Will it ever happen for Mark Stoops and Kentucky Wildcats football?

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal hell that for me, I'm
a man.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
be happy. You want to be happy for a day
at a steak?

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Is that woo woom.

Speaker 4 (00:14):
And then and tie?

Speaker 3 (00:19):
So, Dan, have you fully recovered from your Memorial Day weekend?
That's the question everybody wants to know as they tune
into this podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I had a great time in the great state of
Wisconsin on a lake. I ate a ton of food,
I got plenty of sunshine. I got on a boat,
like a big long pontoon boat, like a great Memorial
Day weekend.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
How about you.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm on an incredible run right now of my hot
water heater springing a gigantic leak, the best having a
gigantic family picnic over here on the weekend that we
have to prepare.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
For your family spring a leak. You're good there, I.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Think we're okay there, okay, and then my air conditioning
breaking yesterday, so we're through the woods on that.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Hold on, is this is this your way to transition
into talking about Kentucky football by things that have collapsed
and broken and been a financial disaster for you.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
I jotted down on my note sheet. I kid you not,
I kid you not. Quote. Nothing relieves the stress quite
like talking about Kentucky football. Dan there it is.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, that's a lot kinder and more diplomatic than saying,
like speaking of things that blobbedy, blobby black.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
I don't want to do that.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
We have, I didn't want you to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Tuning into this, we're going to be joined today by
Nick Rousch of Kentucky Sports Radio. Suggested by our loyal
overballer Chaka, who listens to program and has been listening
to all these episodes and suggested Nick. I've been reading Nick.
I've been reading KSR forever and I thought that was
a great suggestion. So we reached out to Nick. He
was kind enough with his time. He's going to be

(01:49):
by momentarily here. You know, I've done these sec East
previews now for the last couple of seasons, and I
feel like whenever I get to Kentucky my voice goes
up in octave right, because I so desperately want this
to be the year or years in the past who
have been the year, And each of the last two
I've come away disappointed. I felt like there was more

(02:11):
out there. I want to talk to Nick about that.
What is holding this team back? What does it mean
now that they got this big transfer in Brock vander Griff.
Is he a Vanda grifter like you and I a
lot of questions about Kentucky football, Like we had the
comments from Mark Stoops last year on his radio show
that Mark Soops almost left. There's certainly a lot going
on right now with the athletic department and a new

(02:32):
basketball coach, like a very very interesting program that we
always find interesting, but I think there's even more intrigue
this season.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, can I tell you why you want it so badly?
For Kentucky, They've had a run of players, especially like
the weird do multiple things players with well Randall Cobb
and Lynn Bowden, Wandale Robinson was used in a bunch
of different ways. And you just have a type tie,
That's what it is I do. And when you see

(03:01):
that school that has that type, And I don't know
if this is true for Ole Miss TCU. You know
different schools that you've fallen in love with that you're
just like, I want you to be everything in my
heart and the best of Kentucky. Oh Will Evis You've
always had a soft spot for us.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
No, I don't no, no, no, don't go there.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
No great.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
I've had Wandale on my fantasy football team for the
last three years now. I'm still waiting for Wandale to
become Wandale that he was at Kentucky may not happen
if Daniel Jones is the quarterback. But nonetheless, yeah, I
guess I do, and I've I've been a fan of
this program. I want this program to kind of turn
into something more. I want to find out today for
Nick what it'll take to get there because times are

(03:39):
different now, the SEC doesn't have the divisions, the playoff
has expanded, It's about to expand again in two seasons.
Like as is the case from many of these teams
that we've done as part of this Will It Ever Happen? Series,
it seems as if that's a turn of good fortune.
There may be fewer roadblocks. The path is wider now
to getting into meaningful postseason action. I hope Kentucky is

(04:02):
one of those teams.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, Kentucky's also one of those.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Just I'm talking historically the last whatever ten fifteen years,
and I'm always willing to be corrected. It seems like
most schools accidentally happened into a really good quarterback for
a stretch, and Will Levis, I wouldn't say it's a stretch.
He had a really good year followed up by a
disappointing year. Part of that on him, part of that
just you know, forces outside of his control. Eight bananas,

(04:27):
weird and Mayo and his coffee and was like the
Will Levis experience at Kentucky was very fun and the
connection he had with Londe Robinson was great. But Kentucky's
one of those schools that just never even accidentally had
a quarterback pop and whether you know, three thousand and
four thousand, whatever yards, the ceiling of Brock Vandergriff is
super interesting to me. The receivers there, the experience along

(04:49):
the offensive line was Tip Trainam is the one who
back who transferred in from Ohio State. At least from
a talent perspective, Vandergriff also has the like externally like
with the belt clip and the hair and everything like that.
He could be that folk hero guy for Kentucky. Once again,
it's just a little bit odd that since I don't

(05:10):
know Jared Lorenzen, whoever it is where they don't have
that like big figurehead quarterback for like an extended stretch,
and like you look across the SEC they've all had that.
You look across the country at major programs, they've all
had like that guy, where like I can't.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
Believe this guy plays bros.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
And I don't you know you look at the Terry
Wilson experience and like there's just Devin Leary last year,
Like Kentucky just can't find that like folk hero, I
can't believe this is our guy for two or three
years kind of situation. And I just for them in
the same way that you do, Like I just want
it to happen.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
I do. I do every year, and it's gonna be
the same this year. Now, the schedule is not exciting
for Kentucky. We can talk about that a little bit
later on. But I think there's a lot of talent
on this team. I need to do the full deep dive.
I'm sure our guest of honor today has done much
more of that than you and I. But lo and behold,
when we get to preview season, you can rest assured

(06:09):
that I will be high on Kentucky every year. So look,
we've got I'm sure a lot of new folks tuning
into this episode. As we have all of the episodes
we've done in this series, hit follow, hit subscribe on
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We have the enthusiasm of a small child when it
comes to college football, so despite the sport's many flaws,

(06:32):
we love it. That's the reason we've been doing this
since two thousand and eight.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I think it's just sex appeal. Could I think that's
what that's what's responsible for our staying power. Could be that,
you know, maybe I'm wrong.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
If you're one of the real ones. If you want
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going out to Verballers dot com, v E R B
A L L E r s dot com. That's our
patreon where you can get ad free episodes, the bonus stuff,
and much much more. Joining us now is Nick Roush
from Kentucky Sports Radio, the absolute gold standard for Kentucky

(07:05):
sports coverage. Nick, Welcome to the show. We're thrilled to
have you.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
Thank you, thank you, happy to be here. We've had
an eventful few months in the Bloygrass for other reasons.
But I'm excited because now Memorial Day hits. We turned
the page to summer, and you know, some people they
say summer radio. It's like, man, this is talking season
is where we thrive. This is right in the wheelhouse.

