2025-04-25 LEACH REPORT

Dick Gabriel talks with Tony Neely, Keith Madison, and Van Hiles.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
How does it feel to trade Kentucky blue in for
Buffalo blue Man?

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I can't believe it's going on right now.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
I also thankful.

Speaker 4 (00:07):
I'm so blessed man.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
I'm so happy to hear my name Klaus Trulia, Dream CLINCHU.

Speaker 5 (00:12):
I give all thanks to God and your family.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
You love them so much, you are wearing them with
your heart and soul. Tonight, show us your jack everywhere,
They with me everywhere I go.

Speaker 6 (00:21):
I love my family, man, my biggest support system.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Congratulations, and Western New York's gonna love you.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Let's get to work, Buffalo.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
That was the moment last night for an exuberant Maxwell Harriston,
the Kentucky defensive back who now joins Ray Davis with
the Buffalo Bills. So BBN's got another reason to root
for the team in Western New York.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Good morning, everybody.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Dick Gabrieline for the Voice on the Leech Report presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. Tom is doing some pre Kentucky Derby work.
So happy to sit in on what is becoming a
nasty day here in the Bluegrass. But there will be
Fingerscrow baseball tonight. We're gonna talk this morning. Get a
little preview of the Kentucky South Carolina series with the

(01:06):
Hall of Fame coach Keith Madison.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
He'll be working alongside Darren Headrick on the radio call.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Tony Neely of UK Athletics will talk with us about
the brand opening, the reopening, if you will, of Memorial
Coliseum that happens this weekend, and we will talk with
Van Hiles, another former Kentucky defensive back who knows what
it's like to play and be drafted into the National
Football League. So we'll get Van's thoughts on Maxwell Harriston

(01:34):
and his future, which.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
Certainly is bright.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Wild Cat News of the Day as always presented by
Giuseppes of Lexington.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
As I've said.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Many times when my wife and I get back from Italy,
and I've actually done this twice, what they tell you about.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
The food in Italy is absolutely the fact.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
When we got back we were so jonesing for really
good Italian food.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
We went straight to Duceppees. We used to drive through a.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
Window quite a bit, but if you want to go
in and sit down, it is a great, great experience.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
Well, Harston becomes.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
The twenty ninth player drafted under head coach Mark Stoops
at Kentucky. Twenty five of them drafted since twenty eighteen
tells you obviously a lot about the talent level on
how it's grown since Stoop's got here. Overall, in the
history of UK football, he is the nineteenth player selected
in the first round in UK history, the fourth in

(02:27):
the Mark Stoops era. In Mark Stoop's office, now I've
been in there for a while, but I believe it's
still there. There's a mural on the wall behind his
desk of all of his first round draft picks. So
Maxwell Harriston's image will be added soon.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
I'm sure.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
The other three, of course, you can probably name them
if you sit down and think about it, Josh Heinz Allen,
Bud Dupree and Jamon Davis, who was the most recent
in twenty twenty one. But get this, Harriston is the
first defensive back in UK history taken in the first round.

(03:05):
Now there's an asterisk with that, because some of you
of a vintage age remember that, or if you've studied
UK football history. Roger Byrd, a defensive back, was chosen
by Oakland in nineteen sixty six in the first round.
That was the last American Football League draft before the

(03:26):
two leagues merged and the merger began. It took root
in nineteen sixty seven, so technically Roger Bird was a
d back chosen in the first round by the Raiders,
but they were still in the AFL. And by the way,
here's a little side note for you. This will not
be on the quiz. When they signed the papers to

(03:48):
merge the AFL in the NFL, the final merger, they
signed the papers at a restaurant called.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
Shay Vito.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Ch Z and then Vito on East sixtieth in Park
in New York City. And I know all of this
because my cousin at the time was married to the
man who owned the restaurant, and when he died, she
ended up inheriting the restaurant.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
I told I read this and Sports.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Illustrated, and the next time I saw her, I excitedly
told her said hey. She kind of went yeah, okay,
you know, didn't mean anything to her herb, but I
thought it was pretty cool. UKs had a defensive back
draft and in three straight NFL drafts. Now you got Maxwell,
You've got Andrew Phillips. Remember last year he was taken
in the third round by the New York Giants, And
I'm told by Aaron Gershaan like Caspall, who was a

