2025-07-21 - LEACH REPORT

Dick Gabriel fills in to talk with Twany Beckham and Darrell Bird.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody. Dick Gabrielle sitting in for the Voice.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
He is on a little bit of a vacation, so
I'll be with you today and tomorrow. The Leads Report
presented by Bob kat Enterprises. We'll talk a lot of
UK sports today. Twenty Beckham is going to join us
in just a few minutes. Twenty the former UK Guard
but now better known as the general manager of La Familla.
The TBT Entry comprise primarily of former Kentucky players. They

(00:28):
won again last night. They fought off literally a team
made up primarily of former Auburn players, and they move
on to Tuesday's regional final. Here in Election and twenty
put that team together and selected Sean Woods as the
head coach. That we'll talk about that process and what
he has seen so far from his team. More Wildcad

(00:51):
News of the Day presented by Giuseppes. Election and we
tell you about Oh by the way, second half hour,
Darryl Bird of the Cats Paws will join us.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
He of course is the editor and publisher.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
The yearbook is on the stands, so you'll have a
chance to learn a lot more about Mark Stoop's ball club,
and we'll talk about it. Sec media days as well
that have come and gone. All right, wild Cat news
of today I brought to you by Juseppes.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
We mentioned La fora.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Mea an easy win in game number one, but war
Ready was ready and in fact Kentucky I should say
laugh for a media I had a fourteen point lead
in the second half and looked like it was going
to cruise the way it did in game number one.
But the Warready team came back behind Wendell Green Junior.

(01:40):
He was a hot shooting point guard first at Eastern Kentucky,
then for Bruce Pearl down at Auburn Ehill bring.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
His team back.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
And in fact, the Lafamia Ball Club frittered away that
big lead to a point where Warready had a three
pointer in the air that would have given it the lead.
Lot of Me was up only two late in the game,
but the shot didn't go down. Kentucky spurted, but then
war Already came back again and it got to the

(02:10):
point with the elam rule, that's a point in the
game where with four minutes to go, they stopped the game.
They look at the score, whichever team is ahead, they
add eight points to that team's total. First team to
that new number wins the game and laugh of Me
I had a decent enough lead, I think.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
It was up by eight at that time, but started
all of a sudden.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
It was only it only needed three more points to
get to the elam total, so they started jacking up
threes and they kept missing. Meanwhile, Warready kept coming down
on runouts, getting dunks, layups.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And chipped away, chipped away to where all it needed
was a three pointer.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, that enabled laugh of Me to guard the three
point line exclusively. They would give up a deuce easily,
but they overwhelmed war Ready behind the arc, and long
story short, there was a couple of great defensive plays
by Laughami.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Including former Wildcat Khalil Whitney.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Remember he was here for only about eighteen games, but
I really believe he regretted leaving UK, and he played
so well yesterday He made a diving steal, fed the
ball ahead the Archie goodwin. Another guy was here for
only a year, had a great game a couple of
nights ago, but yesterday not so much, but still led

(03:33):
his team in scoring and had a strongly contested bank
shot at the end to win the game, and quite
frankly a Goodwin had a nightmare at the free throw line.
He talked about He said, I've never shot free throws
like this. He missed at one point sixth straight. He said,
I know what I'm doing wrong. Now I'm gonna fix it.
But as a team, Kentucky missed sixteen of thirty four

(03:57):
free throw attempts. Warready only made sixteen out of twenty five.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Had some big misses down the stretch.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
But I tell you, if you haven't watched it on TV,
it's on FS one. If you haven't seen any games,
it's a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
They're playing their butts off.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
It's not exhibition basketball because they're playing for a million bucks.
The good news for La Foramia and Kentucky fans is
that the vill lost. The vill was blown out yesterday
at Freedom Hall by a team called Sideline Cancer. It
ended up being a ten point game. The vill came