(07:29):
So only six weeks, I think till SEC Media Days
and then six weeks and then football's here.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
It'll be here before, you.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Know, how do you cover SEC Media Days? Just out
of curiosity, like what's your strategy? Because it's a bunch
of guys at a microphone meetings. It's sort of like
one of the content creator holidays in our little corner
of the universe. What is your approach to that type
of thing?

Speaker 5 (07:53):
It certainly is morphed over the years. When I was
a twenty three year old, I just thought you just
wrote about what I said. But I quickly realized it's
more fun to ask other people what they have to
think about Kentucky. So I just I like to kind
of yuck it up with the other media hacks like myself,
get some takes, speak to those people so you can

(08:13):
get a little bit of both worlds. You know, maybe
you know Benny Snell shows up and makes some headlines
One year. But for the most part it's media days, right,
They're trying to trying to keep it in between the lines,
so you do your normal due diligence. But I enjoy
just talking to other people and then stirring the pot
elsewhere as well, because you know, there's nothing like to

(08:34):
find folks in the volunteer state who when you say
things about them, they really like to what their opinions
be known. So you know, we go back and forth.
It's a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
So we've been doing these episodes now for a couple
of weeks. We're titling them. Will it ever happen? For
Dot Dot Dot? We did Tennessee and Penn State and
Oklahoma State. It of course is relative depending on the program.
Will it ever happen for Kentucky? When I ask you
that question, what does it mean? When are they gonna
get there? What is holding them back from getting there?

Speaker 5 (09:08):
The original it was get to Atlanta and play in
an SEC championship game, which was very close to happening
a couple of times. I mean they in twenty eighteen,
they're hosting Georgia. The winner of that game is going
to Atlanta. So that used to be the it now
in the new edition of the SEC. It's a much

(09:32):
different equation to get there, right when you're just looking
this year. You know, if this was a traditional SEC
media days and I wanted to come in with some takes,
I would say, ooh, Missouri, that's a fun team in
the East to knock off Georgia, And hey, Nick, Saban's gone,
Maybe Ole miss does it.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
In the West.

Speaker 5 (09:48):
You can't. You can't do that anymore, right, And those
those might be three four five, I mean, they might
not even get a crack at Atlanta. So the it
has changed, and oddly enough it is now more attainable,
and that it is the College Football Playoff, So I
think that's the it. And ultimately it's been on the
table before, just in a different fashion, and I think

(10:11):
Kentucky can get there in this new world where you know,
a nine in three SEC team has every bit of
a good of a resume to make it into the
College Rootball Playoff than any other team out there.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
One thing I found interesting, Nick, just in investigating Kentucky
before this conversation, almost every publication seems to have different
questions going into twenty twenty four. And I don't know
if that's good or bad, but it's definitely different. Usually
there's at least some overlap, and I guess in this
case that overlap is the schedule, because there are plenty
of landmines on an SEC schedule. Maybe we can talk

(10:45):
about that. But in terms of position groups, I've seen
concerns about quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line, cornerback,
even the punter. If you had to narrow it down,
what are your questions for this team?

Speaker 5 (11:02):
I love the punter being thrown in there, that that
was an issue, but you know, you can always go
find somebody in the portal, and they did for me.
It it's kind of wame to go back to the quarterback,
but it's such a crapshoot, and when you talk about that,
it in getting to where you want to go to

(11:24):
do things you've never done before. One thing that Mark
Stoops has never done is deploy a three thousand yard passer.
I mean, Will Levis was great, and Wandell Robinson broke
air raid receiving records. Levis uses likes as well. I
mean they still have never had a three thousand yard passer.
There's a lot of uncertainty with offensive coordinator because I

(11:47):
think for on the defensive side of things, they're going
to like those issues can be mitigated. I mean, Dion
Walker is a preseason All American. They had a great
run stuffer already and de Eric Jackson, and they bring
in Jamon Dumas Johnson, who was an All American at
Georgia to play a linebacker. And you know at cornerback
they had a guy who led the SEC in interceptions

(12:08):
last year. They got to break in another new guy.
But that's doable. So I think a lot of this
when you just look at the depth chart and you see, well,
red shirt juniors, red shirt senior super seniors, four out
of five starters returning on the offensive line, of receivers
with a ton of production, there's a lot there. But
that quarterback position is a mystery. Brock Vandergriff he appears to.

(12:35):
It's so hard for Kentucky fans because you thought going
into last year, Devin Leary best player in the one
of the best quarterbacks on the transfer porter Liam cohen
nfl Off, it's courted. I think you've got the right
stuff and that combination didn't work. You think Brock Vandergriff
has the right stuff he's a former five star. He
can run it a little bit better. He can add
the quarterback run game. But how's this marriage with Bush

(12:56):
Hampden who's been solid, but he's only got a very
minimal experience in the SEC. And this schedule is not
for the faint of heart. So I do think the
quarterback running back combo how much like what's the production
going to be? And that's such a kind of a
lame broad cop out, but you know, you get used

(13:16):
a thousand yard rushers in Lexington and then what happens
if you finally got an injury and then you're stuck
playing a freshman you know, or you're you're stuck going
down the line like that. That is the real issue
is can this offense? Can it raise it? Like the
four is high because the defense is good, but how
how big is the ceiling? With Rock Vandergriff and Chip

(13:37):
training from Ohio State at running back?

