adding an in state guy as the first
Speaker 4: commitment for twenty twenty five and with you know, things
Speaker 4: not looking too bright for Jasper Johnson, I think all
Speaker 4: of that kind of adds up to a must have
Speaker 4: for Mark Pope. I mean, he's a you know, a
Speaker 4: six foot eleven cinner, really really talented, high upside that's
Speaker 4: from the state of Kentucky that plays the position that
Speaker 4: Mark Pope played, and so I think there's kind of
Speaker 4: a natural synergy there. And Mark Pope has made no
Speaker 4: bones about the importance of keeping Kentucky guys at home.
Speaker 12: You know.
Speaker 4: Obviously Travis Perry signed with Kentucky before Mark Pope came on,
Speaker 4: but Mark Pope played a big part in you know,
Speaker 4: keeping his commitment and keeping him on board. And then
Speaker 4: he adds Trent Noah in the spring as well.
Speaker 5: And so.
Speaker 4: It was a big commitment I think for to get
Speaker 4: Kentucky on the board for twenty twenty five. It's still early.
Speaker 4: It's only August. The early signing period is still months away.
Speaker 4: But to get that first one out of the way,
Speaker 4: and to have it be a Kentucky guy, to have
Speaker 4: it be a top twenty five prospect nationally, I think
Speaker 4: it's a big deal for Mark Pope in Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Now out of the football that occupied much of our
Speaker 1: time this week, including a comment from Mark Stoops at
Speaker 1: the first of the week when he reacted to what
Speaker 1: he saw in the scrimmage. He liked what he saw
Speaker 1: on Saturday for the most part is they played backups primarily,
Speaker 1: but he also took a moment to talk about the
Speaker 1: depth Kentucky has in the quarterback room. It's unlike I
Speaker 1: think any Stoops has had since he's been here at Kentucky.
Speaker 14: Absolutely no knock to anybody that's been here before. But
Speaker 14: like as a group, I mean, the four guys that
Speaker 14: we have I have so much confidence in. It's a
Speaker 14: really good group and that's really helpful because as you know,
Speaker 14: things have happened in the past, and as you know
Speaker 14: with the portal, sometimes when you have guys, other guys
Speaker 14: leave and it leaves you thin. And I feel like
Speaker 14: we were in a really good situation with the quarterback room.
Speaker 14: I really do, and I just told them that that
Speaker 14: I have confidence in all of them. We don't want
Speaker 14: anybody to get hurt, but it lets you have the
Speaker 14: confidence to let the guys go play and just go
Speaker 14: play the game. And we all know the game is
Speaker 14: physical and things happen, and we don't want that to anybody.
Speaker 14: But I really do feel good about the depth and
Speaker 14: I feel like all four guys could play.
Speaker 1: One of the most interesting dynamics to me about a
Speaker 1: fan base is how much they worry about the backup QB.
Speaker 1: Not the fact that the QE backup QB is the
Speaker 1: most popular guy in town. We all know that when
Speaker 1: the first dreeing guy is faltering. But people worry that
Speaker 1: backup quarterbacks are going to transfer. Well, guess what, even
Speaker 1: before the portals around that happened because it's the one
Speaker 1: position where they rarely sub and there can only be one.
Speaker 1: Of course for the most part. Every now and then
Speaker 1: they'll run a sub in, but people do fret about that.
Speaker 1: And Bill Ransdell Dollar Bill dropped into the garage. You
Speaker 1: actually sat right here with us and Bill at one
Speaker 1: point when he first got the Kentucky buried on the
Speaker 1: depth chart, but ultimately rewrote the record books and those
Speaker 1: records stood until Tim Couch arrived. But Bill talked to
Speaker 1: us about the fact that you just have to be
Speaker 1: tough mentally when you go into a situation knowing that
Speaker 1: only one guy is going to play.
Speaker 3: And you know, you come in and I think that
Speaker 3: it's I think anybody that has played the game and
Speaker 3: gets recruited in college at any level, but especially when
Speaker 3: you get up too d one regardless, you think that
Speaker 3: you better believe that you're the guy that they recruited
Speaker 3: you for a reason. And when you walk into the room,
Speaker 3: I don't really care who is there. I'm here to
Speaker 3: win and play. I didn't come here to sit. And
Speaker 3: if you don't think that way, you're not going to
Speaker 3: make it to the field. And so it's how do
Speaker 3: you get there? You have to buy the time. And
Speaker 3: when I came in with Coach Claburn's first recruiting class,
Speaker 3: they're trying to build and so the you know, the
Speaker 3: red shirting and where basically it's just a hole back year,
Speaker 3: as you know, and so then you get your only
Speaker 3: chance is the next spring in spring practice, and so
Speaker 3: you get a limited amount of plays.