(04:37):
big Giants fan, they really like him up there. And
my beloved Green Bay Packers took Carrington Valentine in the
seventh round.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
Back in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
And trust me, we in Packer Nation we like Carrington
Valentine too. And before we hit the break, a major
shoutout to Green Bay. What a job that town did
and that team did in the NFL of putting that
night together.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
And I heard I think Roger Goodell said this.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
There were or no, it might have been Mark Murphy,
the president of the Packers. One hundred and twenty thousand
estimated people at the draft last night. There was only
one hundred and seventy thousand in the entire town. But
of course there were people who came literally from all
over the world to be there last night.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
Every team had fans there, of course.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
But it did my heart good to see all those cheese,
has no question about that. All Right, when we come back,
we'll talk baseball with Keith Madison, the Hall of Fame coach.
That's all I had right here on the Leach Report. Well,
we are trying to contact Keith Madison. We have swapped
text this morning, so maybe a phone line issue, but
until we hear from the coach, I will give you

(05:48):
a little bit more information. We're gonna do what we
see in the business. We fill by the way, Mark
Stoops has recruited and developed fourteen first round draft picks
since twenty oh one. That, of course is much of
his coaching career, most of his coaching career, a lot
of different stops.

Speaker 4 (06:05):
But yeah, like I.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
Said, the talent level of Kentucky certainly going up. And
when people ask me from around the SEC, how have
they done it at Kentucky, I immediately say, better players
they brought. And this is not a slight to anybody
who played here in the past, but they've just gone
out and recruited. Well, if you're going to beat the best,

(06:27):
obviously you've got to go out and get kids you
can compete at that level, and he and Vince Marrow
and others have gone out and done it. The seven
d backs that Stoops has had drafted as the head
coach at Kentucky, think about these guys and think about
the plays they have made. Lonnie Johnson second round, Houston,
Texas no, he could now jump dk metcalf at the

(06:50):
end of the Kentucky Ole Miss game, but certainly an
NFL caliber player. Mike Edwards two Super Bowl rings, one
with Kansas City, one with Tampa. Calvin Joseph with the
Cowboys or drafted by the Cowboys in the second round.
Brandon Eckles at JUCO made an immediate impact, taken in

(07:11):
the sixth round by the Jets. I mentioned Valentine, mentioned
Andrew Phillips, and now Maxwell Harriston. Sorry, Shandon, did you
say we have coach? All right, let's bring in the coach.
Keith Madison, Good morning, coach.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
Hey, good morning, Dick Callery this morning.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
I'm good coach. We're a little wet over here in Lexington.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
I'm sure it's raining on your end of the of
Central Kentucky as well. South Carolina comes to town. You're
going to be in this weekend to help Darren with
the radio called. Paul mcnery comes out of retirement and
what a story career he had at LSU and now
is coaching the game Cocks. They've been up and down this.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
Year, but I got a feeling that Va, you and
I have talked about this.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
South Carolina has always been a sleeping giant and a
lot of sports. They've been incredibly successful at baseball in
the past.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
That's a pretty good fit, isn't it.

Speaker 5 (08:04):
I think it's a great sit. First of all, the
athletic director, Ray Tanner is the former baseball coach that
led South Carolina to multiple World Series championships. They actually
won the last team played in Rosenblatt and then they
won the first game played in the new stadiument On,

(08:24):
or first college World Series played the new tournament. So
quite a tradition there at South Carolina. And I think
South Carolina began to struggle a little bit baseball and
Gray Tanner called upon his old friend Paul Menari and
asked him, Hey, get us back on the right track.
And it's been a little bit of a tough joe

(08:44):
this season. But Paulmnari is a great coach, a great leader,
and I'm expecting positive things to happen.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
This Kentucky team, obviously, you know, doing so well against
Tennessee and I think shocked everybody. He worked the broadcast
with Darren when the wildcast blew out Louisville. Playing with
a lot of confidence right now, isn't it.