(04:31):
back towards the end, but not nearly enough. So now,
based on ticket sales, LA Famia can keep on hosting
through the tournament. Of course, it's got to keep on winning.
So we'll talk more with twenty Beckham about that. Little
more news on the Kentucky Baseball front as the Wildcats
pickup another transfer. It's a pitcher Belmont Belmont, a pitcher

(04:54):
Will Pryor has decided.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
He will become a Wildcat.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
He only got to pitch five games last year he
had an extens or strain, But in three years at Belmont,
which has a strong program, he made thirty six appearances
twenty start, struck out one hundred and forty six batters
and walked only seventy seven. So another right handed pitcher
joins Nick minji Own's staff and the Wildcats looking ahead

(05:20):
the next year with a lot of new faces. Links
to these stories on the bud Light leech Before page
at Tom Leechky dot com.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Up next, twenty.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Beckham and we are joined this morning by the general
manager of TVT Entry Laphamiya twenty Beckham, thanks for joining
us twenty and I got to think that you had
some anxious moments yesterday, didn't you. That one got pretty
tight down the stretch.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yeah, good morning, everybody, Thank God for having me. Yeah, man, yesterday,
yesterday's game was tough, but we knew. We knew going
into it, you know, with another sec like opponent, that
it would be tough. We knew they would be physical,
and we knew that they wanted to beat us, but
we let it get too close yesterday, and man, it
was a tough one learning experience.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
Though, as you're playing for that ELM total, you know
you still got to play defense, don't you Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
You still got to finish the game. You know that
even ending is is tough. You have to you have
to plan and prepare for it. And I think yesterday
our guys were trying to end the game shooting the
three to get the exact score number when we should
have just you know, just got baskets, and you know,
we made it a little tougher than it should have been.
But it was a hell of a game yesterday.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Do you like that elam ending?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I love it. I love it because you know, it's
like the nuance to the game of basketball. And then
also too, you know, if you're losing, when the even
mining kicks in, you know, it's those eight points are
really tough, and if you're losing, it gives you an
opportunity to get stops and come back. But you know,
if you're winning and also to make it's so difficult

(07:00):
on the opposing team that's losing. So I think it's,
you know, a great nuance to basketball, and I think
it makes for such an exciting environment for the crowd
as well.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Well.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
You've alluded to defense a couple of times, and Sean
Woods talked at length before the tournament began about defense.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
But I got to tell you twenty I was impressed
always with your team.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Your team in the first two games has played really
well defensively, but I thought the war Ready team came
out and played pretty good defense as well.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
That made for an interesting game, didn't it.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yeah, you have to.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
And one thing I like about coach Woods is he's
the defensive minded coach and that's what we hang our
head on and that's what we preach, have preached out
we can practice. So you're in the TVT tournament and
you've got a group of guys who are dedicated to
the defensive end, and you've got a few guys on
your team that can put the ball in the basket,
then you're going to give yourself a chance to win.

(07:57):
I mean, it's it's blit time basketball, and those teams
that don't stick their head on the defensive end, you're
not going to be successful in this tournament.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, the better defensive teams are still playing. We're talking
to Swanny Beckham. He's the general manager of the TBT
entry La Fa miya Uh, comprised primarily of former Kentucky Wildcats,
including the coach you mentioned, Sean Woods. And at the
introductory news conference he sat right next to you and
bragged on you quite a bit, and on my show
each week he.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Brags on you again. But why was he the choice?
I know he assisted Tyler last year.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Of course Tyler's not Tyler Uli is not available. But
was it an easy.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Decision for you to name Sewan the head coach?

Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, it was a It was an easy decision. You know,
we loved Tyland what he brought to our team last year,
and with him not being available, you know, Seawan Wiss
was was such an easy you know, get to be
our coach. You know, he had point around the guys
last year. You know, he was having Tyler a lot
with a lot of the calls and a lot of
the schemes that we drew up. So he and I met,

(08:59):
you know, before I started organizing the team this year.
It was it was such a layup. He wanted to
do this. You have to be dedicated. You have to
want to because this is a three week grind when
the guys are here, and you have to take it
extremely serious. And he does. He gets what Kentucky basketball
is all about. He gets his fan base, he gets
his community, and so, man, I just love being around him.