Speaker 2 (13:39):
I want to pull back for a second just because
there is one name that everything flows through with this
Kentucky football team, and that's Mark Stoops. Mark Stoops had
a chaotic twenty four to forty eight hours following the
Louisville win and I'm just curious how the vibes are within,
you know, the the locker room with in the program,

(14:01):
you know, money, behind the scenes, whatever. When you have
a coach who starts telling people he's leaving, and then
some combination of the school he's leaving for, and perhaps
the coach himself decide maybe not and he's coming back
and he loves everybody, and how could he leave? But
a few hours earlier he was telling people, He's like,

(14:21):
I'm leaving. How does that manifest itself vibes wise with
a program that has an annual uphill battle winning a
bunch of games in a tough conference.

Speaker 5 (14:33):
Oddly enough, it's a very small select few in the
fan base who hold that against him, though I thought
there might be more of that, but you really, you
really didn't get much of it, because he's been through
similar stuff before, never to this extent right where you
were that close and you know you're expecting to wake

(14:54):
up and he's the head coach at Texas A and M.
But that obviously didn't have any and I don't I
don't think the the players it really affected the locker
room that much either, because I mean, this is a
pretty transaction it's it's pretty clearly transactional and the nil
world in the transfer portal world. But what I do

(15:14):
think it's done from a personal level. For Mark Stoops.
I saw him African Kentucky boss at South Carolina and
he was sitting on the stoop.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
No pun intended, No, it was fully intended.

Speaker 4 (15:27):
I could sense that.

Speaker 5 (15:28):
Yeah, but he and he was talking to Eddie Grant,
who's close confident off the field guy, and Stoop just
looked he like beat to hell.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Man like that. That was that.

Speaker 5 (15:40):
That was one of those he never thought in one
hundred thousand years. I know he's on it's on the road,
but like they should have won that football game, and
it took a lot out of him.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
I think.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
That loss, the kind of chaos around it, I think
he had a very hard reset this offseason from a
all right, I tried some other stuff. We tried, you know,
throwing the ball a bunch of go balls to barry
On Brown. We tried to do this pass heavy stuff
like no, we're getting back to hard ass Youngstown football,
blue collar, We're gonna buy you and the trenches. Do

(16:15):
they have the personnel to do all this? But I
don't know. But at least from a mentality and mindset standpoint.
You know, there's a couple of times where they were
showing up to SEC media days and you know, maybe
they thought a little too highly of themselves. I think
this entire offseason since that moment has been about laying low,

(16:36):
having a chip on your shoulders. Let all these guys
not talk about us, let them doubt us, because that's
that's when we're at our best, is when when we
are being doubted, when we are this it's us against
the world mentality. And I think Stoops is trying to
get back to what made him successful when they had
that run with two nine win seasons in four years.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
So what's been behind the sort of instability on offense?
I think if you count Liam Cullen two different tenures,
it's five offensive coordinating ten years in as many years.
And I think a lot of people look at Mark
Stoops as sort of a beacon of stability with how
long he's been at Kentucky, and I imagine not many

(17:15):
people would question that he's the most successful Kentucky football
coach ever. I mean, Bear Bryant go back to like
the fifties or whatever, had a couple big years, but
in the modern era, nobody I don't think has come
close to Mark Stoops. What was behind that sort of
instability and always looking and always you know, trying to
figure out what to change on offense and different transfer quarterbacks?
Like what is it that led to Kentucky's offense being

(17:38):
on such weird ground?

Speaker 1 (17:40):
It is? Uh?

Speaker 5 (17:42):
I mean, Brad White's been the defensive coordinator for I
think this might be year seven, which just you know,
no way of those guys either get another job, like
they get a promotion, or go elsewhere. Vince Marrow, the
associate head coach, is big recruiting guy. He's been there
since day one, but offensive coordinator has like the offense
in general, because it's just it's Stoops's biggest short coming

(18:04):
as a coach. I mean, it just has been. And
he initially tried and it was kind of foisted upon him,
but he went the same route as brother Bob one.
He went with an air Ray guy and Neil Brown,
who you know did well for what he had moved on,
quickly rose up the runks down he was at West Virginia.
But it he just he's he's always struggled finding an

(18:26):
identity they found one when grand was hired to be
the offensive coordinator and they're like, Hey, we're gonna run
the damn ball. This is gonna be us. And then
they just hit a hard ceiling that it wasn't good
enough as a passer. So Soup said, what, how do
I find a guy who can give me just enough
passing to reach the ceiling but still incorporate the run stuff.

(18:47):
And when he hired Liam Cohen, that was all of
the talking points. It was we're marrying the run in
the past, We're going to do pro style. And it
helped them get over this I don't know, misconception is
not the right word, but it helped them get things
right on the recruiting path, and it helped them kind
of find an identity. The problem is is they were

(19:10):
a victim of their own success. They were just a
victim of their own success. Cohen bounces and then you're
kind of stuck in February. Do I get another NFL guy?
How do these guys figure it out? And now Colin
leaves him again. They've built it up to where they
got a guy now in Bush Hampden who he does
the pro style, but he's primarily in college. He only

(19:31):
dabbled in pro style in the NFL for a year,
and they financially kind of locked him in to where
the buyout is so large that now if he can't
afford it, I mean, his contract, it's worth more if
he leaves early than actually he's getting paid. I think
it's a two million dollar buyo and one point seven
just per year. So financially they're trying to walk him in.

(19:53):
And if Hampden is the right guy to find this
right combination, then he might finally get on track. But
that goes back to the biggest question we talked about earlier.
Is this guy the real deal? Can he provide the
answers that this Kentucky offense so desperately needs?

Speaker 2 (20:07):
And so last year you talk about the consistency of
Brad White and the consistency of this defense and producing
NFL level talent. Last year, the defense takes a pretty
major step back. With the benefit of hindsight, with the
benefit of you know, putting everything into context, injuries, talent,

(20:27):
level coaching, opponents. Is this something that Kentucky fans should
be sort of scared of moving forward with. You know,
obviously the offense doesn't hold up its end of the bargain,
which can play a huge role in the defense. Right,
how do you diagnose that step back from last season?

Speaker 5 (20:43):
It's it's difficult and it's one of kind of pet projects.
And the more I dig in, the less answers I get.
I mean, even you know Drew Phillips, dude's a Day
two selection in the NFL draft at one cornerback, the
other corner back like mix Harrison leads the sec in interceptions.
How was the past defense as bad as it is?

