Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good day, everybody. Welcome into our show presented by Bobcat
Enterprises and glad to have you on board to talk
UK sports. For the rest of this hour. John Hale
from the Lexington Harold Leader who covers Kentucky football, will
join us and we'll get into breaking down some storylines
(00:23):
for the upcoming season, many of which John has already
written about, so we'll get to that in the second
half of the show. We'll lead off with Larry Vaught
coming up here in just a bit and get his
take on that. A couple of our one high school
sports story as well wild Cat News of the Day
presented by just Sepies of Lexington, god Mark's story on
(00:46):
the show of course yesterday and see he's got a
story that just came out today and the Lexington Herald
Leader about Jagger Burton going back to the center position.
So much focus on the offensive line in the lead
up to this Kentucky football season. The Wildcats devoted a
lot of nil spending to getting better in that area
(01:08):
after having that unit not performed well last year, and
gave you the stat I think one day last week
where Kentucky's been twelve or worse in rushing in sec
in the last three years in a row, and before
that they were top six or better five out of
the previous six years. So they've got to get back
(01:31):
to what has always been the bread and butter of
bark Stoops Meith's teams, which is being physical and running
the football, and that of course starts up front, and
going into the spring, I think the thought was that
Evan Wibberley, the transfer for Western Kentucky, would get the
starting center job and Jagger would have to Jagger Burt
(01:53):
would have to fight for the one of the spots
at guard, which is what position he has played primarily.
They tried to an experiment with him a couple of
seasons ago to be the center, had trouble with the snaps,
which was really the big issue why he ended up
moving back to guard and Eli Cows moved back to center.
But anyway, and the story, Jagger talks about how he
(02:13):
viewed that as a failure for him and so he
is eager to get it right and if he can.
You know, the reason they moved him there initially was
the athleticism he could bring to the position, and that's
a nice thing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
To have there.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But the first thing you got to get right is
the snap, and so he handles that well, and that'll
be you know, one thing that I'm sure the coaches
will be focusing on closely and the two scrimmages this month.
If he does that, then maybe he's got a chance
to blossom this season in the way that I think
was expected when he came to Kentucky. Plus it enhances
(02:54):
his pro value of getting to the next level. You
can play multiple positions in the old line. So there's
been so much talk about the offensive line and the
new players brought in there, and that we'll probably have
talked enough about the defensive front because they have some
new folks there that figure to make a big impact
(03:15):
after a Kentucky season that really struggled with injuries last
year at that position group with the guys that were
lost early in the season. Josiahes did make it back
late and then Dion Walker played at less than full
strength during his season. At his media session last week,
Mark Stoops talked at length about how excited he is
(03:37):
about those guys up front on the defensive side.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You look at David Gusta, you know he's a guy
that's three hundred and sixteen three twenty type guy. But man,
he can move. You know, he's a guy that you
know this offseason. I mean he did two twenty five
thirty eight times.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I mean he.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Is physically what you want and very twitchy and very
disruptive inside. And then you got Khalil who's two hundred
and ninety two pounds. You got Tavon, you know, and
again I'm not making excuses, but you go back to
last year, last fall, you know, you know, you got
Tavon who was injured the spring before, along with Josiah.
(04:18):
Both of those guys were not even relevant last year
until they got healthy and that was way late. And
both of those guys are back. I mean, Tavan's the
guy is three hundred pounds and that can move and
he's healthy. And Josiah is is down. You know, he
got a little heavy, he had been injured and everything,
and he's back at three twenty and gives us some
(04:39):
stout you know, stout presence inside. Grod Smith is a
guy like you're talking about, that's twitchy, that's two hundred
and seventy five pounds now inside, And you know mcketh,
you know, Grace is a guy that's dynamic. Now he's
physically on the edge exactly what you're looking for as well,
(04:59):
you know, but he's what two hundred and seventy two pounds,
he's seventy one seventy two. But another guy that like,
you know, vertical in thirty eight inches ten to six broad,
I mean, very athletic guy.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So that was Mark Steop's talking about his defensive front
Agusta or Dave Guesta. He's talking about initially that two
twenty five bench presses the standard at the NFL Combine
and to be able to do it that many times
lets you know how strong he is upfront, and that's
what you need at the position that he plays. So
(05:35):
really going to be interesting to watch in those two
scrimmages that'll be coming up later this month, that battle
between the offensive front and the defensive front. And I
would think the best case scenario from the coach's perspective
is that both sides are having their good stretches, good
days as opposed to one side being dominant. Because if
(05:56):
Kentucky can be significantly improved in those two position groups,
then that's a big part of how you write the
script for outperforming the low expectations for the upcoming Kentucky
football season. One of the reasons that Kentucky's not predicted
to do well is because of who they have to play.
(06:17):
The preseason coaches poll came out yesterday. Six Kentucky opponents
are ranked in the top eighteen slots of the top
twenty five teams. Texas won, Georgia four, South Carolina thirteen,
almost fifteen's Florida seventeen, Tennessee eighteen. Those four in particular
feature three games at home. So if Kentucky is going
(06:41):
to be able to hit the marks that it wants
to hit, you're gonna have to beat somebody like that.
And you get three of those teams that are ranked
on your home field, and then number one Texas makes
it four out of the eighteen that actually will be
in Lexington. How homefield hadn't been particularly kind of Kentucky
as you would hope in the last few years. But again,
(07:03):
that's something else they've got to change if they want
to write a different script for the upcoming season. We'll
talk about all this coming up as we moved through
the show today. Larry Vatt will join us from voughtsfeus
dot com and your sports Edge dot Com John Hale.
A little later on here on the Leech Report, our
opening segment always presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. Get to
open Table and make a reservation for your next special
(07:26):
dining experience at Giuseppes. Because it is more than just
eating out. It's great food, homemade pastas and handcut steaks
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(07:46):
that they expanded the lounge area, So check it all out.
Get to Giuseppe soon we'll be right back on the
Leech Report Radio Network. Leach Report presented each day by
Bob Kat Enterprises. They have four locations around Kentucky. So
when you need to buy or rent a piece of
heavy equipment for a job, you call up Bobcat Enterprises.
(08:09):
They'll have what you need and they give you great
service after the deal is done.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
As well.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's zero turn morse for your home ONWN too, So
for locations for Bobcat Enterprises, google them to find the
one that's closest to you. Larry Vaud joins the program
from your sports Edge dot com and Motsviews dot com,
and Larry's hearing a lot of content these days from
Kentucky football, starting last week with Mark Stoops and then
(08:35):
continuing to kick off luncheon and media Day and fan Day.
So do you sense that there's any growing optimism among
Kentucky fans.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think some fans are wanting to be a little
bit more optimistic because you're certainly hearing all the right things.
But I think the real optimism comes when they open
the season against Toledo and you can see exactly what
the product is going to be because you normally don't
hear a lot of bad things when teams and coaches
(09:07):
are talking about themselves.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So I think I think.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Fans are more kind of, I would say, kind of
cautiously optimistic now after finally hearing some things that maybe
what they were a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, it kind of seems like it started with the
recruiting successes that they had in June, and but I
think there's an element of it to you know, Kentucky
fans have been just tremendously resilient through the years, and
I think they so desperately want to have that success
in football that I think there's there's some that have
(09:41):
just you know, drawn a lot drawn their lines in
the sand, But I think I do think the majority
will be hopeful at least when the season starts. It's
going to come down to, you know, what the team
does on the field, and the first game will be
a very good test. I mean, if if you're going
to be as much improved as as they think that
they are, they ought to be able to pass that test.