Speaker 1: Ranzell at one point was fifth string, leave Tom Brady
Speaker 1: was seventh string when he first got to Michigan. And
Speaker 1: he talked early in the week on Somebody's podcasts about
Speaker 1: the fact that now that quarterbacks are basically shopping themselves,
Speaker 1: they're hunting for a new program, so they don't have
Speaker 1: to stay in one place and learn what it takes
Speaker 1: to work through the program and earn your spot. And
Speaker 1: he said, because of that, because quarterbacks are coming and
Speaker 1: going so frequently, they basically, my words, have to dumb
Speaker 1: down the position when a guy transfers in because he's
Speaker 1: not been there to learn what the program is all about.
Speaker 20: Now there are players transferring from schools when they're not playing,
Speaker 20: and they're going to different programs, and they're going to
Speaker 20: different techniques they're learning. They're never advancing in an own
Speaker 20: individual system. There used to be college programs. Now there
Speaker 20: are college teams. You're no longer learning a program, you're
Speaker 20: learning a playbook, and the program is ultimately like at Michigan,
Speaker 20: for me, that was a pro style program.
Speaker 5: Five years.
Speaker 20: I got to learn how to drop back pass, to
Speaker 20: read defenses, to recoverage, is to be coach, to deal
Speaker 20: with winning games, to deal playing in Columbus o'hian front
Speaker 20: one hundred and ten thousand people. I had to learn
Speaker 20: from being seventh quarterback on the depth chart to moving
Speaker 20: up to third to ultimately being a starter. I had
Speaker 20: to learn all those things in college. That was development.
Speaker 20: Then I went to New England and I was developed
Speaker 20: by coach Belichick and the offensive staff there. I didn't
Speaker 20: start my first year. I think it's just a tragedy
Speaker 20: that we're forcing these rookies to play early. But the
Speaker 20: reality is the only reason why there is because we've
Speaker 20: dumb the game down, which has allowed him to play.
Speaker 1: And with Tom Brady talks about quarterbacks, well, you got
Speaker 1: to listen. One of the guys actually would be a
Speaker 1: huge help. He already knows this. To Brock vandergri Barrion Brown,
Speaker 1: we talked with him at practice. We also talked with
Speaker 1: receivers coach to Keil Schortz in his first year, and
Speaker 1: he loves what he has seen in Barrion so far.
Speaker 1: And I also asked him about what he brings to
Speaker 1: the pro one.
Speaker 19: I just want to say I'm extremely proud of him.
Speaker 19: I think the biggest growth for him. I mean, he
Speaker 19: is what he is. He's an electric he's going to
Speaker 19: make plays. He's just he's got some guy giving ability
Speaker 19: that none of us have. But just mentally, you know,
Speaker 19: just mentally really wanted him to get mentally tougher. And
Speaker 19: I think that's something that he got better at this summer.
Speaker 19: Trusting his teammates, trusting his coaching, just being more dependable
Speaker 19: and reliable. But the biggest thing is just his mental aspect.
Speaker 19: I think he grew and he matured a lot off
Speaker 19: of that.
Speaker 1: We've heard from coach Stoop say some of the players
Speaker 1: about what you brought to this group? What did you
Speaker 1: think this group needed when you got here? What have
Speaker 1: you brought one?
Speaker 19: I would say they've done. The guys that were here
Speaker 19: before me and the guys that are here now did
Speaker 19: a hell of a job recruiting. These guys got a
Speaker 19: lot of talent. But I just think, you know, sometimes
Speaker 19: you just need a fresh start, and a lot of
Speaker 19: these guys just, you know, you know, they just want
Speaker 19: to want to see how it's supposed to be done,
Speaker 19: and they just want somebody that's going to demand a
Speaker 19: lot and stay on them. I think they do want
Speaker 19: tough love. I'm obviously I played the position and I'm
Speaker 19: a little younger, so I'm not afraid to challenge him
Speaker 19: and push them. But you know it's easy for It's
Speaker 19: easy for me. They do all the work, you know,
Speaker 19: like they buy in, They come out here day in
Speaker 19: and day out. They work pretty hard. So you know
Speaker 19: they make my job a lot easier.
Speaker 1: That's receivers coach the Keel Schortz a good hire by
Speaker 1: Mark Stoops by all accounts, and speaking to Stoops, Brian
Speaker 1: Milem said that he believes and agrees with me that
Speaker 1: this could be a real pivotal season for the UK coach.