(21:05):
Some of it you can just say, hey, you know,
the safety position, they had some good momentum going into
the year. Injuries happen, They're playing a freshman, you know,
like that, that sort of stuff happens. I think the
bigger picture issue is maybe more so of a hey,
they've been playing this sort of style for a while.

(21:28):
Other offenses are catching up to what they were doing,
so I think there's some legit scheme issues that they
have to figure out. But if I'm a Kentucky fan,
I'm not as concerned about it because Brad White is
a smart guy. He's been doing this job for a
long time. He's got a ton of experienced guys and

(21:48):
the biggest.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Issue of them all.

Speaker 5 (21:51):
You know, I think there was a it's hard to
have your most vocal leader be a guy who knows
tackle and Dian Walker who will play some three tech
and you know, he does a bunch of different stuff,
but you really need that to be an inside linebacker
and Pop Doomis Johnson.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
That dude looks thirty five.

Speaker 5 (22:10):
He he, He commands a room when he comes into it.
That's that's going to be invaluable. Having that experience there,
playing in national championship games like that, that's going to
be invaluable. So you know, it's definitely going to be
a talking point that we got to address. But I
ultimately I do think that that Brad White can figure out,

(22:32):
We'll figure it out. But I don't think he's going
to be able to figure out Tennessee because that's that's
that isn't one opponent where they just can't can't seem
to figure out, much to the chagrin of Kentucky football fans.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
Nick, let me go back for a second to Brock
vandergriff mm hmm. Stop me if this is too personal
a question, but I just have to ask it, ask away.
I get the sense from watching your content that you
are equally as excited about Brock Vandergriff as Dan and
I are, but maybe a bit tentative about going all
in given the Devin Leary thing didn't really go as expected.

(23:07):
Is that a fair assessment of where you stand on
Brock Vandergriff, Okay.

Speaker 5 (23:12):
I mean from the belt clip with the cell phone
on it to the hunting pictures. I did find it
odd that he got rid of the flow, but apparently
it was because he respects David Cutcliffe, and David Cutcliffe said,
if you want to be a winning SEC quarterback, you can't.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Have hair like that. He's he's a coachable guy.

Speaker 5 (23:33):
I have nothing else. I am very excited about it,
and it sounds so that they weren't showing us a
ton this spring, right Like, I don't know how accurate
he is throwing the ball deep down the field, but
I do know that he's been very coachable. He grew
up in an environment where his dad's coaching, and so

(23:56):
I think all of this is kind of set up
where he has all the tools, and the biggest one
is just having that quarterback run game we're third and five,
all of else fails just go move the sticks and
let de fight another day. Whereas last year Kentucky was
just incredibly boom or bust. Their explosive play rate was
off the charts, but from a down to down distance
and efficiency standpoint, they were playing in third on eleven

(24:19):
all the time. And that's just you're playing with dynamite, right.
So I think Kentucky's going to be a lot more
efficient with Brock Vandergriff under center, and a lot of
it just comes down to that's a big dude who
can run well and that can really really aggravate opposing defenses.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
It sounds like we've got another Vandergrifter, Dan, That's what
it sounds like to me, We've got another Vanda Grifter
here on the solid verbal, we appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (24:43):
It sounds like Nick is ready to be hurt again.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
That's what.

Speaker 5 (24:46):
Oh that's college football, baby, that's me a Kentucky football fan.

Speaker 4 (24:51):
No doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Does he have the receivers to help support him though
in the passing game, Dan and I did kind of
a deep dive on Kentucky football last season at some
point around the midway mark, and you know, I want
to say it was drops I want to say it
just it kind of had the hallmark of a receiving
corps that was still a little bit green and trying
to figure itself out where do things stand on that front.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
It was a case of the sophomore slumps. I don't
think there's any any doubt about that now. And part
of it too is they had a former quarterback coaching
the receivers. They bring in a guy and die Kill
Shorts who was all time great at West Virginia. Only
been in the coaching game for four or five years,
so a little bit more relatable, a little bit more

(25:36):
of a straight shooter, kind of hard I don't want
to say hard liner, but not going to beat around
the bush like, hey, this is how you have to
do it, or you're not going to get paid. That's ultimately,
money is a hell of a motivator. And Dame Key
and Barryon Brown, those guys set UK receiving and reception records,
freshman records. They take a step back now. They got

(25:59):
to go make their money right. They don't want to
be in school for another year. They want to catch
those nil checks and then they want to catch NFL checks.
On Sunday, they got to prove it this year, and
they got another guy with him and Jamory Macklin, who
he had a crazy explosive play rate last year at
North Texas. He's a little bit of experience in the SEC.
But it's it's three guys who want to be playing

(26:21):
on Sundays next year that don't that don't want to
be back in college football. I think that will serve
as motivation to make sure that they're holding on the balls,
that they don't have one of the worst drop rates
in the Southeastern Conference.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
Back to Stoops for a second, if I could. There,
there was an exchange, and I'm sure you remember it
better than me, an exchange on his radio show back
in October where a distruntled fan called in, Right, you
know exactly what I'm talking about. A fan calls in
and Stoops voices, I don't think it's wrong. The called frustration.
He says, Hey, if you're disgruntled, I'm paraphrasing, if you're disgruntled,

(26:57):
we can buy players. Now, pony up the cat, give
it to our collective. That's how you can help the program,
which at the time I remember saying to Dan was
like a brilliant marketing pitch because what fan wants to
feel like they're being left behind? That maybe work, maybe
didn't it? Also, I think raised the question at least
in our minds of Hey, does Mark Stoops feel this
way too? Does he feel like Kentucky is being left

(27:19):
behind on the NAL front. I'm curious what the status
is of Kentucky with the money on that side of things,
with so much competition elsewhere in the SEC, how does
Kentucky stand right now?

Speaker 5 (27:31):
It's good enough, I mean, it's never good enough. They
always want more money. But John Legend is the uncle
of Anthony Brown Stevens, who would be wide receiver four
or five, and they got him in for a concert.
The biggest NILL donors get to go. They're doing the
things that big SEC programs have to do to just

(27:51):
be competitive. And when you see how they're able to
get players in the transfer portal, Jerald Minci, an offensive
tackle from Tennessee. That guy's not cheap. Jamon Dumas Johnson,
that guy's not cheap. Rock Vandergrift. Those guys aren't cheap,
so they're competitive enough. I think his frustration is less
about NIL And you know, maybe where Kentucky stands in

(28:14):
there and is probably more so with just the player's
approach to things, right were you know, they kind of
had some they were really leaning into the mercenaries to
be the culture guys, and that culture wasn't.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
There last year.