(09:22):
I just love talking basketball with him. I love talking
schematics with him. He was the perfect person to add
sliding in after Tyler was unavailable.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
And as a former Kentucky player yourself and a guy
with roots in the state, you can certainly relate to
what Sean was saying, and he said it again yesterday
about what it means to play here and what it
means to the fan base and connecting with fans. So
you guys are absolutely on the same page as there,
aren't you.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
A man again, I always say this, you know, I'm
so thankful and appreciative fun they opportunity that I have.
You know, I'm a Kentucky boy. I grew up a
Kentucky fan. I was to play Kentucky and then I
got the opportunity. And not only did I get that opportunity,
you know, I was on one of the best teams
that play here. You know, won in that's championship. So

(10:09):
I get it and I understand it. And when meet
and Coach Woods just like he just gets it. He
gets I think after the first game we won the
other day, we huddle up at me at court and
he tell the guys, hey, listen, go shake every hand,
go kiss every baby, go side every autograph directly after
the game. And our guys were able to do that.

(10:29):
And you know, those guys that back here, especially like
Archie and Khalil, who you know, didn't really feel the
love when they left here during their times playing. Our
back here now feeling in love and having a ball.
And it was one of the things I lived with
recruiting no guys that come back to play, was man,
come back, get back in front of this fan base,

(10:50):
get this Kentucky love and they're having a ball with it.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
Oh, that's easy to tell.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
And I came out Tony when I when I came
out to ask you to be on the show.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yesterday, I walk through Memorial Coliseum.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
There was a line as long as the court of
people waiting to get autographs.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
From two or three of the players stuff.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
And this was, you know, thirty or forty five minutes
after that's got to.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Do your hard good.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Ah man, that's a that's a great feeling, man. I
just love being able to be to sit back and
watch it, you know, because when you recruiting these guys,
you know, they're they're they be currently in their seasons
and they're playing and they're focus on, you know, the
perspective teams that they're playing for, and so you know,
it's hard for guys to look forward to, you know,
five or six months from you know, where we're on

(11:34):
the phone and kind of telling him what telling them
what it's going to be like. And so for them
to like see it and feel it in me knowing
and understanding what they're going to see and feel when
they hear it's just a great feeling, man, to sit
back and watching. I'm having a ball. You know, whether
we win the tournament and lose the tournament, man with
the success has already be had. You know, we're enjoying
the process. These guys are back and we're having a ball.

(11:57):
We love being around each other and we're going to
make sure we you know, we keep this thing going.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Though we're talking to twenty Beckham as a general manager
of the TVT Infreela Mea, which will play on Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
We'll talk about the upcoming game.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
TB T infry La for Mea, which ground out of
wind Over war Ready yesterday, and we'll play Tuesday at
six o'clock at Memorial Coliseum twenty.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
How do you think that's worked out so far?

Speaker 2 (12:25):
I think the fans have really enjoyed seeing games back
in the coliseum.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, man, that's it's been awesome man. You know, first,
you know, when we were when we learned that we
would have been we wouldn't be playing in rub because
because I think what we were told what was had
some construction going on this summer. So I was a
little bummed about it because I know there was a
huge seal for for me getting the guys back to

(12:50):
playing Reperena. But then I watched a few girls games
this past season and I was like, man, that place
is open. So it's been it's been amazing.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Man.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
That crowd is on top of you. They on their
feet the entire time to allow it's been a great
advantage for us, and it's just it's just amazing to
see and the guys are loving it. It feels like, uh,
you know, a normal UK basketball home game for US Man.
We got to ride this crowd to a championship. They've

(13:23):
been awesome.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
You mentioned the Archie Goodwin and and the crowd really
connected with him yesterday. And of course he had his
problems with the free throw line. I mentioned those earlier
before he went on. But he hits the game winner
essentially through sheer force of will. But you can tell
how much he appreciates being back and how much he
has matured and grown into a young man, just a