Speaker 5 (09:09):
Yeah, they are. You know, for quite a while during
the season, it seemed like the weeks that Kentucky would
get great hitting, their pitching failed, and the weeks that
they would get great pitching. They didn't score run well
against Tennessee. They did just enough of the offense, but
they got tremendous pitching, and I think it just took

(09:32):
a lot of pressure off the team. And so when
Louisville rolled into town on Tuesday night where the bats
were alive, oh.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
Man, Yeah, Patrick Herrera, the triple that the kid lost
in the sun just kind of touched everything off. The
home run he hit Coach was just massive. But they
did all the little things. They still got to work
on that bunning though. You know, they had another bunt
right back to a pitcher. But once they clear that up,

(10:00):
I think, you know, that's that's another key element.

Speaker 5 (10:05):
Yeah, you know, it's so puzzling, Dick. You and I've
talked about this, Nick ben Jones. Teams have been tremendous
bunning teams. I mean, they worked on it probably as
much or more than any program I've ever seen. And
I don't know what it is. It may be a
mental thing. But it seems like every time we get
in a bunch situation, they pop it up or they

(10:27):
bunt through it. But uh, boy, they're finding a way
to do it now. They're finding a way to get
to get the wins. And that win against Louisville was
very impressive.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
You know what's also impressed me is he shakes up
his lineup. He goes with with Hansen and Schwartz over
the weekend and they come through.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
He's played. He was forced to press Griffin camera.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Not that he's not a good player, but he was
not the starting shortstop coming out of the fall. I mean,
the center fielder Cameron plays well and when he gets
his chance, Kyas gar Gett.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
Is pressed in the service.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
He's had some huge hits and has really been a
clutch player for Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
So, uh, that just.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
Tells you that that when they've recruited kids, either through
the portal or through traditional means. Uh, they've had a
pretty good eye on talent.

Speaker 4 (11:12):
Haven't they.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
They sure have they. What they've done, Dick, and we've
observed it is they have built a team with depths
and when Nick names jo and pulls a guy off
the bench and the dugout. I mean, he's a player
and he's ready to go. They they have a high
energy dugout, so they're they're really into the game. And

(11:37):
so when those guys get their opportunity, they are ready
to go. And that's impressive. Yeah, because a lot of
times guys, you know, they're disappointed or you know they're
their little little uh maybe maybe their attitude isn't one
hundred percent because they're not getting to play. But with
this team, when he brings the bell, these guys are

(11:58):
ready to answer.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
I've only got about thirty forty five seconds left, coach.
But give me a word about Nick McCay. And the
pitching has been pretty good, pretty solid, up and down
as you said, But what a John McKay did last
weekend now SEC pitcher.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
Of the Week.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
Yeah, one of the best performances of any Southeastern Conference
pitcher for the entire year, not just for the week,
and he dominated one of the best offensive clubs in
college baseball. Tennessee Volunteers.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Amazing coach. Looking forward to seeing you tonight, folks. You
can listen to Keith Madison working alongside.

Speaker 4 (12:34):
Darren Headrick tonight on the UK Radio Network. Have a
great day. Servi'll see you.

Speaker 5 (12:37):
Later, okay, Dick, thank you all right, And when.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
We come back, Tony Neely's going to tell us about
what's happening with the grand opening up Memorial Coliseum here
on the Leach Report. Welcome back, Dick Gabriel sitting in
for the voice on the Leach Report.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
Coming to you this morning from the Clark's pumpin.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
Shop studio, which looks suspiciously like my garage here in Lexingon,
and we welcome Tony Neely, Assistant athletics director at the
University of Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (13:03):
Good morning, sir, Hey, good morning Dick.

Speaker 7 (13:06):
How's everybody staying there?

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yes, sir, you've got a little grand opening happening in
Memorial Coliseum, which is opened more than once, but it's
kind of a reopening.

Speaker 4 (13:16):
Tell everybody what's happening this weekend.