Speaker 5 (28:28):
And oddly enough, it had the I mean this, I'm
telling you guys, the pony up thing did exponentially more
damage than the A and M thing. I mean, pony up.
At any time something bad happens, pony up gets brought up.
I mean, I'm not like that. It's one of those
things that some people just the cavalier mindset. For many people,

(28:52):
Stoops was the most relatable millionaire they knew, right, He's
this hard working Youngstown guy. That was the first time
where he was kind of like, you know, cal Perry
a little bit where it's like, hey, if you don't
like it, well, pony up. And to have this wealthy
coach who's underperforming for the second straight year tell you
that you need to spend more money for him to

(29:14):
have success. So not a good marketing pitch really rubbed
people the wrong way, even though it's true and a
lot of people were like, yeah, that's that's how this works.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
Now it just it it.

Speaker 5 (29:26):
It ticked people off, and I have a feeling we're
not going to hear the last of it.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
What is on that topic? What is the feeling about
Mark Stoops long term in Lexington? I, you know, Steve
Spurriyer has talked about, you know, once you get to
about a decade, then it's it's really tough to sustain
a certain amount of focus, a certain amount of enthusiasm.
Mark Stoops has now been there a little over a
decade in Lexington. Does it seem like a forever job?

(29:50):
Does it seem like he is hitting a frustrating wall?
Not just isolated to the pony up incident, but is
there an energy question with with Mark Stoops? And you know,
giving everything he has still to the Kentucky program.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
So I'm trying to work shot this take, but I'm
kind of stuck in the middle of let's do this
work shopping together because on one side of my brain,
I go through the depth chart. A lot of Red
Shirt sophomores, a lot of Red Shirt excuse me, a
lot of Red Shirt senior super seniors gym yeah, a
lot of old guys. They lead the SEC in returning production.
He did this little dance, and I think more importantly,

(30:26):
he's fifty six, which I believe is the same age
that Bob was when Bob kind of surprisingly retired. Maybe
maybe maybe this is the He's trying to tee things
up for the next guy to have success, and he
wants to go out with one more bang. But then,
on the other hand, if you're willing to go to
Texas A and M, you want to be in this

(30:47):
for five more years at least, right, So I'm struggling
on which which is it the devil or the angel?
Is the potential jump to a and m over of
a sign.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
And he's he's he's.

Speaker 5 (30:59):
Got some more fuel and fire to try to give
it one more go. Or is this a let's just
have our house in order so that I can I
can unload this, I can make money off my bourbon company.
I can retire happily as the winningest coach ever in Lexington.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
I'm struggling with this one. Guys.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
Well, well forgive me for asking the same question I
think for the ten thousandth time within Kentucky football, But like,
what is the status of oxygen in the Kentucky Athletic
department With John Calipari gone, and obviously so much focus,
an overwhelming amount of focus is going to be on
Rump and you have this Kentucky football program that is

(31:40):
outperforming modern history with Mark Stoops. Calipari is gone, so
there's the force of personality, All of the oxygen with
that tenure is gone. Is that an opportunity for football?
Is their like renewed interest in basketball because of you know,
a new face running things after so much frustration. What
is the dynamic like after that back and forth? Now

(32:03):
that Mark Stoops has sort of won that war for
attention for the time being.

Speaker 5 (32:08):
Well, and when he's trying to keep a low profile
of this offseason, it certainly helps that people aren't like,
why isn't Stoops doing any interviews? It's like, well, nobody
cares because they're one to earn who Mark Pope's going
to get next. So in the immediate it helps them
in that regard. But I think there was certainly some
exhaling knowing that, Okay, yes, we know that basketball is

(32:33):
always going to be a big deal here, but we're
not We're not in this ongoing battle over personality. So yeah,
Stoops is a big guy on campus right now. Mark
Pope has to prove it and at least from a
who is in the right ears financially, from boosters to administration.

(32:55):
The football team sitting pretty comfortably, sitting pretty comfortably right now.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
But it was.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
But when they had that John Legend concert and Mark
Pope shows up to kind of say hah and be nice,
and you're having the football coach and the basketball coach
take a picture together, it's like, well.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
You won't find many of the last two sitting together.

Speaker 5 (33:15):
I think you had to go back to twenty seventeen
to find one of those. So it's different. It's it's
certainly different.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
So obviously something Calipari knows and obviously all Kentucky fans
know who pay attention to any sport is you're kind
of only as good as the talent you bring in.
The football team has succeeded in some respects and bringing
in talent via the portal, and I think in some
years out recruit expectations football wise under Mark Stoops. What
is the state of recruiting and the portal has obviously

(33:44):
been pretty kind at football wise, What is the status
of high school recruiting for Mark Stoops in Kentucky and
is that a show of anything positive or negative for
the near term.

Speaker 5 (33:53):
You know, I don't think it's you're coaching until you
you don't have your job anymore. Like that's part of
the job. You're going to keep recruiting until they tell
you not to. But Soups has done well in this
cycle in particular where the last few we've seen the
calendar kind of move up, where June is becoming so
much more important, and the last two years it would

(34:14):
be July fourth, and you're like, hey, a lot of
these guys have fifteen commitments, twenty commitments already, We're all
all of our guys. They're ahead of schedule.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Now.

Speaker 5 (34:23):
Martell's Carter top ranked player in the state in some sites.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
He committed over the weekend.

Speaker 5 (34:29):
Four star guy, third four star he joined pas Davis,
a top two hundred player from I believe Cleveland, if
I'm not mistaken, who was Kentucky, Michigan Ohio State Kentucky.
That's a big recruiting win for them. They got a
four star receiver from Ohio. So when the state of
Ohio has good players, that works well for Vince Marrow.