(13:45):
kid when he was here before.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
You know, oh, man, Archie is having a ball. You
know it's you know, last year, uh, you know, I
tried to connect with Archie because I knew what this
opportunity would be for him. You know, I played with Archie.
I was on the team with Archie in twenty thirteen,
and so I knew what coming back would do for
him personally. So we tried to connect last year, wasn't

(14:08):
able to connect. So when we connected this year, it
was a no brainer. And so just to see Archie
just make that play yesterday, you know, he's mister free throws.
But nobody lost confidence in him. You see, he was
on the fourth end of the game because like you
said he's mature, he's a gamer, he's really smart. He
and I have had a few conversations this week about

(14:29):
just basketball IQ, what he sees, what he doesn't sees,
because he's one of our leaders, Archie's you know, when
he was hearing tweet thirteen, he wasn't that vocal. He
led by example. Now he's leading both, he's leading example.
He's vocal. So when he got that at ball with
Cahlilde on the floor and through that ball Archie, I

(14:50):
had no doubt my mind Archie was about to either
get fouled or make him play well, go to the
line to make it free throw to win the game.
But he made a shot. And so you know, I
don't know if you all it or not, but I
was so happy for him. I do on the floor
with him. It was in the power because I was
just extremely happy for him. I don't know if I
would do that again, but yeah, I was excited. Man.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
You don't see many general managers dive on the floor
with the players, but you're not that far removed from
your playing career as well.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
We've only got a couple of minutes left.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's a broad question, but tell me a little bit
about the work that goes into this, because.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
I mean, you know, you're you're the GM.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
You've got to worry about everything, including said, like you said,
six months out and these guys are playing overseas or
in the G League and you're trying to cobble this
roster together.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
Tell me a little bit about about the load that
you carry.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Ah. Man, it's it's a full time job. You can't
do it. To do it how I want to do
it and have a great experience for these guys. I
mean it's it's eleven month twelve month role. And you know,
you start out, you know, with partnerships and just getting
the community involved supporting what we're doing. And then the cruiting.

(16:00):
I mean, you know, with Kentucky, you know, fifty five
seventy percent of our players on the NBA, but we
do have a ton of players that are not in
the NBA that are playing high level still. So you
got to compose compose of a group of those players.
Then you got to get in touch with their people,
get in touch with them, recruit them, have meetings, and
at the same time, you know, sell sponsorships, create opportunities

(16:24):
for these guys. So when they hear so they can
get out and meet people and meet the fans. You know,
we do. We set up a champions weekend for those
guys so when they're back, they're in the community. You know,
we did a backpack draft. We did a social networking
advance of guys can get around and you know, start
talking business. We do a free basketball camp and we
sold the camp out this year. Almost two hundred and fifty
people there. It was free to every kid. We do

(16:47):
a golf scrambled, We do a charity game. It's a
lot of work that goes into it. But man, I
wouldn't trade the role for for anything. Right now, I'm
having a ball.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Why Sean Woods has been so appreciative of you and
compliment and he believes you belong in an NBA front office.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Is that a goal of your Yeah, it was of
Mine's always been to Gola mine. Uh, it's to be
in the NBA front office. I've always had to go,
even when I would say playing in Kentucky. And when
I was presented the opportunity with this role, it was
one of the things I wrote down on my vision
board is man, I want to use this and build
this as if I was working for an NBA team

(17:26):
and put. You know, one thing that is big about
and very important about the role that I have is
you have to build a great team like you can't
just and we'll come in and put and buy into
the system and play together. So man, I just love
doing this, man, and hopefully one day I'm doing it
at the highest level.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Tonnie, thank you so much, Thank you all.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
I appreciate you all having me this morning.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
More to come on the Leach Report and talk to
UK Sports, especially with my next guest who has been
a friend for a long time and has been on
my show several times here in Lexingdon on the Big
Blue and Side as well as times.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
That is mister Darryl Bird.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
He is the editor of The Cat's Pause, which now
is offering the Football Yearbook. UK Football Yearbook is ready
and on stands and mailboxes wherever you find your favorite
football magazines.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Good morning, sir, How are you gay?