Speaker 7 (13:19):
Yes, the grand reopening. And I assume fans are familiar
with the fact that we did renovate the colisseum over
the past couple of years and got back in it
for competition with our four athletic teams who play in
Memorial Coliseum. But once we got all the interior and
exterior spaces finished, we wanted to have a grand reopening

(13:41):
to celebrate the building, but as much as anything else,
to celebrate the history that Memorial Coliseum represents. It was
originally dedicated in nineteen fifty to honor the more than
nine thousand people who passed away nine thousand Kentuckians who
died in World War II two, specifically specifically three hundred

(14:03):
and forty four of them who were UK faculty, staff
and students. And among those, yeah, among those three hundred
and forty four UK people, Dick, were twenty five UK
student athletes. No, not kidding at all, And so the
Moral Coliseum, you know, the Kentuckians gave their all, their

(14:26):
last full measure of devotion, and the coliseum is named
in their honor. And like I said, three hundred and
forty four UK affiliated people, including twenty five student athletes.
So that's part of the things we want want to
honor tomorrow. But I'm gonna have a lot of fun
in doing it. We've got a community fair, basically a
street fair. We're gonna have Avenue of Champions closed in

(14:49):
front of the Colisseum from eleven to one and just
have all kinds of things going on their games, food,
military displays. We have some military cool military vehicles you
can uh. Uh yeah, you can see. I don't think
I'll let you climb on him or not. I haven't
heard that or not. But uh there there, I got
some really cool stuff. We're gonna have uh music and

(15:12):
uh then at one o'clock we're gonna go inside uh
and have a have a program. Got some some featured speakers,
a couple of really cool ones. Fans may recognize Thad
Jerry's uh former UK basketball player, a member of RUPs runs.
Uh he and I didn't. I actually didn't know this
until this this week that uh uh you know he

(15:34):
didn't play pro basketball. Uh, he did not, But the
reason was as he came out of U K and
went directly into the military. Uh yes, yep, and ended
up being lieutenant colonel and so yep, so he's gonna
be speaking uh tomorrow. Then we've got uh Colonel Mark Rowland,

(15:55):
a Air Force veteran, and the UK professor.

Speaker 6 (15:58):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (15:59):
His son as was a military person, Captain Matthew Roland,
who was killed in action in twenty fifteen. To our knowledge,
the last UK or the last Kentucky person who has
died in combat, so his father's going to be speaking
to us. And so it's really a really neat thing

(16:19):
that we've got and I think it will be a
lot of fun with the street fair and then you know,
some good performances. We've got some bands, some videos and
some really neat speakers. So think it'll be a neat
day for UK fans that if you want to come
by tomorrow, I've.

Speaker 3 (16:36):
Got about thirty or forty seconds. Tell everybody how and
where to park if you can.

Speaker 7 (16:41):
Okay, there's parking. The parking lots all around the Colisene
will be open. There's also going to be parking structure
number five, which is at the corner. It's on the
Avenue of Champions and nicholas Ville Road.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Great because it's just the campus has grown so quick.
That's always an issue. It seems it comes around. But
you know what people don't realize is that and I've
studied those plaques, but I didn't realize there were that
many UK students that were killed in World War Two.
But it was such a show placement and open. Adolf
Rupp wasn't sure they could fill it. If you can

(17:17):
imagine that he thought it might end up being a
white elephant. But clearly the big New Nation proved me
wrong on that. And real quick, what if the weather
doesn't cooperate? Did you just move inside a little earlier.

Speaker 7 (17:30):
Well, if we have bad weather tomorrow the community Fair,
Street Fair, we'll have to cancel that because of the
various logistics that goes along with that. But the program
inside for at one o'clock is rain or shine.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
Gotcha? Very good?

Speaker 3 (17:45):
Hey, Tony, thanks a lot, best of lo Co. Hope
you get a great crowd.

Speaker 7 (17:49):
Thanks, Thanks, date all right, everybody come on out and
see us.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Oh yeah, Tony Neely, if you CA Athletics, try to
get over to the coliseum tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
It's going to be a great deal.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
When we come back, we'll talk to the NFL with
Van Hiles, the ex cat here on the Leach Report.
Welcome back to Gabra with you on the Leach Purport.
Tom doing some pre derby work, So happy to fill
in on the Leach Purport presented by Bobcat Enterprises. When
you need to buy just rent some heavy equipment for
a job, google Bobcat and find the closest location. Joining

(18:19):
us now is Van Hiles, who is quite the popular
guest on this and many other shows, including mine here
in Lexington on the Big Bloon Sider.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Good morning, sir, Good morning. How you doing, Gab We're well.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
We love talking football with you because you lived it, obviously,
Kentucky defensive back who spent time in the National Football League,
And I know that you're just as happy as you
can be from Maxwell Harriston, are you not.