(34:49):
He earns that one point two million by getting those guys,
and then the state of Kentucky's got I mean, they've
struggled to recruit quarterbacks. Well, they got a four star
that came out last year in Cutter Bowie. So I
think it's all in all, Like, getting top fifteen classes
is just not going to happen here, but they're consistently

(35:10):
getting top twenty five classes. Talent acquisition has not it's
not an issue for this program currently.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
So it's sort of full circle. And when you look
at what Kentucky has going for it and you look
around the SEC, who does Kentucky currently measure itself against?
Who is the the aspirational program that Kentucky said, you know,
if we can get to wear Ole Misses, if we
can get to where Tennessee is, just in terms of
whatever it is Kentucky consistency, quality, firepower, recruiting, whatever, Like,

(35:41):
what is that next rung? It's not Georgia. What is
the next rung for Kentucky to hit?

Speaker 5 (35:48):
A big reason why last year stung so much from
many Kentucky fans is they watched Missouri do what we
expected Kentucky to do the previous year. Yeah, where the
schedules there, They're seventh in the country. They get under
Sooner to throw the game winning touchdown to Barryon Brown,
they got a penalty right, and then things unravel from
that point forward. That that type of season for Missouri

(36:13):
where you're you're kind of middling, but then you have
those big flashes where you can go to a New
Year six game and I think, you know, kind of
lead this whole thing off.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
You can go to a college football playoff.

Speaker 5 (36:22):
Now, that's where Kentucky wants to get, that's where they're
aspiring to be. But there they've been stuffing their toe
against the Missouri's and the South Carolinas of the world.
How Kentucky was able to get to that plateau of
eight nine wins the season here and there it was
beating Missouri, beating South Carolina, beating Vanderbilt regularly. Now, I

(36:46):
know it's different equations without divisions and the schedules different,
but having that plateau, I think it's like you said,
you're not you can't really become the next Georgia. But
to your point, like Ole mess and Lane, I mean,
I don't think we're expecting Old miss to be national
championship contenders, but they're regular they're gonna be regular playoff contenders.

(37:08):
I don't know if regular playoff contender is there, but
that one off every three years or so. We've got
a little taste of it as Kentucky fans, and I
think the big fear is that you would have had
all of this success in the Mark Stoops era, but
without that ultimate payoff. The Citrus Bowls are great, but
it's not the same as New Year six college football playoffs.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
So to you, is it moments? Is that what Kentucky
just needs to win more of that? Yes, if if
I were to tell you that Kentucky is forty percent
better in you know, Keith downs in the red zone,
that even though they're not overwhelming, even though it's not
a top ten national offense, that if they're winning four
of ten moments more often, then I don't know if

(37:52):
that math checks out. I might have just said something
that makes no sense, ty, but.

Speaker 5 (37:55):
You know what I you know what I'm saying, Rwand
to do the math for you and then write in
to tell you.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Whatever the current rate of big moments success is, you
up that by about forty percent. You think that complex
I mean that'll change the complexion for most teams but
you think that's what it comes down to for Kentucky.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
It's it's one hundred percent of it. If you look
at the seven and six seasons in the last two years,
they're two and six in sec home games. You gotta
win at home, right like you and you can't make
mistakes at an inn end of game situations like they
did against Clemson in the bowl game, like they did
against Tennessee at South Carolina in that game that wiped

(38:34):
out stoops. They've got the ball inside the fifty yard
line with a minute twenty left, Just go win the game.
Don't throw an interception on the very first net like.
That's just it's those sort of mistakes, the lack of
execution down the stretch, situational football.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
I mean e.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
When you're Kentucky, you're playing with a thin margin of error,
so you cannot have self inflict and mistakes. And they've
just they've had way too many of those in recent years.
And a lot of it is just as simple as executing.
When you got the hand right, you get dealt a
pretty good hand, like don't blow this, play your cards right,

(39:11):
win the hand and live to tell, lived to die
another day.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Yeah, the joke time, and I make is like your
team either it has or doesn't have excelsior right a
series of plays in the last four minutes that your
team is crazy confident in running and executing correctly. And
you watch teams that have that moment and are just
they don't have an excelsior to turn to. And it
does seem like there are always going to be those

(39:35):
seven to eight teams in any given conference. There's like, well,
they didn't have a plan there at all. And that
does feel like where Kentucky's been, I mean.

Speaker 5 (39:41):
Last year in Missouri, they don't they are what they
are if MeVis doesn't make that kick, if the thicker
kicker doesn't just bail out, drink and hit a sixty
one yarder, and you need some a little bit of luck.
But also some of it is just being ready for
that moment. Kentucky's just been too swappy. And that's why
I go back and you ask about talent acquisition. Now

(40:03):
it's on the coaches, right, like you've got the roster,
you've got the players, they're I don't think fans are
going to be blaming them if they come up short.
It's all following on the coaches shoulders this year, and
that's that goes back to the kind of longevity with
Stoops thing. This will be the first time in a
while that he's not going to have as much rope
from the fan base, the benefit of the doubt. It

(40:24):
hasn't completely eroded, but people are going to be much
quicker to point the finger at him this fall when
things don't go according to plan.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
So full circle, if this season is simulated a hundred
times in how many of those simulations are you leaving
the season saying the coach has figured it out?

Speaker 5 (40:44):
Seventy seventy three of them? Okay, seventy I'm pretty confident
that this is going to be a quality Kentucky football team.
That's a hard out and you know, if things go
according to plan, I can see the college football playoff
rankings come out. There's two weeks left in the season

(41:05):
and Kentucky's a top twenty five team going down to
Texas and people are saying, Texas, it's at the SEC
is there for the taking, but they can't mess slip
up against Kentucky, right, And so you have a potential
it'll probably be an eight and four season, where or
eight and four, seven, and five where they beat a
team that they shouldn't and maybe it's an Ole miss

(41:26):
on the road. But then they slip up and stub
their toe against a team that they shouldn't lose to,
and that maybe that's an Auburn at home that week
two game though against South Carolina. That's that's that's the
season right there, if you want to get where you
want to go. They're breaking in a new quarterback who's
in his second year, is a primarily running guy. You're
at home three point thirty kickoff. You've lost two in

(41:47):
a row to Shane Beemer. I can't stand that guy.
Meani Kentucky fans cannot stand that guy. When he did
the sunglasses, Yeah, just rubbed our nose in it. I mean, no,
you got to win that game. There's there's no excuses.
So if you win that game, then it opens up
pathways where you know, if you lose some of those
games on the road. When you lose a Georgia at home,

(42:08):
people aren't going to be too mad. They'll think you've
got it figured out. As long as you go and
beat one of those teams you shouldn't. Maybe at Tennessee.
That's that's been so elusive for Stoops throughout his tenure.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
And if you want to beat South Carolina, you know
what you have to do. Pony up, you always honey
up up. I'm just that's what I heard. That's what
I've been working. Okay, final question in the next five years,
this is a yes and an easy yes no question. Well,
it might not be easy, but it's there are only
two answers here. Do we get a shot of Kentucky

(42:40):
learning that they are one of twelve or four teams
to make the College Football Playoff and one of those
live ESPN shots in like a cafeteria.