Speaker 4 (18:19):
Are you doing all right?

Speaker 1 (18:20):
I am well.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
I know you're doing well because you've got the magazine
put to bed.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Of course almost.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
Immediately you have to worry about the yearbook for basketball.
But are you pleased with the final product when it
came to the Football Yearbook.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yes I am.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
We're a one hundred and twelve pages and we've we've got
Q and a's not only with coach Stoops, but also
both offensive court, both the offensive corner and defensive coordinator,
and we break down every position. Aaron Gershawan took care
of that for us before he moved on to the
Greener Pastors, his new job, which he started later this week.

(18:55):
So it's been good.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
When you started talking to Stoops, what was his I
don't want to say attitude, but you know he I.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
Thought he was very positive. He didn't seem like a
guy who was on the hot seat down.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
In Atlanta SEC media days, you know, because he is
an experienced head coach.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
By now we know that.

Speaker 4 (19:17):
You've read my column in the Yearbook. This is a
crazy men. You and I have been doing this for
a very long time. And maybe I'm off base by
a million miles, but I spent the off season, you know,
on social media, as I love to call it, because
people hide behind nicknames and throw shots at people. But

(19:37):
I hadn't seen Mark since really since into football season.
And actually I was headed to the Craft Center for
basketball interviews and I walk in the door and I
see someone coming at my own two in this big,
spacious hallway, and I'm like, that's Mark Stoops you're doing
over here. He came up with the biggest smile and
was firm handshake, and I'm like, this is the guy

(19:59):
that's supposed, you know, on the hot seat at which
ends and his demeanor which just was probably the best
in thirteen years. And I was like, am I reading
this right?

Speaker 3 (20:09):
His?

Speaker 4 (20:09):
And then I did the Q and A like two
days later and it was the same thing that you
were picking up down there. Is like the attitude was
one hundred percent in the right direction. I didn't see
any fretting and the confidence is up. And I was
very impressed, and take him back a little to be honest,
because this kid, this can be a grind in this yeah,

(20:31):
in that profession obviously, especially in the SEC and his
his attitude was unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
Very I I think some of that, I would have
to think is the fact that you know, in the spring,
pre spring, throughout spring.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
And then again in Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
And of course the coach is going to say this,
but it's it sounded pretty sincere because of the work
they put into the portal, how much.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
He likes this team.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
He likes this group, and he was frank with us
in the spring about the fact that they just had
not done a great job of putting the last couple
of teams together.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
You know, maybe they needed to do more homework.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
On the guy who's coming through the portal or you know,
self scout, whatever it was. But he seems like he's
really happy with a group he's got.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah, there's two things on that. One, Yes, you expect
the coach to be upbeat at this time of year,
but I've done thirteen of these now, and that was,
you know, near the very top of its terms of
being the most upbeat.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
He couldn't.

Speaker 4 (21:32):
It was much better than previous years before, So I
got That's where I got an interesting vibe off that.
And the other topic we talked about quite a while was,
you know, this this insanity of the portal and everything
in Nio, everything else is going on. It's like you're
four years into it, So no matter how insane it is,

(21:52):
do you have a better grip on how it works
and how you need to navigate this? And he's like, absolutely,
we're figuring out how to Basically, he said, old days,
you recruit somebody for two or three years, you have
him on campus a couple of times, the famili's on campus,
and now forget it. It's it's a real fight to
make it just not transactional. What do you give me

(22:15):
and I'll come, I said. And we're figuring out how
to get to know these people, how to read the signs,
read the tea leaves a little better over Okay, there's
a reason this guy's in the portal. Don't don't go
down this road, or wow, look what we found this
hidden gym. You know, they're they're starting to figure out
how to read the tea leaves, so to speak. And