But it's still not an easy one.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
No, it's a pretty difficult opener. You can just tell
that by the way the betting line where it's setting
out and all like that. And Toledo's a really good
football team and Kentucky's going to have a lot of unknowns,
or at least unknowns to folks like us and to
fans coaches that may feel pretty confident about what they've
got over for the rest of us, it's a lot
(10:25):
of unknowns we're going to really see out there for
the first time, and that's going to be a I mean,
you hate to go into a season saying the first
game of the season is a must win, a kind
of a game that you've got to have or the
season could just go disastrous. But it's almost what this
one is like. And then these first four games, it's
(10:47):
going to be a really interesting stretch for Mark Stuke's team,
these first four games.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Yeah, because two of the teams were ranked Ole Miss fifteen,
South Carolina thirteen. That they'll play in the month of December.
They get the Rebels at home, and I've always thought that,
you know, you had in the Eastern Michigan game on
the third week, that if they could exit the month
of September at three and one, meaning you win the
(11:12):
two MAC games most likely, and then get an upset
at least in one of the two conference games that
they that would be the scenario they would need to
be able to get on the path to getting back
to postseason.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
I totally agree, and that's why I think if they
come out of those four games three and one, then
I think the fan base is fully engaged with Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
From there on.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
And that's I mean, it's not an impossible task. I
don't think because you wanted O Miss last year until
the past couple of years, you had really good success
against South Carolina, but seeing thinking about it on paper
and talking about it here and going out and doing
it two different things. So but you're right, we won't
have to wait long to see where this team is
(12:00):
going to be and I think how the fan base
is going to react to it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
We're talking with Larry Vatt from your sports Edge dot
com Voughtsviews dot com and we'll continue here in just
a moment. It is the Leads Report Radio network presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. Lads Report coming to you from the
Clark's Pumping Shop studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel at Clark's.
(12:23):
Larry Vatt is with us and we're talking about UK
football and you have story up at your sports edge
dot com about ty Bryant and Tie on the defensive side,
Jabory Macklin on the offensive side, were two guys that
were in the media session after the blowout loss to
Louisville last November, and they were saying some things about,
(12:45):
you know, accountability and the things that had slipped for
Kentucky football. And you always wonder how that's going to
be received by the coaches of players. And I actually
asked Tye about it and I did an interview with
him this summer and he said he and Mark Stoops
talked about it, and to Stoop's credit, sounds like from
(13:07):
everything he said, uh, and the fact that those two
guys are are still here their decisions or a coach's decision,
whatever they in this case, both sides desperately wanted them
back here, and that Mark listened to what they said
and sounds like he found some agreement with it.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Yeah, sure, doing you we add fifty new players. I'll
tell you that you listened to something about what was
going on with the roster that you you had. And
both those guys, as you said, had plenty of opportunities
if they wanted to transfer, that they could have, but
they both stayed here for whatever reasons they each had.
And I think everything that they have said has been
(13:47):
confirmed by other people, But those were probably two of
the most honest interviews I've ever heard after a team
finished the season for guys to come out and be
that bold about what they have said. But what I
like about it too is that they haven't backed off
since then talking about that. Yeah, that was an issue,
but here, hopefully this year things are better. And here's
(14:11):
why I talked about how he tired he got of
having to people ask him what went wrong last season
and he didn't really have an answer to give him
because he knew they should have been better. And when
he talked about the players just kind of quit on
the team midway of the season, those are not the
kind of comments you will come hearing from a player
that has the respect that type Ryan does.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So the fact that you know he has that respect,
he and Joe morri are still here doing their part
to lead is it's just one of several things that
you know, it's all, you know, just things we're talking about.
It's ultimately going to come down to what happens on
the field. But it just seems like from those kind
of situations and the fact that they haven't had disciplinary
(14:54):
issues and they haven't had injury issues that they're dealing with,
that they have about as many things lining up in
their favor leadership, you know, with these guys to have
a chance to prove some people wrong. So it's still
up to them to do it.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Yeah, because the culture things. Certainly, when you just listen
to what we've heard the last week or two weeks now,
it certainly seems like that is way, way better, and
I think that's a start. I even think that Mark
Stoops sounds more like the Mark Stoops of six or
seven years ago to me, and maybe the Mark Stoops
of the past couple of years. You can tell he's
(15:32):
kind of got a little pep in his step, but
he wants to go out and prove people wrong. And
I've always thought that nineteen out of twenty times Kentucky
football handles adversity better than in Handle's prosperity. And they
certainly have got a lot of adversity that they're facing,
but they certainly have won the interview game the last
couple of weeks. Now where the things they have said,
(15:53):
and if everything they said is true, that I think
you're going to see a better discipline team, the team
that will give you a better effort. Now, how does
that translate the wins against the schedule they got. I
don't know, but at least just listening to things, it
sounds better.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
A little more than a minute left here, let me
get your quick thought from you on the hsaa's Board
of control meeting last week and tabling a decision to
perhaps take a vote on putting the shot clock in
for high school basketball in Kentucky. Doesn't seem from their
surveys that there's still the majority is still against it,
(16:29):
but the new president elect of the board would like
to see it happen, so he's going to try to,
I guess, make his case. There's a lot of high
school coaches across the state you still like to control
what goes on at the game, and they have a
lot of save with obviously the people at their school
that are going to do the voting. So I don't
know if it's a change we will see anytime soon.
(16:51):
I would kind of like to see it as well,
but it sort of seems like the majority of schools
right now are content with what's going on. And some
of it is a cost issue. You know, it's another
piece of equipment to have and you got to pay
somebody to run it during a game. But it can
be you know, maddening to especially you know, when you
get into things like the state tournament to watch. You know,
(17:13):
back to what we grew up with in college basketball
in the seventies that led to the shot clock in
the eighties, with just the game getting you know, vexed
with slowdowns and holding the ball on those kinds of
things it does.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
I guess the flip side of that would be that
some folks would argue that gives a coach that can
build a team a certain way a chance to compete
against a more talented team just can control the action
and control the number of shots that get taken.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And I all like that.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
So there's I guess two different sides to it. But
I believe it will eventually get here, just maybe not
in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Larry Vaught always a pleasure. Thank you, sir. Okay Kyle,
that is Larry Vaught. You can read as a story
about Ty Bryant we were talking about and the rest
of his coverage UK sports at your sports edge dot
com and you can catch them on Sunday Mornings with
Anthony White, Jack Pilgrim Bo Robinson on the Sunday Morning
Sports talk show Here in the Lexington market. We're halfway
(18:12):
home on this edition of the Leech Report, presented by
Bobcat Enterprises. We'll be right back second half of the
Leach Report for this Tuesday as we welcome in John Hale,
who covers Kentucky football for the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky
Sports dot com. So they are into their first full
(18:34):
week of what they call training camp. John and Kentucky
will have a scrimmage assume this Saturday and next Saturday
per usual. And are those sessions, those kind of scrimmage
sessions even more important for this team with so many
new faces and guys being able to find a spot
on the depth chart.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, I think it is. It's interesting because their heart, like,
the roster is so new, half the scholarship players are
on the team for the first time that like, normally
you would come in and think, Wow, every single spot's
up for grabs. But because so many of those guys
were in spring, like especially the two practices we saw
Friday and Saturday, like, there aren't a lot of questions
in terms of the starting lineup at least, But what
(19:17):
there is a lot of questions about is how these
guys like gel together. They're still trying to figure each
other out, learn and especially on offense with the quarterback
and so many new receivers. Those scrimmages are going to
end the live situations are going to be a huge
test to see if they can just like execute the scheme.