Speaker 5 (42:50):
Yes, couches will burn. It will be a glorious moment.
And I think my path to it is Stoops retires
and three years John Sumrall, who's former player won two
Sun Belts at Troy now he's at Tulane.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
Really goes well enough there.

Speaker 5 (43:09):
They bring him home, they keep things relatively simple, yep,
and he brings a lot of pop right away. And
that's how Kentucky gets there. In twenty thirty, twenty twenty nine,
twenty twenty nine, they'll be the fourteen seed traveling to
Oregon in the first round of the College with John Sumral.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
So it might not happen for Mark Stoops, but it
will happen for Kentucky.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
It's in our future, and it's going to be a glorious,
surreal experience for Kentucky football fans that suffered through so
many two win seasons that we've seen some stuff. We've
seen some stuff. We've We've been kicked by Steve Spurrier,
by Phil Fullmer, Kirby Smart. Our time to shine is
right around the corner.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Ty.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
I am writing this down May twenty ninth, twenty twenty four.
We will go back in twenty twenty nine and review
this episode as we are all enslaved by AI robots
of the future.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
But I will still have the receipts.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
We'll still have the receipts to show our artificial intelligence
overlords that Nick new way back when Nick Roush Kentucky
Sports Radio. Thank you so much for all of your time,
and please follow him, please listen to him for all
things Kentucky sports.

Speaker 5 (44:20):
It's been a pleasure being on the solid verbal guys.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
All right, one more time, Nick Roush, check him out
across really anywhere on the Internet. Kentucky Sports Radio is
out there.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
Man.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
They've been fighting the good fight since like two thousand
and five. They predate our podcast, and as I said
at the top, they are the gold standard for all
things Kentucky. They do an awesome job and Nick is
of course included on that staff. We're privileged to have
him on the show. Mark Stoops is getting nine million
a year, Yes he is. Did not mention that in

(44:54):
our talk with Nick, but nine million dollars a year.
He took over a program that was not very good.
I think he has brought an element of stability to Lexington,
which is definitely the secret sauce. In this day and
age of college football. You need stability. If you don't
have it, it's not going to work long term.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
That's your using my theory.

Speaker 3 (45:13):
I am no. I think your theory is correct.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
The secret sauces stability.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
Where it needs to go next is, as Nick described,
win some of those moments feel a little bit more
efficient on offense. Despite all of Stoops's success, two to
ten wins seasons in the decade plus that he's been
in Lexington and now back to back six loss seasons,

(45:38):
something's got to change. Something's got to change in this
era where you don't have the divisions, where the path
into the playoff is a little bit wider, just a
few of those rough edges sand those off, make things
run a little bit more smoothly. And then we're talking
now the schedule. I can talk through the schedule if
you want. The schedule is always going to make that
a bit of an uphill fight. But it seems to me,

(46:01):
after this conversation with Nick, that some of the stuff
with Kentucky that needs to change is fairly obvious.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
So it's interesting Kentucky and we talked about this a
little bit, like five different offensive coordinating tenures. That's kind
of sort of like a weird, stretchy way that I
put it with, you know, separate Liam Cohen tenures. And
I thought it was a little bit conflicting when he
mentioned and this isn't like saying something about Nick that
he's not here to defend when he's talking about like

(46:28):
the the dual threat upside of Brock Vandergriff. But also
Mark Stoops wants to get back to just like bruising
running in what worked before, And that gives me some
pause when a defensive head coach is like, I want
to get back to how my offense existeds who serve
the defense and control clock and anytime we hear that,

(46:49):
and it's worked for some teams when that's like the
core ideology, and we saw Jim Harbass sort of get
back to that at Michigan. But I think with the
talent level and the Kentucky's had very good offensive lines,
don't get me wrong, but an overall talent level at
quarterback and running back, I don't think Kentucky has always had.
That's concerning to me that there might be this sort

(47:09):
of conflicting vision that like, well, you're not really taking
advantage of Brock Vandergriff's strengths and you're going back to
like serving the defense and like, why are we losing
this game twenty to seventeen every week? That that gives
me a little bit of you know, your favorite pet
charity cause for pause. So curious to see how Bush
Hampden plays a role good with Boise for the most

(47:30):
part last year as a Chris Peterson as coach, with
like I think Sark as well, Miszoo kind of immediately
got better when they moved on from him to Kirby
Moore as did kind of that entire offense, and so
I'm I am curious about what the marriage looks like
on offense for Kentucky because that's the whole thing. That's

(47:51):
when you have those end of game issues. That's when
you have sort of confusion with two and a half
minutes left. And so if they're if they're aligned offensively
this year and the defense improves, which I think it will,
they have that chance to be utah ish in the SEC.
If you're flawed, Kentucky will beat you. If you're pretty good,
Kentucky might beat you. If you're excellent, Kentucky's going to

(48:13):
give you fits.

Speaker 4 (48:14):
That I think is the ceiling right now for Kentucky.
It's a good ceiling.

Speaker 3 (48:18):
There are five very losable games in this schedule that's tough.
They include Georgia, who they play third week of the
season at home in Lexington, which is good, but it's
still Georgia on the road to close out September against
Old Miss. In the month of November, there's a road
game at Tennessee. There's a road game at DKR against Texas,

(48:41):
and then they close out the year back home for
the Governor's Cup against Louisville. That does not include games
against South Carolina, who he mentioned in the interview they've
lost their last two. Does not include a road tilt
in the swamp middle of October. Don't know what version
of Florida we're going to find, middle of October. Tough
place to play, loud, place to play Auburn. I think

(49:03):
Auburn should be improved this season. And that's a game
maybe in a look ahead spot a week before that
Tennessee road tilt that I mentioned earlier. So this is
not easy by any stretch of the imagination. As Nick said,
you got to try and win as many of these
home games as you can because the home road splits
right now at time of recording in late May do

(49:23):
not look promising.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
And I just assume they're playing an incredibly tough non
conference schedule like Kentucky. Ohay, I can't get through that sentence.