(22:36):
I think it's an important part of it that people
overlook is like you know, they got thrown into it.
You know, the fans were like what the heck would
imagine being the coaches across the country like, are you serious,
I've got to go do this? And the bottom line
where it's all shaking out, I thought was interesting. Mark
told me we're probably at a point where we're going
to offer half as many high school scholarships as we

(22:57):
have in historically and say to the risks for the
transfer portal.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, you almost have to. But you know what, I
remember the day, Darryl.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
I don't know if you were there, but I'm sure
you saw the video or read the quotes. It had
to be three or four years ago when he was
alluding to referring directly to the transfer portal and nil
and he said, I've got eighty five free agents.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
On my roster.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Well, I looked around, like my god, he's right, you.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
Know, ye give him credit. He was the first coach,
first major coach, that went up there publicly and said,
you know, forget you know, I don't care. This is
what they are. They're free agents. And he's it's accurate.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yeah, and it was died.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
Without a contract.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yes, distasteful to some, but but spot on right on
the money. Speaking of money, we're going.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
To talk more about that on the other side of
the Welcome back to the Leach Report. Dick Gaberlin for
The Voice. The Leach Report, presented by Bobcat, enterprises four
locations in Kentucky. When you need to rent or buy
heavy equipment or a new zero turn mower for your law,
we are talking with Daryl Bird.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
He is the editor and colin us for The Cat's pause.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
The football yearbook is on the stands, is in the mail,
and as we speak, is entertaining and informing Kentucky fans.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Daryl tell everybody what's on the cover.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
I always think it's an interesting process, a creative process
for you guys.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
Yeah. I found a really cool tool on Photoshop which
I tend to go down some of those rabbit holes
every now and then took a picture of Mark Pope
and in the software turned it into a crossword puzzle
and I was able to pull out certain pieces of
the puzzle and then pop in little mugshots of some
of the guys. Basically, he's putting together piece by piece.

(24:41):
He's rebuilding the program because he has over forty new players.
And I said that we expect that to be the norm.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
Mark.

Speaker 4 (24:50):
He said, no, not the norm. But when you go
four and eight, you have to flip your roster and
that's on us. And we did and that's exactly what
they did. And he's rebuilt it.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, and again he talked about that in the spring,
and he might have surprised the people when he said,
you know, they were talking numbers and he said, I
need some people to go Basically, you know, I mean,
there were guys that just needed to find a new
place to play and open up some scholarships, and that
has happened. But now it's a huge mystery story. But

(25:26):
then again, Darryl, so many teams are now in.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
College football, right, yeah, yeah, we lose track of that.
You get wrapped up in your own world, which is understandable,
and it's like, well, I was working on the cover
and I'm like, who do I put on the cover? Right,
nobody knows anybody on this team. You can't latch on.
There is no Will Levis Rental call nobody to latch
on too and say I know him when you see

(25:49):
it on the newsstand. So that put us in the
corner and we're right there with the fans. We don't
know these guys and it's gonna and Mark said, you
come out and get to know because you're gonna love them,
and you know, that's typical coaches say every year, but
I think he he genuinely means that this this group
is going to be different. They're figuring out how this
how this stuff operates, and they're gonna move forward from

(26:12):
here and see how it goes well.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
We talked about the fact that it's it is a
mystery story. And I think the biggest mystery, of course,
is the old line. I mean, it doesn't matter what
they do anywhere else.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
If they can't.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
But we've learned that, haven't we last three years. I'm
amazed they won seven games those previous two seasons given
the problems they had. And now it's you know, at
least four new starters on that offensive.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
Front, and then they're happy with with the four they've
got this time. That It's such a tricky thing for
me when you think about, well do you want you know,
and if he see school's back up linemen that that
couldn't crack the line up there and you get them
on campus. Okay, now I understand why he didn't make