I mean that was a storyline last year and we
heard some struggles about how they were handling that and
(19:37):
it kind of carried over into the season. So it's
going to be really interesting to see how those guys
are just like operating together. Even if it's not necessarily
a like, you know, true battle for a starting spot,
it's really really important to see if they can perform.
And then some guys farther down the depth chart, like
those are their opportunities always to say like I need
to be included this too, especially they're true freshmen because
(19:58):
they have so many transfers like maybe this year where
they don't depend on them, But some of those guys
are really talented and if they earned the spot to
play in those two scrimmages, they're going to play.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
And as far as freshman at the wide receiver position,
that's where guys might have an opportunity to play their
way up. I always think Benny Stell was probably the
best example of that is through two scrimmages, he definitely
made a statement that he needed to be in the rotation.
And Zach Calzatta, you have a story about Zach Calzatta,
(20:29):
the quarterback, talking about one of the freshman wide receivers
in glowing terms.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, DJ Miller, who's was kind of the guy. If
you remember, on signing day there was some drama about
whether he was going to sign or not. There out
basically the entire class except him on signing day and
Mark Steps said, hey, we're going to have one more
guy in the next couple of hours, and the next
couple hours came and went without anybody. He did end
up signing the next day, but that that shows you
kind of like what the talent level was. He was
(20:54):
a three star guy consensus, so maybe not jumping off
the page there, but Tennessee and Ole Miss obvious, two
of the most high octane offenses in the country, were
both after him. He was, you know, close with Dakiel
Schwartz the wide receivers coaches left, so that's why there
was some drama there. But when he came in the spring,
heard positive things about him all spring. One of those
open practices we saw the spring, but one of the
(21:16):
best practice catches you'll ever see. He's a big guy
at six y three. And then on signing day I
asked Kalzata just kind of what he had done in
the spring to make an impact, and he told me
he was the best freshman wide receiver he'd ever seen,
which is, you know, an interesting thing. Guys like to
talk about their teammates, but it's portant to remember. This
is Zach kelsata sixth college season, and three of those
(21:37):
were at Texas A and m and Opa, places that
traditionally bring in really good freshmen, and so that makes
you take note he's not a finished product by any means.
And I think in Saturday's Fan Day practice he crossed
a couple of passes, But every practice we've been out
there since the spring, he's made plays. The same can
be true of Montevin Quisenberry, who locally fans know a
lot better from his time at Boyle County. You look
(21:58):
at him on the field and think, there's just way
that guy's big enough to play in the SEC. And
every time you watch them, he makes a play. And
so I think those two guys are definitely going to
play in that freshman class. They have so many veteran
transfer receivers on the roster, but it's wide open there.
That's a spot where they're going to play five or six,
seven guys, and if those freshmen are in the spot,
they're going to be out.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
There think running back was a question of coming into
the training camp for fans anyway of how the running
back rotation would break down and how they would utilize
four guys there. But it sounds like from comments from
Bush Hampden that they want to start out any way
leaning on two new guys, and then the two guys
(22:39):
that were on the team last year will then try
to find their spot in the mix.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Right. Yeah, they'll need all four of those guys at
some point this season just because of the way running
back works and the physical toll of the position. But
Dante Dado, the transfer from Nebraska who they were high
on in the spring, certainly has that physicality to be
that Benny Snow Chris Rodriguez kind of guy in short
yard situations at least what they really struggled at last year.
(23:05):
And then they went out and added Seth McGowan for
in Mexico State, the former Oklahoma running back, for a
reason after spring practice they felt like they needed something
else and they felt like he was a true difference maker.
All of the reviews for him since he got here
in the summer have been glowing both on the field
and off the field. What limited we were able to
see of them. They didn't do a lot with Doubtel
or McGowan at fan Day, but on Friday when the
(23:26):
media were out there, both of them looked really good.
He made plays in Mexico State both as a runner
and a pass catcher. I think that's going to be
part of the offense. So those two guys definitely are
going to have feature roles, and if the offensive line
has improved, if they were successful in the rebuild there,
it feels like maybe the strength of this offense will
be what you kind of associate with a Mark Stoops team,
(23:47):
that kind of power run game with those two guys
leading the way.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You did an extensive interview with Seth McGowan talking about
the issues that he had that led him away from
Oklahoma and on this eventual path at Kentucky. What would
what were your takeaways from that?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, it was really interesting because all the talk in
the off season was about rebuilding the culture and getting
the locker room right, and so then their first spring
addition in the transfer portal is a guy who is
a convicted felony on his record. I mean he at
Nebraska at Oklahoma as a freshman, was he and two
other players were charged with robbery charges armed robbery charges.
(24:27):
They ended up pleading to a lesser charge that was
still feling. He spent three months in jail while he
was waiting the sentence and eventually got sentenced to a
year of probation, got kicked off the team at Oklahoma,
eventually landed in it and in a I A school
in Texas, then transferred to a junior college for a year,
then back to New Mexico State last year, finally to
get his chance at Division one leveled again. You think
(24:49):
about a guy like that and say, okay, what's what's
the red flag here? But a couple important points. J Bowlware,
Kentucky's running backs coach, was the running backs coach at
Oklahoma when all that happened, recruited him there. So obviously
those well Mark Stoops clearly has a ton of connections
at Oklahoma through his brother. So that's a spot where
you could do a lot of homework and everything. Everybody
said it in Mesco State about Seth was you know,
(25:09):
really really positive that he had kind of turned his
life around, he had rededicated himself, learned from his mistake
and sitting now, I sat I went him in twenty
five thirty minutes last week, and it was really impressive.
I mean, he's got He was not running away from
any of the things that happened to Oklahoma, and a
lot of times you might see somebody just try and
pretend it didn't happen. He does not want to do that.
He wants people to know his story and know how
(25:30):
close he was to giving this up or you know,
kind of ruin his opportunity as a really talented player,
and wants to help younger players, you know, avoid those
same mistakes. And so I think he could be a
really positive influence on and off the field for this team. Obviously,
he's got to prove it every day when something like
that happens. When you made that kind of mistake, you
are going to always have some people doubting you. He's
got to keep proving that he's fixed his life that way.