Speaker 6 (18:46):
I'm I think he's more happy for the other guys
in the draft they get drafted that I am happy
for him now was the best thing the op steen
in the draft in a long time, because at first
I was like, is that genuine? But then when he
got picked, I'm like, okay, yeah, that that was not

(19:08):
a show, that was not an act. That was him
being himself and that was extremely awesome.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
It was great and what Van is talking about.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
And if you watched the draft or just glanced at it,
every kid who was drafted as they made their way
from the green room, which was huge, by the way
they passed the different players, and every time there was
a young man with a huge smile on his face
and an incredible electric blue and silver jacket and a
blue tie and blue slacks and of course, and and

(19:37):
he was, I mean, what are you tapping him up?

Speaker 4 (19:40):
Is that what you said?

Speaker 2 (19:41):
You kids did? Yes? Yes, yes, and.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
Just hugging and shaking hands for it. You could tell
how happy he was for every young man in that room.
And he had to wait a little while, didn't he Van?
But he heard his name. But when you wait like that,
the odds are you're going to a damn good team.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
And he did, didn't he?

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yes? And that's I think he knew that. And and I think.

Speaker 6 (20:02):
That that he was enjoying the moment because this is
a once in a lifetime experience and why not treated
like that? And and I love the energy and I
am happy to see him with with an organization that
that has a history recently of winning games and potentially
getting too the super Bowl next year because they have

(20:22):
an extremely incredible team led by johnsh Allen.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
But then they have Ray Davis there.

Speaker 6 (20:27):
So to go to a team with someone you're played
with and you know you have a relationship with is
just extra comforting for him. And it's I'm hoping that
he has a great year.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, and they expect him to have a Gready, when
you're a corner and you go in the first round
in the National Football League Draft. That means they want
immediate results.

Speaker 6 (20:49):
Am I right, exactly, And that's an extreme amount of pressure.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
But I didn't know he had this attitude.

Speaker 6 (20:57):
But I think he has the right attitude to go
in there and hopefully meet those those expectations.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
I interviewed him after the Vanity game two years ago
when he had the two pick six's.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
That game just he just exploded.

Speaker 3 (21:11):
On everybody's radar for obvious reasons.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
He was a National Defensive Player of the Week.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
And it was funny because Vandy was doing all the
construction and the Kentucky locker room and air quotes was
one of those huge inflatable tints by what was left
in the stadium, and so they had to kind of
drag Van out there.

Speaker 4 (21:28):
And we interviewed him on the.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
Sidewalk with people walking by. But he couldn't have been happier,
of course, and more humble. He was not quite the
level of elation that we saw last night, which is understandable.
But that day, you know, breaking on the ball the
way he did that put him on video for everybody
to see it. Just how vital was that pretty obvious

(21:50):
question Van?

Speaker 4 (21:50):
But next thing. You know, everybody knew who he was.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (21:55):
The thing about it is that for me what was
great was it's a bad thing to bring up for
most of BBN, but the year prior when he had
the issue with Van de and them beating nothing coming wealth,
which means he has some resilience to come back and
have great year after that. His eye discipline is very good,

(22:15):
and to combine that with his elite athleticism, he's gonna
have a good career because if you can do the
little things at that position, which is being patient, have
a great eye discipline, it's going to translate.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
To the next level. And I think he has a.

Speaker 6 (22:30):
Chance to be very special because of the traits that
are beyond his athleticism.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
You've taught me a lot about I discipline, not just
the term, but exactly what it means. It's some of
it's obvious, some of it is not. But you know
what I find van the most interesting about this, and
it reminds you, is that in the heat of battle
and all of that's going on, an NFL quarterback can
look at you, a d back thirty or forty yards

(22:58):
down the field and tell if your eye discipline is bad.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Can they not exactly.