Speaker 3 (49:31):
Sother miss Ohio State, Murray State, Yeah, and Louisville, right,
they always have that.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
But yeah, that's sort of Kentucky's mo to be like
the modern day old early Briles Baylor, where it's just
like they're playing a school called what Kentucky typically does
not schedule in that way, which I guess you know,
if you're gonna get to eight.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
And whatever, this is a tough This is a tough
slate one way or another.

Speaker 2 (49:56):
And the SEC only gets more difficult with Oklahoma Texas.
They don't have Oklahoma the right they do not know
they have Texas in Austin, which should be very difficult
near the end of the year. One of the more
watchable programs because when you lose in entertaining ways, you
keep watching.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
I guess you keep watching. And also when I'll close
on this, yeah, especially in this new era of college football,
where again top twelve get into the playoff, a lot
more is decided on the margins. We've had this instance.
Maybe last year is a bad example, but we've had
this instance more often than not when it comes to

(50:32):
talking about the playoff, where it's pretty cut and dry
who those top four are going to be. There's not
a whole lot of wiggle room at the top. We
sort of know going into the weekend, and especially after
the games have been played, who's getting in and who isn't.
But now while we're talking about twelve teams, Kentucky, Kentucky,
which finds itself in that position to be a pain

(50:53):
in the ass worst case scenario. At pain in the
ass best case scenario, a team that can knock you off.
Teams like Kentucky are the ones that I think hold
many other futures yeah in their grasp, and so that
will make them even more interesting than they've been. I'm
always interested in Kentucky. You know what I said at
the top, I'm gonna fully commit to the bit here.

(51:15):
I'm certain of it. In July on we do the
SEC preview.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
They're one of the all time under Mark Stoops Kentucky.
I never thought about this until actually Nick was talking
about it. They're a great all time cut in team
Oh cut Entucky big right where Kevin Na Gandhi starts
with weird finish in the Kentucky Blobbity Blah game. Kentucky
all time Na Gandhi squad. That's their identity right now.

(51:42):
Weird finish in the Kentucky Miszoo game, which there always is,
by the way, weird finish in Kentucky South Carolina, weird
finish Kentucky Florida. They're an all time cut in Hall
of Fame program.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
Who are some other Nagandhi teams.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
That's a grawled Gandhi's That'll be our award show at
the end of the year. I don't even know if
Kevin de Gandhi does cut ins anymore. Whoever, it used
to be like Cassidy Hubberth, who are the all time
weird finish teams? Okay, missoo for a stretch. Even last year,
Miszoo had some weird like the end of the LSU game,
the end of the Kansas State game where like, let's
go real quick to Columbia. Weird finish in the Miszou game.

(52:18):
Maybe perdue on a certain level with some of those.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
Upsets, perdue being the spoiler makers. Yeah, yeah, I mean
they definitely fall into that category. I feel like we
have one or two Northwestern related games a year where
it's just like it's not necessarily a cut in weird
score at halftime, a weird halftime score where you see
it on the bottom line and wonder like, hmm, that's interesting.

(52:42):
Northwestern giving Penn State all it can handle in Evanston. Yeah,
and then Penn s win's forty two to fourteen, but
it's ten to nine or something at halftime. Yeah, Yeah,
Northwestern fits that Florida State the past few years has
played down to a bunch of teams, even though last
year was a super successful year. Dude, we gotta throw
Syracuse in here, right.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Syracuse Syracuse's fall time cut in team Oregon State.

Speaker 4 (53:06):
I would add.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
Syracuse Oregon State of in the Gandhi teams since the jump,
even since before Kevin Na Gandhi got to ESPN, they
feel like they're always those kind of teams where they
find because it's a weird place to play or who
knows what, they're always kind of lurking.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah, I think it's actually a lot of the teams
we've talked about in this series, not to plug our
own show. On our own show, we'll do a Hooma
State with Spencer Sanders weird ending in stillwater. Like I
just I think that's what has kind of kept a
lot of these teams away from actually happening, is the
inability to close what do we call them the Peter

(53:42):
North teams, just you don't have that powerful finish. And
so yeah, we're we're actually dealing with in the Gandhi
series right now, is what we're doing.

Speaker 3 (53:51):
Yeah, all right, Well, big thanks to Nick Rausch again,
from Kentucky Sports Radio does an awesome job covering all
things Kentucky sports. Obviously quite now coledgeible. We'll bring him
back on at some point in the future to get
his take on where things stand with the Wildcats. In
the meantime, make sure you hit follow, make sure you
hit subscribe. Wherever it is you're finding us now, be
it on any of your podcasting apps or YouTube, you

(54:13):
name it, hit the button so that you don't miss
any of our stuff. We are going strong twice a
week through most of the offseason. At some point in
July we'll flip it over to three a week as
we get closer to the start of the year. We
of course, have much more to discuss over the next
few episodes, not the least of which is college football,
the structure of which changing fairly rapidly given perhaps an

(54:37):
agreement between the power conferences and the NCAA and the
students and the student athletes. And there's a lot to
talk about on that front. We've got details that are
coming out hot and heavy about the upcoming video game
that I know a lot of people are excited about.
So leisure Suit Larry is leisure sularry of course, yeah,
the new era. Yeah, this has not been an off

(54:57):
season void of content. As we get into June here,
we're gonna see things pick up. I've been saying that
for a while, So I'm gonna I'm gonna message Kevin
Na Gandhi real quick to.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Come on the show.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
Message Kevin, see if you get him one. All right, big,
thanks again, Nick, Big, Thanks again to our overbawler hood
out there. Check us out by hitting follower, subscribe or
of course going to overbowlers dot com for our bonus
content and ad free episodes. For that guy over there,
my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hilden Brandt.
Thank you for downloading, for listening, for supporting the talk

(55:29):
Yelso stay saft, Peace,

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