(25:52):
But it seems like all all indications are positive so far.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You haven't seen it. You find it at Kentucky sports
dot com and so great story from John Hale, who
covers Kentucky football from the Lexington Herald Leader. And we'll
continue our conversation. Will be come right back on this
Tuesday edition of The Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
We're back with John Hale, who covers Kentucky football for
(26:15):
the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports dot Com. We're coming
to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh
and refuel at Clark's. I'm sure you get signed up
with their new loyalty rewards program as well. We're talking
mostly about the offensive side, John. In the first segment. Defensively,
Brad White, the defensive coordinator, talked at his media session
(26:37):
on Friday with you guys about a little bit of
a different approach, more guys playing fewer snaps essentially, right.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, I think it's going to be a spot where
we saw last year in the second half the defense
really struggled. They were who we thought they were going
to be through the first four or five games, and
then it just kind of fell apart. Was that because
the physical toll held up or kind of took effect.
Was it a mental thing? I don't know, But improving
the depth is one kind of obvious solution to do that.
(27:07):
And the question is do they have any true stars
on defense? I don't think we see those right away
off on paper. But if you can replace some of
that by rotating a bunch of guys out there, keeping
the fresh, especially in that front seven, that's a viable strategy.
And so we need to see many many of those
players they signed from the portal from smaller schools proved
that they can do it at this level. But if
(27:28):
they can, then it's a real spot where you can
feel pretty good about the depth overall, which has not
always been the case for this defense in recent years.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, they were to be fair hit hard with some
injuries going into last season at that particular position group,
with Hayes all about for almost the entire season, Dads
did out. Those were guys that would have played in
the D line. And then Diana Walker was not healthy
really from the get go last season and didn't have
the kind of year I think he was expected to have.
(27:55):
Certainly now you haven't had any of those injury issues
to deal with.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Stoops.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
We have the SoundBite in the opening segment talking about
Gusta and how big and strong he is, fast and
you know, hazys back and he's up to three twenty.
Hearing a lot of good things about Gerrod Smith from
the Corbin too.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Right, Yeah, he looked good and Saturday's Fanday practice for sure,
definitely had a couple of plays to stand out. And
if you're a defensive lineman doing that in that kind
of setting, you know it's good because it's not always
easy to judge those guys when you're not tackling to
the ground. So he's absolutely a player who's going to
play a lot in that rotation. Khalil Saunders came back
this year was also running with the starters with Gusta
(28:34):
and mcquee, Humphrey Grace the transfer they signed from South Dakota,
So they should be seven or eight deep on the
defensive line, and because they have some different body types there,
some more athletic guys, I think we'll probably see them
be truly multiple in their formations, have some more four
down fronts than maybe we've seen in the last few
years since they really transitioned to a three to four.
That will be interesting. Edge rusher is a spot where
(28:56):
we don't really know anything because the guys are all
new cam Olds from from Kent State. Was kind of
recruited to be the number one guy there, but it
seems like Sam Green, who came from USC, has maybe
taken over that starting spot already didn't play a ton
at USC, doesn't have huge numbers, but physically looks the part,
and so that will be interesting too. Can they get
(29:16):
that consistent pass rush? I think it will be a
committee approach. There's not going to be a one guy
out there with double digit sacks. But if you can
get more pressure from the front the line, take some
pressure off those ed rushers. But if they can contribute
to if your athletic inside linebackers can contribute, maybe that's
the recipe to having a consistent pass rush for this defense.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
What about the inside linebackers, because you have guys there
that nobody's built like Jamon Dumas Johnson in that group
that at least the guys projected to start, they aren't.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
No. Yeah, I mean, alex Afari is bigger than we
probably give him credit for because we still kind of
think of him as a safety defensive back when he
got here, and he's put on weight after moving to
inside linebacker last year, but he's still certainly not the
biggest linebacker you've ever seen. And David and Rayner, the
startup middle linebacker, is frankly just skinny. I mean, that's
just who he is. Mark Stoops kind of lit the
(30:08):
fire under him last week saying he's the one guy
who has not been able to put on late when
in all the work in the offseason, they really need
him to do that. Athletically, those guys are great. You
just have a question about physically can they hold up
to an SEC schedule over twelve games, and it's going
to be a real test. They did sign the transfer
from TCU behind David and Rayner, who is a bigger
guy who can bring some of that physicality. That's good.
(30:31):
Antoine Smith, the retger freshman. The players in Atlanta at
SEC media days were raving about him. But he's another
kind of smaller athletic linebacker. They've had success with those
body types in the past. You know, think about Jordan
Jones or certain Jamie Davis before he really really grew
into what he became in the NFL. Like those guys
have worked in this defense and if they stay healthy,
(30:52):
I think you feel good about them. But the question
is can you stay healthy over twelve games.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Afar he's one of the guys that has always had
flashes of a player that you thought had a lot
more upside, and it didn't seem like he ever found
a place to land. He would be some kind of
a hybrid of a outside linebacker or a safety or
you know, fifty B whatever. And now he has had
(31:18):
a spot where they've put him, and he's focused on
getting bigger, and he's he knows clearly what his role is.
He's a guy that I could see having certainly the
best year of his career.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yeah. Absolutely, And that was an interesting decision last year
because it did feel like for his first two years here,
it was kind of like he was always in that
best eleven so that we're just trying to find a
spot to get him on the field, and maybe that
hurt his overall development. But last year they just said, like,
even though they had jamn Jimus Johnson and Eric Jackson back,
we're moving you to inside linebacker and that's your home.
And it ended up being he still ended up playing
(31:52):
a ton because those guys got hurt down the stretch,
But he wasn't a starter coming into the year, even
though we had always we had thought about him as
one of the best eleven defense for a while now,
but it feels like this is paid off now. He
got bigger, he knows the position, and because he got
that experience down the stretch when those guys were hurt,
it's not new in any way for him. But he's
just an linebacker now and he's a guy who knows
(32:13):
the defense inside it out. It's probably gonna be He's
not the loudest guy in the world, but they need
him to be that vocal presence in the middle of
the defense. I think he's definitely if you're talking about
breakout candidates on this roster, he's probably number one on
the list.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Back to the offensive side, what are you hearing about
the quarterbacks in the early days of practice.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, it was obviously made a lot of headlines and
people took note. The two days that we were out there,
Cutter Bowli had two really good days. I still don't
think it's a true quarterback competition. I mean, Mark acknowledged
last week if the season started today is at Calzato
would be the starter. He took basically all the first
team reps the two days we were out there. But
it's a big deal that Cutter has shown some improvement
from the spring because Franklin in the spring, I don't
(32:55):
think there was ever a moment where you thought he
was a serious challenger for the job. And they need
him to be ready because there are questions ay about
how Kalsada is going to adjust from you know, two
years of FCS coming back to the SEC and we've
seen so many times over the last decade Kentucky quarterbacks
get hurt. They just almost never make it through the
whole season with one guy. So they need Cutter ready
to go in in a moment's notice. And you feel
(33:16):
much better about that if he's improved and made that
jump over the summer than you would have just going
into the winter. That's why they had to add a
veteran guy. He clearly has a huge ceiling. Could be
a star in this league. He's just got to put
it together. The plan was always for him to sit
for two years behind Brock Vandergriff. Since Brock didn't stick
for the second year, they got complicated. But he's still
on paced, I think, to where he needs to be.