Speaker 6 (23:04):
It's the quality that you can train for, but it's
also something that as an individual you have to trust.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
And if a.

Speaker 6 (23:12):
Quarterback sees you not looking at him and looking at
a receiver, therefore you don't know when a ball is
going to be thrown. So how can I react as
a corner if I don't see the ball in all
your hand? If we plan zone, if you're.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Playing man the man, you should never see the quarterback.

Speaker 6 (23:26):
But if we're planning zone and you're not looking at
me as a quarterback, I know you have no chance
to break on the ball. So therefore, with my quarterbacks
on that level, thirty two of the best quarterbacks in
the world, and they can put the ball anyway they
want to the majority of the time. So yes, if
you're not. If you're not, I guess your attentions are
in the wrong area. They will exploit it.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
I watched the NFL networks coverage for a change, nothing
against ABC's just wanted something different. But I did hear
what the guys on the ABC set had to say
about Hairs, and they were raving about his ability not.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
Just to break on the ball, that's pretty obvious, but.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
As Herbstreet talked about finding the ball, he talked about
the fact that so many corners, so many d backs
had trouble doing that.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
Is that the case van? How tough is that? What
you know? Tell me about the challenges there?

Speaker 6 (24:23):
Tracking the ball is a god given talent and some
people just have it naturally. And he does have that
the ability to have you seen dbs jump too early
or and then they missed the ball and the receiver
catches after they come down. That is a trade that
is God given. That's the same trait that Travis Hunter

(24:43):
has the ability to track the ball and some people
just don't have it, and he has that ability. And
when you run a foward to whatever, now you can
catch up to any ball while you tracking it. Because
most people, like myself, if I'm looking back at the ball,
I'm slowing down them on I'm sitting in with that
amount of speed and and catch up on ability is
what makes him the potential to be special.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
It's almost natural, I guess is the right word or
inevitable When when somebody looks back for the ball you
can see him slow down.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
Tell you it's impossible not to.

Speaker 6 (25:14):
I would think, yeah, if I'm a track guy. So
have you ever seen one hundred meter runner look back?
I mean the only time they look side of the
sides when they're winning a race, and you can see
them slowing down at that point. I guess that's the
god given ability for us as humanists.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
We have to look forward. I guess you're looking where you.

Speaker 6 (25:34):
Gotta go, and if you're not looking there, you're gonna
inevitably slow down by just naturally.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
That's none you can do about it.

Speaker 6 (25:41):
And that is the only chance for us as a
corner to catch up is because the receiver all they
always have to look back, and that's a chance to
catch up with them. Back the ball because as dB,
you don't see the ball until late. And that's a
great thing about again tracking the ball. If you can
just to close the gap, look back, track the bomb,
pick it off.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's what makes special corner special.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
I guess that's a natural reaction or response fan you
slow down. Your body inevitably slows down when you're looking back,
so you don't accidentally run into a tree.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Who knows.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
That's just one man's opinion.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
When we come back, we'll talk more about the NFL,
about Maxwell Harriston, and about the Wildcats with Van Hiles,
the former Kentucky defensive back.

Speaker 4 (26:26):
Stay with us here on the Leach Report. Welcome back
to the Leach Report.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
Dick Gabriel sitting in for the Voice. Leach Report presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. When you need to buy or just
rent the heavy equipment for a job, google Bobcat and.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Find the closest location.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
We're talking with Van Hiles, the former Kentucky defensive back,
NFL veteran, co host of the Locker four one one podcast,
host of Driving with Styles and if you want to
follow him on Twitter, and you should, v Styles seventeen
is where you can find him. And of course we're
talking about Maxwell Harston. He was drafted last night.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
One of the slight.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
Knocks on him and I think people obviously with the NFL,
people know inside and out about the injuries and it
had and infection and his shoulder last year that he
had to deal with, but that limited him somewhat vanned
when it came to tackling. Do you have any concerns
or doubts about his ability because man in the NFL,
it ain't just covering passes.

Speaker 4 (27:18):
Is it.