(26:55):
the starting lineup at the other school. And you're fighting
that the whole way. So better to go a different route,
and they've got, you know, maybe from a smaller school.
I really is I think there's so much value in.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
I played at Westerner, I played somewhere out in the
what used to be the Pac twelve, and now I
get a shot at the SEC and I will never forget.
On the first interviews I did with Mark Pope after
he brought in what nine transfers last year, and some
from very small schools, and he kind of leaned in.
He said, you watch how much better they play in

(27:29):
a Kentucky uniform. And he was right. Every one of
those guys elevated just because they got a chance to
play Kentucky. And maybe that doesn't ring one hundred percent
true on the football side, but you better believers every
football player out there would love to play in the SEC.
Let me prove what I can do. This is this
is the route to the NFL. The most conference puts

(27:50):
the most players in draft every year and have forever.
And I wanted to curious see how some of these
guys from these smaller schools, once they get a shot
to play in the SEC, how that's going to play out.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Well, pick your cliche, you know, iron sharpens, iron, a
rising tied, all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
But it's true.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
They're cliches, because it's true when you play against and
practice against better players, if you have ability, you're going
to get better. You might not be as good as
they are, but you will be better than you were
yesterday if you're working hard. And that said, I'm wondering
how many times if I had to have come up
the name David Gusta doing your interviews for the yearbook,

(28:27):
because at media day all three players they brought, and
it was interesting who they brought, and they did a
great job. Jordan Levitt, Alex Safari and Joshkatis and those
are as you point out the rare veterans on this team,
but they did a nice job, all three of them,
including the guy on offense mentioned the d tagg he's
a nose tackle now, David Gusta.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
And to your point, he transferred in from what used
to be.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
The Pac ten Washington State, and they kept talking about
his strength, thirty seven reps on the two twenty five
bench and Darryl for this guy throwing it around like
like it was a bobby pin, they said, you know,
and and they can't wait to see him play against
SEC competition.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
That that name alone is stuck in my mind. Did
you hear that?

Speaker 2 (29:12):
One?

Speaker 4 (29:12):
Much heard that. Some heard a lot of other names,
and it's what we don't I think we're all getting
used to this. A lot of these guys. Oh look,
he's coming from a small school. Now that he's you know,
he's been in it the year or so, and this
guy's coming from the smaller division. Right, schools have been

(29:34):
offering fewer and fewer high school scholarships, So some of
these guys who probably should have been on a better
team ended up at a smaller school to start through
because they just needed to go find someplace to go.
And it's like, look, I proved it here, Now I
get my shot there, and I think that's how it's
going to play out going forward. We're gonna say more
and more, Oh you were you were stood at the

(29:55):
SCS level, Come on up here and show us what
you can do, because they're not going to get offered
because everybody's cutting their scholarship numbers down so dramatically because
they're saving room in the portal.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
And some guys develop.

Speaker 4 (30:07):
We're all learning, that's right.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
But some guys also develop late they get bigger.

Speaker 4 (30:11):
And especially Lineman, exactly, how do you.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
How do you project a seventeen year old?

Speaker 2 (30:17):
What's he going to look like when he's twenty one,
twenty two years old?

Speaker 1 (30:20):
A few minutes level, Daryl Bird is a catch pause.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
The yearbook is on the stands in the mailboxes, and
if you want to copy for yourself, just go where
you can, where you find. There aren't that many magazine
racks left though, Darryl. But uh, are there any places
in particular you can recommend?

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (30:37):
Every the bookstores, Barnes and Noble Books a million, every
bookstore has has in the state, and every five star
across does it cover into lection, but covers a big
chunk of the state of Kentucky's every one of those
ninety some outlets have are carrying it okay as well,
or shopcatspots dot COM's away. A lot of people do it.
We just ship you go.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
We have a couple minutes left.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
We've gone this without mentioning the quarterback. It probably Zach Calzada, but.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
The competition is probaly cutter.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
That's true. Every time I am curious, though, and I've
talked on my show, I think I've talk with you
about this. You've got to go back to Drew Barker,
to the time when Kentucky recruited a homegrown guy and
was grooming him to be the man for the next
two three seasons, and of course his injuries cut shortened.
That's when the revolving door began to spend.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
And there has been success. You know, Levis.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
You mentioned Terry Wilson Stephen Johnson, but that old school
method of developing qbs. Do you think that's gone for good?