(33:38):
But they need him to be a viable option, and
what we saw in most two practices suggests he's getting
closer to that.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Back to Calzada, what's the best version of him. Do
you think what would that look like?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Yeah, I think it looks similar to what Kentucky fans,
you know, love so much about Steven Johnson and those
twenty sixteen twenty seventeen teams. Like Kalzada physically looks differ
than Johnson's because he's big and stocky and Steven was
obviously a smaller guy. But he can make plays with
his leg. Arm strengths are real plus for him. Remember
Steven had so many of those deep balls. Thinking back
to that Louisville game where they upset Lamar Jackson like
(34:13):
right off the bat, but struggled maybe some with that
intermediate passing, some short passing games. I think that could
be an issue for Calzada early on. We saw several
drops in the two practices where it just looked like
he threw it so hard. Maybe the receivers weren't ready
for that. So we'll see how that progresses a little bit.
But his personality and that kind of you know, willing
to put his body on the line reminds you Steven
(34:33):
and remind you Will Levis that first season. So I
think that part of it could make him a real
fan favorite. He's just got to make sure that he
improves that accuracy on the intermediate and short stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
In terms of leadership, you know, it sounds great him
looks good in the movies when the quarterback takes control
of the huddle. But I think the best kind of
quarterback leadership comes from the ability of the guys that
he's in the huddle with thinking that they're better because
he's out there at the helm. How Jared lorenzen lit So,
I think that's usually probably the you know, where a
(35:04):
guy like Kelsata can can best make a statement from
a leadership standpoint on the field.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, absolutely, And with so many new faces, like that's
going to be important too, Like everybody's going to be
looking for that guy. They just on offense in particular,
they don't have anybody back really can who can say,
like you, that's definitely the leader because he's played so
much here. I mean, they have a couple offensive linemen,
Joshkatis's back, but like, those aren't positions where you're necessarily
thinking you're you're a true leader. It needs to come
from your quarterback. And so if Zach can prove that,
(35:30):
you know, he's obviously not going to be live for
contact at any point in fall camp and these scrimmages.
But like the first couple of games, if he can
make some of those plays, I think that'll go a
long way to earning the trust of his teammates and
fans too.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, there's so much new on the offensive side that
it's you know, you can be You can choose to
be as optimistic or as pessimistic as you want from
what you have to go on.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean, you can really talk yourself into
a path where if you know, let's say, eighty five
percent of their transportations click, where this could be a
really surprising, you know, seven eight win team. But you
also have to be realistic about the fact that so
many of these guys have not played this level and
they didn't they weren't very successful in picking transfers last year,
and it could go the other way. But it's fun
(36:12):
at this point because we just don't know. I've never
seen a team where we knew so little about it
going into the year, even if we know the names
that are gonna play, And so that's gonna be really
fun early in the season to figure out, like how
many of these guys are legitimate and if they are.
I think that's a path to where this could be
a U. I know a lot of fans are checked
out right now and maybe aren't giving them the benefit
of the doubt. But if they play that way and
play with that chip on their shoulder, so many guys
(36:33):
from smaller schools proving themselves, that's a recipe to be,
you know, a fun team. If it works.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
That is John Hale. You can read them at Kentucky
Sports dot com and in the pages of the Lexington
Harold Leader.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Thank you, Thanks Tom leads.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Report Radio Network presented by Bob Ken Enterprises. We'll be
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cornbreadhamp dot com. This is the Good Life Intropoard presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. And Ansley Alanor is headed to Finland
to continue his basketball career. He has signed a pro
(37:51):
contract with the top team in Finland's pro league. So
good luck to Ansley was a key piece to Mark
Pope's first And I was saying to someone yesterday I
was on the BBN Tonight Show. I think we were
talking about this about Annesley, and I said, if this
uh career with if the career stopped with Mark Pope
(38:13):
here in Kentucky plays out the way that everybody hopes
that it will, that first team is going to get
a lot of credit for what they did to make
it happen. As you can tell, we are out of
time for this edition of the Leads Report, so we
will see you tomorrow.
Good day, everybody. Welcome into our show presented by Bobcat
Enterprises and glad to have you on board to talk
UK sports. For the rest of this hour. John Hale
from the Lexington Harold Leader who covers Kentucky football, will
join us and we'll get into breaking down some storylines
(00:23):
for the upcoming season, many of which John has already
written about, so we'll get to that in the second
half of the show. We'll lead off with Larry Vaught
coming up here in just a bit and get his
take on that. A couple of our one high school
sports story as well wild Cat News of the Day
presented by just Sepies of Lexington, god Mark's story on
(00:46):
the show of course yesterday and see he's got a
story that just came out today and the Lexington Herald
Leader about Jagger Burton going back to the center position.
So much focus on the offensive line in the lead
up to this Kentucky football season. The Wildcats devoted a
lot of nil spending to getting better in that area
(01:08):
after having that unit not performed well last year, and
gave you the stat I think one day last week
where Kentucky's been twelve or worse in rushing in sec
in the last three years in a row, and before
that they were top six or better five out of
the previous six years. So they've got to get back
(01:31):
to what has always been the bread and butter of
bark Stoops Meith's teams, which is being physical and running
the football, and that of course starts up front, and
going into the spring, I think the thought was that
Evan Wibberley, the transfer for Western Kentucky, would get the
starting center job and Jagger would have to Jagger Burt
(01:53):
would have to fight for the one of the spots
at guard, which is what position he has played primarily.
They tried to an experiment with him a couple of
seasons ago to be the center, had trouble with the snaps,
which was really the big issue why he ended up
moving back to guard and Eli Cows moved back to center.
But anyway, and the story, Jagger talks about how he
(02:13):
viewed that as a failure for him and so he
is eager to get it right and if he can.
You know, the reason they moved him there initially was
the athleticism he could bring to the position, and that's
a nice thing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
To have there.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But the first thing you got to get right is
the snap, and so he handles that well, and that'll
be you know, one thing that I'm sure the coaches
will be focusing on closely and the two scrimmages this month.
If he does that, then maybe he's got a chance
to blossom this season in the way that I think
was expected when he came to Kentucky. Plus it enhances
(02:54):
his pro value of getting to the next level. You
can play multiple positions in the old line. So there's
been so much talk about the offensive line and the
new players brought in there, and that we'll probably have
talked enough about the defensive front because they have some
new folks there that figure to make a big impact
(03:15):
after a Kentucky season that really struggled with injuries last
year at that position group with the guys that were
lost early in the season. Josiahes did make it back
late and then Dion Walker played at less than full
strength during his season. At his media session last week,
Mark Stoops talked at length about how excited he is
(03:37):
about those guys up front on the defensive side.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You look at David Gusta, you know he's a guy
that's three hundred and sixteen three twenty type guy. But man,
he can move. You know, he's a guy that you
know this offseason. I mean he did two twenty five
thirty eight times.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I mean he.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Is physically what you want and very twitchy and very
disruptive inside. And then you got Khalil who's two hundred
and ninety two pounds. You got Tavon, you know, and
again I'm not making excuses, but you go back to
last year, last fall, you know, you know, you got
Tavon who was injured the spring before, along with Josiah.