Speaker 6 (27:20):
No, Yes, that's true I have no I have no
qualms with with with him and his ability to tackle.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
I know. I mean he's.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
Battled things since he's been a start. I mean he
had the thumb issue. I think the year prior he
had on how many picks he had that year, five
or six, So that is not an issue for me.
He knows how to tackle. I've seen him stick his
head in there many times, so therefore I'm not I'm
not concerned, especially at corner. Many times on that league,

(27:51):
you are you're not gonna be responsible for tackling running
backs two yards from a line of scrimmage.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
For the most part. You usually out there on an
island playing man the man.

Speaker 6 (28:01):
So yeah, I don't have any concerns, and obviously Buffalo didn't.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
Yeah, there was always a.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
Knock on Dean Sanders, but then again, he was one
of the more elite pass covers guys in the history
of the game. Speaking of Dion, what are your thoughts
on Travis Hunter? Kind of a grand stand play. If
I can't play receiver in d back, I'm not gonna
play anymore football.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
I gotta think that in the NFL, I.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
Believe he can do both, because you know, if you're
a receiver, You're only going to be in for certain packages, right,
But I would think they'd want him at D back
as often as not.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
Am I Right?

Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah? It is a tough one for me. I don't
see him being able to go full.

Speaker 6 (28:45):
Time on both sides of the ball. But then I
think about it sometimes. Is he was able to do
it in college and he's playing against pretty much the
same players.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
He's playing on the next level. The game is slower the.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
NFL because of all the time outs and advertisements, so
the game is not as fast.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Can he do it? Yes? The only thing.

Speaker 6 (29:08):
The only concern I have is the corners on the
next level as a whole are so much better. The
playbook on the next level is so thick and complicated.
Is he going to be able to master that offense
while playing defense with all the requirements and checks that
are required on that level. That's the concern I have

(29:30):
Because the things you could do in college is for
as receiver, A lot of those you can't do in
the NFL. So that means you got to hone your
craft and spend some time and understanding the nuances of
the position. It's easier to play corner on the next
level with that. As far as the mental part of it.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Your old team, the Chicago Bears and Tom Leech's favorite
team at that took a tight end Coaston Loveland from Michigan.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
How'd you feel about that?

Speaker 1 (29:55):
There were a couple other tight ends that I thought
they would take, but as a team and as all
the thirty two team in the first round picked like
the Giants coming up and picking Jackson dark Is, you do.

Speaker 6 (30:07):
Your research and find a guy that you think it's
your systems, and I guess for the Bears that fit,
he fit. There's just some more than the other two
tight ends that I thought they had a chance to take.
So I think they needed a tight end because at
this level, those guys are special now and they can
put extreme amount of pressure on the defense if they're

(30:28):
able to do multiple things. So I'm not mad at
the pick.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
Boy. The Giants quarterback room just got really interesting, didn't it.
That was a kind of a surprise because they've got Wilson,
They've got Jamis Winston, Tommy Cuttleks they just re signed him,
and now they got Jackson Dart and my man Aaron
Gershein is a big Giants and he hated the pick
because he didn't think Dart was that good and didn't
like ole Miss's system. But I don't know, man, It's

(30:55):
gonna make for some headlines in New York, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (30:58):
Yeah. I don't have a problem with them picking Dark.
I don't think you move up to the end of
the first.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
Round to pick them. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's the only
issue I have with it.

Speaker 6 (31:11):
But like I said somewhere else, the Giants has not
done a great joe quarterback. That picked Daniel Jones, which
I said was at the time, was not a good pick,
and they're they're gonna trade up to pick Jackson Dart again,
not a good pick. I like Brian Dable, but that
pick yesterday was a pick that they did not have

(31:32):
to reach and get.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah. Yeah, Before I let you go, we've got to
talk about this year's class.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
I know you probably weren't able to get up for
Spring at all, but I know you talked to people
and a lot of new faces.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
The early return early early returns on the old line
pretty good. Any thoughts on what happened up in the
spring here in Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
For me who's been in many springs. Football is not
a situation.