Speaker 12: Yeah, this season is big because he tried to do
Speaker 12: what he wants to do, and that is coach football
Speaker 12: and not be a salesman to go out and get
Speaker 12: money the way. That's all he has done. He told
Speaker 12: me in a function about well is right before the
Speaker 12: day before I left for the College World Series, he said,
Speaker 12: this is all I do. I don't get to coach anymore.
Speaker 12: And so I think he is excited for this season,
Speaker 12: but he's got a lot to prove.
Speaker 5: Because the divisions being gone.
Speaker 12: Yeah, that really throws you right into the lions Den
Speaker 12: where in the past you could avoid certain situations, but now, yeah,
Speaker 12: you're right in the thick of it with everybody. And
Speaker 12: and when you just look at the schedule from thirty
Speaker 12: thousand feet, you don't see a ten win season. Yeah,
Speaker 12: you don't see a nine win season unless you get
Speaker 12: some great breaks along the way.
Speaker 1: That was the week that was We'll come back with Heroes,
Speaker 1: Fools of Flakes and just a man on the big
Speaker 1: Moor side of six wlap. None was let it go.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Big Blue Cider, final segment of
Speaker 1: our show. Time only for Heroes, fools and flakes, and
Speaker 1: our hero tonight is whoever was with the Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 1: who approved water park day for kirk Cousin's birthday. And
Speaker 1: this of course comes during training camp and it had
Speaker 1: to start at the top and be approved in several spots.
Speaker 1: But kirk Cousins said he had been dreaming about a
Speaker 1: water park day during draining gm throughout his career, and
Speaker 1: he posted photos said today our dream was fulfilled. Coach
Speaker 1: surprised us after the morning lift and meetings, and he
Speaker 1: said we took full advantage. Instagram's got all kinds of
Speaker 1: pictures on it. I don't know what the Falcons are
Speaker 1: going to do this year. They should be okay. I
Speaker 1: don't know how smarter dumbing was to draft Michael Pennix
Speaker 1: after you spent one hundred million on Kirk Cousins. But
Speaker 1: taking your team to a water park that can only result,
Speaker 1: I think in good things for an NFL squad, And
Speaker 1: if it worked, I guarantee you if they have a
Speaker 1: good season, there's gonna be a lot of NFL teams
Speaker 1: going to water parks next year. Are fool tonight is
Speaker 1: whoever was in charge of the Delaware State bus schedule,
Speaker 1: because the Hornets missed their flight to Hawaii. They were
Speaker 1: going to Hawaii to play football, and they missed their flight,
Speaker 1: which tells me they weren't even going charter because charter
Speaker 1: you take off when you're ready to go. So they
Speaker 1: had to read book a ten and a half hour
Speaker 1: flight for an entire college football team. So they lose
Speaker 1: a day of preparation. They play tomorrow and Delaware State
Speaker 1: is coming off of one to ten season, so the
Speaker 1: odds are pretty long on them winning anyhow. Not that
Speaker 1: Hawaii was great last year, the Warriors were five and eight,
Speaker 1: But you're going to be tired anyhow, and you lose
Speaker 1: an entire day of rest by going a daylight thanks
Speaker 1: to whoever didn't check on traffic or didn't scout the situation.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's a tough one for an entire football
Speaker 1: team to miss a flight. Our flate tonight and I
Speaker 1: guess this is normal normal. I don't know, but a
Speaker 1: normal situation. Simone Biles talked about the fact that she
Speaker 1: was at a Paris club and really, I just think
Speaker 1: this was fraud. Somebody tried to do it to spending
Speaker 1: twenty six thousand dollars for a bottle of champagne. This
Speaker 1: was during a night out following the closing ceremony. Now,
Speaker 1: she won three gold medals and a silver but she
Speaker 1: knew she was smart enough to know that even that
Speaker 1: didn't merit a twenty six thousand dollars bottle of champagne.
Speaker 1: File said. She told the guy who ended the bill,
Speaker 1: are you insane? Fortunately she hadn't yet opened the bottle,
Speaker 1: so all ended. Well, that's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this edition. In this week in a Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Next Monday night, it's the Statewide Show with Billy Rutledge
Speaker 1: and Aaron Gershwan It's also going to be the first
Speaker 1: night for the Mark Stoop Show and BBN Radio and
Speaker 1: one week from tomorrow it's the Kentucky Football Opener. That's
Speaker 1: a good night from the garage in Lexington. Got a
Speaker 1: slight weight problem. No, yeah, I did, Yeah, I did
Speaker 1: it anywhere. I went to this doctor.
Speaker 9: Well he told me I swallow a lot of aggression
Speaker 9: along with a lot of pizzas.