(04:18):
Both of those guys were not even relevant last year
until they got healthy and that was way late. And
both of those guys are back. I mean, Tavan's the
guy is three hundred pounds and that can move and
he's healthy. And Josiah is is down. You know, he
got a little heavy, he had been injured and everything,
and he's back at three twenty and gives us some
(04:39):
stout you know, stout presence inside. Grod Smith is a
guy like you're talking about, that's twitchy, that's two hundred
and seventy five pounds now inside, And you know mcketh,
you know, Grace is a guy that's dynamic. Now he's
physically on the edge exactly what you're looking for as well,
(04:59):
you know, but he's what two hundred and seventy two pounds,
he's seventy one seventy two. But another guy that like,
you know, vertical in thirty eight inches ten to six broad,
I mean, very athletic guy.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So that was Mark Steop's talking about his defensive front
Agusta or Dave Guesta. He's talking about initially that two
twenty five bench presses the standard at the NFL Combine
and to be able to do it that many times
lets you know how strong he is upfront, and that's
what you need at the position that he plays. So
(05:35):
really going to be interesting to watch in those two
scrimmages that'll be coming up later this month, that battle
between the offensive front and the defensive front. And I
would think the best case scenario from the coach's perspective
is that both sides are having their good stretches, good
days as opposed to one side being dominant. Because if
(05:56):
Kentucky can be significantly improved in those two position groups,
then that's a big part of how you write the
script for outperforming the low expectations for the upcoming Kentucky
football season. One of the reasons that Kentucky's not predicted
to do well is because of who they have to play.
(06:17):
The preseason coaches poll came out yesterday. Six Kentucky opponents
are ranked in the top eighteen slots of the top
twenty five teams. Texas won, Georgia four, South Carolina thirteen,
almost fifteen's Florida seventeen, Tennessee eighteen. Those four in particular
feature three games at home. So if Kentucky is going
(06:41):
to be able to hit the marks that it wants
to hit, you're gonna have to beat somebody like that.
And you get three of those teams that are ranked
on your home field, and then number one Texas makes
it four out of the eighteen that actually will be
in Lexington. How homefield hadn't been particularly kind of Kentucky
as you would hope in the last few years. But again,
(07:03):
that's something else they've got to change if they want
to write a different script for the upcoming season. We'll
talk about all this coming up as we moved through
the show today. Larry Vatt will join us from voughtsfeus
dot com and your sports Edge dot Com John Hale.
A little later on here on the Leech Report, our
opening segment always presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. Get to
open Table and make a reservation for your next special
(07:26):
dining experience at Giuseppes. Because it is more than just
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(07:46):
that they expanded the lounge area, So check it all out.
Get to Giuseppe soon we'll be right back on the
Leech Report Radio Network. Leach Report presented each day by
Bob Kat Enterprises. They have four locations around Kentucky. So
when you need to buy or rent a piece of
heavy equipment for a job, you call up Bobcat Enterprises.
(08:09):
They'll have what you need and they give you great
service after the deal is done.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
As well.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's zero turn morse for your home ONWN too, So
for locations for Bobcat Enterprises, google them to find the
one that's closest to you. Larry Vaud joins the program
from your sports Edge dot com and Motsviews dot com,
and Larry's hearing a lot of content these days from
Kentucky football, starting last week with Mark Stoops and then
(08:35):
continuing to kick off luncheon and media Day and fan Day.
So do you sense that there's any growing optimism among
Kentucky fans.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think some fans are wanting to be a little
bit more optimistic because you're certainly hearing all the right things.
But I think the real optimism comes when they open
the season against Toledo and you can see exactly what
the product is going to be because you normally don't
hear a lot of bad things when teams and coaches
(09:07):
are talking about themselves.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So I think I think.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Fans are more kind of, I would say, kind of
cautiously optimistic now after finally hearing some things that maybe
what they were a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, it kind of seems like it started with the
recruiting successes that they had in June, and but I
think there's an element of it to you know, Kentucky
fans have been just tremendously resilient through the years, and
I think they so desperately want to have that success
in football that I think there's there's some that have
(09:41):
just you know, drawn a lot drawn their lines in
the sand, But I think I do think the majority
will be hopeful at least when the season starts. It's
going to come down to, you know, what the team
does on the field, and the first game will be
a very good test. I mean, if if you're going
to be as much improved as as they think that
they are, they ought to be able to pass that test.
But it's still not an easy one.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
No, it's a pretty difficult opener. You can just tell
that by the way the betting line where it's setting
out and all like that. And Toledo's a really good
football team and Kentucky's going to have a lot of unknowns,
or at least unknowns to folks like us and to
fans coaches that may feel pretty confident about what they've
got over for the rest of us, it's a lot
(10:25):
of unknowns we're going to really see out there for
the first time, and that's going to be a I mean,
you hate to go into a season saying the first
game of the season is a must win, a kind
of a game that you've got to have or the
season could just go disastrous. But it's almost what this
one is like. And then these first four games, it's
(10:47):
going to be a really interesting stretch for Mark Stuke's team,
these first four games.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Yeah, because two of the teams were ranked Ole Miss fifteen,
South Carolina thirteen. That they'll play in the month of December.
They get the Rebels at home, and I've always thought that,
you know, you had in the Eastern Michigan game on
the third week, that if they could exit the month
of September at three and one, meaning you win the
(11:12):
two MAC games most likely, and then get an upset
at least in one of the two conference games that
they that would be the scenario they would need to
be able to get on the path to getting back
to postseason.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
I totally agree, and that's why I think if they
come out of those four games three and one, then
I think the fan base is fully engaged with Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
From there on.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
And that's I mean, it's not an impossible task. I
don't think because you wanted O Miss last year until
the past couple of years, you had really good success
against South Carolina, but seeing thinking about it on paper
and talking about it here and going out and doing
it two different things. So but you're right, we won't
have to wait long to see where this team is
(12:00):
going to be and I think how the fan base
is going to react to it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
We're talking with Larry Vatt from your sports Edge dot
com Voughtsviews dot com and we'll continue here in just
a moment. It is the Leads Report Radio network presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. Lads Report coming to you from the
Clark's Pumping Shop studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel at Clark's.
(12:23):
Larry Vatt is with us and we're talking about UK
football and you have story up at your sports edge
dot com about ty Bryant and Tie on the defensive side,
Jabory Macklin on the offensive side, were two guys that
were in the media session after the blowout loss to
Louisville last November, and they were saying some things about,
(12:45):
you know, accountability and the things that had slipped for
Kentucky football. And you always wonder how that's going to
be received by the coaches of players. And I actually
asked Tye about it and I did an interview with
him this summer and he said he and Mark Stoops
talked about it, and to Stoop's credit, sounds like from
(13:07):
everything he said, uh, and the fact that those two
guys are are still here their decisions or a coach's decision,
whatever they in this case, both sides desperately wanted them
back here, and that Mark listened to what they said
and sounds like he found some agreement with it.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Yeah, sure, doing you we add fifty new players. I'll
tell you that you listened to something about what was
going on with the roster that you you had. And
both those guys, as you said, had plenty of opportunities
if they wanted to transfer, that they could have, but
they both stayed here for whatever reasons they each had.
And I think everything that they have said has been
(13:47):
confirmed by other people, But those were probably two of
the most honest interviews I've ever heard after a team
finished the season for guys to come out and be
that bold about what they have said. But what I
like about it too is that they haven't backed off
since then talking about that. Yeah, that was an issue,
but here, hopefully this year things are better. And here's
(14:11):
why I talked about how he tired he got of
having to people ask him what went wrong last season
and he didn't really have an answer to give him
because he knew they should have been better. And when
he talked about the players just kind of quit on
the team midway of the season, those are not the
kind of comments you will come hearing from a player
that has the respect that type Ryan does.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So the fact that you know he has that respect,
he and Joe morri are still here doing their part
to lead is it's just one of several things that
you know, it's all, you know, just things we're talking about.