Speaker 6 (32:02):
Where you learn, in my opinion, a lot about a
team as far as how good they're gonna be on
the field physically. But the one thing you can see
is for me this year was the attitude, effort, intensity,
intention to details that the team last year I don't
think had, and from what I hear, that is back

(32:22):
the locker room attitude. Temperature is so important for a
football team, and I think that is where we improve
that tremendously in this spring. I think we were back
to kind of being more of that blue collar team,
Guys doing what they're supposed to do, not missing practice,
not finding a way to miss practice, and that goes

(32:44):
a long way for us because we will never have
top talent in this conference, but we can beat guys
like Vandy did last year on attitude, intensity and effort
level and that's how we won ten games twice in
five years previously. So I think we're back to that
and that's the part that makes me positive about the
potential of next year.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
I got a bet a minute left, and I will
tell you that Ty Bryant after spring told us he said,
nobody wants to go through what we went through last year.
And you talk about a guy who's got time and
emotion invested in this program. He grew up with this program.
His dad was part of this program. And I was
pretty impressed with his comments. I don't know if you
heard him, Van, but but he said, yeah, we did

(33:26):
not like that, and we are not going to go
through that again.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
You gotta like that.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, And that's the thing.

Speaker 6 (33:32):
Fans and players combined maybe got comfortable with it because
we have not had this assess and forever and now
we're sneezing that seven win seasons, which is great for
the program, for fans to be disappointed with seven win
seasons when we have not had that consistently ever in

(33:52):
modern history. So that's that's good for him to say that,
And it's gonna be interesting to see how that translates
to Saturday in a few months.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
Well, we are out of time.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
I wish I had more time to ask you about
what you've been cooking lately on the grill. We'll just
have to do that next time or when you're on
my show. But he is Van Hiles, co host of
The Locker four one one, host of Driving with Styles,
former wild Well once a whilecat always a wildcat former
Chicago bear. Let's put it that way. And Van, thank
you so much.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Always a pleasure anytime.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
Welcome back and wrap up this edition of the Leach Report.
Welcome back to the Leach Report, final segment of our program,
and of course they draw for the Kentucky Derby tomorrow
post positions that had been moved, of course to Saturday.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
So Clayburne Farm, doing.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
The usual unusually well for more than a century, is
a sponsor of our derby. Notes here in the final
segment of the Leach Report, I thought I would just
go ahead and take this opportunity. Tom talks, of course
all week off and on about horses in the Derby,
but this is my shot to say I am actually
taking the chalk the horse that likely will be made

(35:05):
the favorite tomorrow journalism the winner of the Santa Anita Derby.
I liked him early, and not just because.

Speaker 4 (35:10):
Of the name.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yes, I'm a journal I was a journalism major. But
he wins the Kentucky I mean he wins the Santa
Anita Derby one of the major preps for the Kentucky
Derby really impressively. And it's not just the fact that
they said after the race, he wasn't even breathing heavily.
He got into trouble, which is what I kind of liked.
There was a horse named Westwood in front of him,

(35:32):
good name for a horse on the West coast. By
the way, that horse started to back up at the
three ace pole and they might have clipped heels Journalism.
His jockey had to slow him down significantly. It said
they even risked clipping heels with Westwood, which would have
been just disaster and that might have ended Journalism's run

(35:53):
at the Kentucky Derby. But the colt rallied got him
out of the jockey got him out of trouble. Umberto
Rispoli was the rider, and then they ran down a
horse named Baeza in the stretch easily and won the race.
For some years it looked like the horses coming from
California were fitter and they were the horses the bet

(36:15):
in the Derby, and that didn't work out. But they
really come from all over. They come from Florida, they
come from New Mexico. So you know, I just wish
one would win the Bluegrass again and go on to
win the Kentucky Derby.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
Kentucky road Show Sports Cards.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Remember Billy and Lexing and learn more about them at
roadshowcards dot com. They say happy birthday to Andre Woodson
and coach David Hobbs. Andre, of course, was the quarterback
behind one of the greatest Kentucky offenses really was in
UK football history. David Hobbs was a key element to
Tubby Smith's coaching staff when the Wildcats won the national title.

(36:50):
That's going to do it for now for Shannon the Dude,
I'm Dick Gabriel. Stay tuned for billion a Dude on
most of these stations next so long, everybody,