Speaker 4 (31:42):
Depends on the continued success. I mean it's been especially
for Kentucky taking a QB out of the portal and
say here, you're in charge of my offense and my
locker room and the culture. That's a big risk. It
worked out beautifully with Will Levis, not so much the
last couple of years. And you gotta wait see If
I don't I like how they're doing it, you better

(32:04):
be grooming somebody because you'd be your better team if
you can lock in a three year quarterback, no doubt
than trying to key smell this every year. It's one
thing to throw an offensive lineman in there, but that position.
That's a huge reason. Now I like the direction they've gone.
And to me, he he may be the poster child
for let me show you what I can do in
the SEC again. Yes, because he was at Texas A

(32:28):
and m beat number one Alabama when he was thrown
into the fire and then decided to transfer out, got hurt,
ended up at Incarnate Word for two years. So you
talk about somebody wants to big chip on her shoulder.
I mean, show everyone, including the NFL. I can play
in the SEC, I can play anywhere. It's gonna be,
mister Calcota.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
But as you pointed out, he hasn't been sitting. He
hasn't been sitting get injured or benched or whatever. He
played a lot of football at the one double A level,
didn't he?

Speaker 4 (32:58):
Oh my god, the massive amount for passing yards. It's
gonna end g an offensive coordinator, same guy for two
years in a row. I see how that plates out.
It's gonna be. It is gonna come down to the
old line, but that looks like that is much improved.
And getting past that and getting back to where it's
supposed to be and bounce some time and let's see

(33:19):
what happens, because I like, I think they've got the
potential running back to be more of a Chris Rodriguez
type and get you to the yard you have to have.
And people may not agree with me, but I love
the wide receiver room and I think it's the edition.
I think it's edition by subtraction.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
I do do.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
They will miss the kick returns by Brown, excuse me,
but I do think we're gonna see uh, more balance
and more productivity.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
I like the running back room too, But we need
to wrap this up. Although if you want to hear
more from Daryl, will be on my show tonight.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
U and Darrel, I'll be calling you back here shortly
at the chat.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
I do appreciate your time and congrats on getting the
magazine he put to bid.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
Thank you, sir, appreciate it all right.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
Brother, and we'll come back and wrap things up on
this edition of the Leach Report. Welcome back to the
Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Final Thoughts presented by
Kentucky road Shows, Sports Cards and Memorabilia and Lexian and
learn more about them at roadshowcards dot com. We'll combine

(34:23):
these final thoughts with the happy birthdays to both Wesley
Woodyard and Coach Eddie Grant. Both of these guys were
I think appreciated when they were doing their best work
at UK, but at times underappreciated. When you look back
on Wesley Woodyard, the job he did at Kentucky, both
as a player and maybe more as.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
A leader, was phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
He was one of those guys who began to show
leadership qualities the day he set foot on campus. He
didn't wait until he was a junior or a senior.
I was told this by several players that Woodyard could.
He had the kind of personality and drive to go
to other players and say, hey.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
You need to pick it up a little bit, you
need to do your job. And the reason he was.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Able to do that was because he always gave maximum
effort and did such a good job at what he
was doing. He was a linebacker at Kentucky, although recruited
at least through in high school was a safety, but
became not just an All conference linebacker, but he played
twelve years in the National Football League, first for Denver

(35:28):
and then for Tennessee for the Titans after he signed
a free agent contract.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Eddie Grant offensive coordinator when Lynn Bowden was running.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Through the SEC, so he needed to be appreciated as well.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
I'll do it for now. Have a great day.