It's ultimately going to come down to what happens on
the field. But it just seems like from those kind
of situations and the fact that they haven't had disciplinary
(14:54):
issues and they haven't had injury issues that they're dealing with,
that they have about as many things lining up in
their favor leadership, you know, with these guys to have
a chance to prove some people wrong. So it's still
up to them to do it.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Yeah, because the culture things. Certainly, when you just listen
to what we've heard the last week or two weeks now,
it certainly seems like that is way, way better, and
I think that's a start. I even think that Mark
Stoops sounds more like the Mark Stoops of six or
seven years ago to me, and maybe the Mark Stoops
of the past couple of years. You can tell he's
(15:32):
kind of got a little pep in his step, but
he wants to go out and prove people wrong. And
I've always thought that nineteen out of twenty times Kentucky
football handles adversity better than in Handle's prosperity. And they
certainly have got a lot of adversity that they're facing,
but they certainly have won the interview game the last
couple of weeks. Now where the things they have said,
(15:53):
and if everything they said is true, that I think
you're going to see a better discipline team, the team
that will give you a better effort. Now, how does
that translate the wins against the schedule they got. I
don't know, but at least just listening to things, it
sounds better.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
A little more than a minute left here, let me
get your quick thought from you on the hsaa's Board
of control meeting last week and tabling a decision to
perhaps take a vote on putting the shot clock in
for high school basketball in Kentucky. Doesn't seem from their
surveys that there's still the majority is still against it,
(16:29):
but the new president elect of the board would like
to see it happen, so he's going to try to,
I guess, make his case. There's a lot of high
school coaches across the state you still like to control
what goes on at the game, and they have a
lot of save with obviously the people at their school
that are going to do the voting. So I don't
know if it's a change we will see anytime soon.
(16:51):
I would kind of like to see it as well,
but it sort of seems like the majority of schools
right now are content with what's going on. And some
of it is a cost issue. You know, it's another
piece of equipment to have and you got to pay
somebody to run it during a game. But it can
be you know, maddening to especially you know, when you
get into things like the state tournament to watch. You know,
(17:13):
back to what we grew up with in college basketball
in the seventies that led to the shot clock in
the eighties, with just the game getting you know, vexed
with slowdowns and holding the ball on those kinds of
things it does.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
I guess the flip side of that would be that
some folks would argue that gives a coach that can
build a team a certain way a chance to compete
against a more talented team just can control the action
and control the number of shots that get taken.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And I all like that.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
So there's I guess two different sides to it. But
I believe it will eventually get here, just maybe not
in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Larry Vaught always a pleasure. Thank you, sir. Okay Kyle,
that is Larry Vaught. You can read as a story
about Ty Bryant we were talking about and the rest
of his coverage UK sports at your sports edge dot
com and you can catch them on Sunday Mornings with
Anthony White, Jack Pilgrim Bo Robinson on the Sunday Morning
Sports talk show Here in the Lexington market. We're halfway
(18:12):
home on this edition of the Leech Report, presented by
Bobcat Enterprises. We'll be right back second half of the
Leach Report for this Tuesday as we welcome in John Hale,
who covers Kentucky football for the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky
Sports dot com. So they are into their first full
(18:34):
week of what they call training camp. John and Kentucky
will have a scrimmage assume this Saturday and next Saturday
per usual. And are those sessions, those kind of scrimmage
sessions even more important for this team with so many
new faces and guys being able to find a spot
on the depth chart.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, I think it is. It's interesting because their heart, like,
the roster is so new, half the scholarship players are
on the team for the first time that like, normally
you would come in and think, Wow, every single spot's
up for grabs. But because so many of those guys
were in spring, like especially the two practices we saw
Friday and Saturday, like, there aren't a lot of questions
in terms of the starting lineup at least, But what
(19:17):
there is a lot of questions about is how these
guys like gel together. They're still trying to figure each
other out, learn and especially on offense with the quarterback
and so many new receivers. Those scrimmages are going to
end the live situations are going to be a huge
test to see if they can just like execute the scheme.
I mean that was a storyline last year and we
heard some struggles about how they were handling that and
(19:37):
it kind of carried over into the season. So it's
going to be really interesting to see how those guys
are just like operating together. Even if it's not necessarily
a like, you know, true battle for a starting spot,
it's really really important to see if they can perform.
And then some guys farther down the depth chart, like
those are their opportunities always to say like I need
to be included this too, especially they're true freshmen because
(19:58):
they have so many transfers like maybe this year where
they don't depend on them, But some of those guys
are really talented and if they earned the spot to
play in those two scrimmages, they're going to play.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
And as far as freshman at the wide receiver position,
that's where guys might have an opportunity to play their
way up. I always think Benny Stell was probably the
best example of that is through two scrimmages, he definitely
made a statement that he needed to be in the rotation.
And Zach Calzatta, you have a story about Zach Calzatta,
(20:29):
the quarterback, talking about one of the freshman wide receivers
in glowing terms.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, DJ Miller, who's was kind of the guy. If
you remember, on signing day there was some drama about
whether he was going to sign or not. There out
basically the entire class except him on signing day and
Mark Steps said, hey, we're going to have one more
guy in the next couple of hours, and the next
couple hours came and went without anybody. He did end
up signing the next day, but that that shows you
kind of like what the talent level was. He was
(20:54):
a three star guy consensus, so maybe not jumping off
the page there, but Tennessee and Ole Miss obvious, two
of the most high octane offenses in the country, were
both after him. He was, you know, close with Dakiel
Schwartz the wide receivers coaches left, so that's why there
was some drama there. But when he came in the spring,
heard positive things about him all spring. One of those
open practices we saw the spring, but one of the
(21:16):
best practice catches you'll ever see. He's a big guy
at six y three. And then on signing day I
asked Kalzata just kind of what he had done in
the spring to make an impact, and he told me
he was the best freshman wide receiver he'd ever seen,
which is, you know, an interesting thing. Guys like to
talk about their teammates, but it's portant to remember. This
is Zach kelsata sixth college season, and three of those
(21:37):
were at Texas A and m and Opa, places that
traditionally bring in really good freshmen, and so that makes
you take note he's not a finished product by any means.
And I think in Saturday's Fan Day practice he crossed
a couple of passes, But every practice we've been out
there since the spring, he's made plays. The same can
be true of Montevin Quisenberry, who locally fans know a
lot better from his time at Boyle County. You look
(21:58):
at him on the field and think, there's just way
that guy's big enough to play in the SEC. And
every time you watch them, he makes a play. And
so I think those two guys are definitely going to
play in that freshman class. They have so many veteran
transfer receivers on the roster, but it's wide open there.
That's a spot where they're going to play five or six,
seven guys, and if those freshmen are in the spot,
they're going to be out.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
There think running back was a question of coming into
the training camp for fans anyway of how the running
back rotation would break down and how they would utilize
four guys there. But it sounds like from comments from
Bush Hampden that they want to start out any way
leaning on two new guys, and then the two guys
(22:39):
that were on the team last year will then try
to find their spot in the mix.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Right. Yeah, they'll need all four of those guys at
some point this season just because of the way running
back works and the physical toll of the position. But
Dante Dado, the transfer from Nebraska who they were high
on in the spring, certainly has that physicality to be
that Benny Snow Chris Rodriguez kind of guy in short
yard situations at least what they really struggled at last year.
(23:05):
And then they went out and added Seth McGowan for
in Mexico State, the former Oklahoma running back, for a
reason after spring practice they felt like they needed something
else and they felt like he was a true difference maker.
All of the reviews for him since he got here
in the summer have been glowing both on the field
and off the field. What limited we were able to
see of them. They didn't do a lot with Doubtel
or McGowan at fan Day, but on Friday when the
(23:26):
media were out there, both of them looked really good.
He made plays in Mexico State both as a runner
and a pass catcher. I think that's going to be
part of the offense. So those two guys definitely are
going to have feature roles, and if the offensive line
has improved, if they were successful in the rebuild there,
it feels like maybe the strength of this offense will
be what you kind of associate with a Mark Stoops team,
(23:47):
that kind of power run game with those two guys
leading the way.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You did an extensive interview with Seth McGowan talking about
the issues that he had that led him away from
Oklahoma and on this eventual path at Kentucky. What would
what were your takeaways from that?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, it was really interesting because all the talk in
the off season was about rebuilding the culture and getting
the locker room right, and so then their first spring
addition in the transfer portal is a guy who is
a convicted felony on his record. I mean he at
Nebraska at Oklahoma as a freshman, was he and two
other players were charged with robbery charges armed robbery charges.
(24:27):
They ended up pleading to a lesser charge that was
still feling. He spent three months in jail while he
was waiting the sentence and eventually got sentenced to a
year of probation, got kicked off the team at Oklahoma,
eventually landed in it and in a I A school
in Texas, then transferred to a junior college for a year,
then back to New Mexico State last year, finally to
get his chance at Division one leveled again. You think
(24:49):
about a guy like that and say, okay, what's what's
the red flag here? But a couple important points. J Bowlware,
Kentucky's running backs coach, was the running backs coach at
Oklahoma when all that happened, recruited him there. So obviously
those well Mark Stoops clearly has a ton of connections
at Oklahoma through his brother. So that's a spot where
you could do a lot of homework and everything. Everybody
said it in Mesco State about Seth was you know,
(25:09):
really really positive that he had kind of turned his
life around, he had rededicated himself, learned from his mistake
and sitting now, I sat I went him in twenty
five thirty minutes last week, and it was really impressive.
I mean, he's got He was not running away from
any of the things that happened to Oklahoma, and a
lot of times you might see somebody just try and
pretend it didn't happen. He does not want to do that.
He wants people to know his story and know how
(25:30):
close he was to giving this up or you know,
kind of ruin his opportunity as a really talented player,
and wants to help younger players, you know, avoid those
same mistakes. And so I think he could be a
really positive influence on and off the field for this team. Obviously,
he's got to prove it every day when something like
that happens. When you made that kind of mistake, you
are going to always have some people doubting you. He's
got to keep proving that he's fixed his life that way.
(25:52):
But it seems like all all indications are positive so far.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You haven't seen it. You find it at Kentucky sports
dot com and so great story from John Hale, who
covers Kentucky football from the Lexington Herald Leader. And we'll
continue our conversation. Will be come right back on this
Tuesday edition of The Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
We're back with John Hale, who covers Kentucky football for
(26:15):
the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports dot Com. We're coming
to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh
and refuel at Clark's. I'm sure you get signed up
with their new loyalty rewards program as well. We're talking
mostly about the offensive side, John. In the first segment. Defensively,
Brad White, the defensive coordinator, talked at his media session
(26:37):
on Friday with you guys about a little bit of
a different approach, more guys playing fewer snaps essentially, right.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, I think it's going to be a spot where
we saw last year in the second half the defense
really struggled. They were who we thought they were going
to be through the first four or five games, and
then it just kind of fell apart. Was that because
the physical toll held up or kind of took effect.
Was it a mental thing? I don't know, But improving
the depth is one kind of obvious solution to do that.
(27:07):
And the question is do they have any true stars
on defense? I don't think we see those right away
off on paper. But if you can replace some of
that by rotating a bunch of guys out there, keeping
the fresh, especially in that front seven, that's a viable strategy.
And so we need to see many many of those
players they signed from the portal from smaller schools proved
that they can do it at this level. But if
(27:28):
they can, then it's a real spot where you can
feel pretty good about the depth overall, which has not
always been the case for this defense in recent years.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, they were to be fair hit hard with some
injuries going into last season at that particular position group,
with Hayes all about for almost the entire season, Dads
did out. Those were guys that would have played in
the D line. And then Diana Walker was not healthy
really from the get go last season and didn't have
the kind of year I think he was expected to have.
(27:55):
Certainly now you haven't had any of those injury issues
to deal with.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Stoops.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
We have the SoundBite in the opening segment talking about
Gusta and how big and strong he is, fast and
you know, hazys back and he's up to three twenty.
Hearing a lot of good things about Gerrod Smith from
the Corbin too.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Right, Yeah, he looked good and Saturday's Fanday practice for sure,
definitely had a couple of plays to stand out. And
if you're a defensive lineman doing that in that kind
of setting, you know it's good because it's not always
easy to judge those guys when you're not tackling to
the ground. So he's absolutely a player who's going to
play a lot in that rotation. Khalil Saunders came back
this year was also running with the starters with Gusta
(28:34):
and mcquee, Humphrey Grace the transfer they signed from South Dakota,
So they should be seven or eight deep on the
defensive line, and because they have some different body types there,
some more athletic guys, I think we'll probably see them
be truly multiple in their formations, have some more four
down fronts than maybe we've seen in the last few
years since they really transitioned to a three to four.
That will be interesting. Edge rusher is a spot where
(28:56):
we don't really know anything because the guys are all
new cam Olds from from Kent State. Was kind of
recruited to be the number one guy there, but it
seems like Sam Green, who came from USC, has maybe
taken over that starting spot already didn't play a ton
at USC, doesn't have huge numbers, but physically looks the part,
and so that will be interesting too. Can they get
(29:16):
that consistent pass rush? I think it will be a
committee approach. There's not going to be a one guy
out there with double digit sacks. But if you can
get more pressure from the front the line, take some
pressure off those ed rushers. But if they can contribute
to if your athletic inside linebackers can contribute, maybe that's
the recipe to having a consistent pass rush for this defense.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
What about the inside linebackers, because you have guys there
that nobody's built like Jamon Dumas Johnson in that group
that at least the guys projected to start, they aren't.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
No. Yeah, I mean, alex Afari is bigger than we
probably give him credit for because we still kind of
think of him as a safety defensive back when he
got here, and he's put on weight after moving to
inside linebacker last year, but he's still certainly not the
biggest linebacker you've ever seen. And David and Rayner, the
startup middle linebacker, is frankly just skinny. I mean, that's
just who he is. Mark Stoops kind of lit the
(30:08):
fire under him last week saying he's the one guy
who has not been able to put on late when
in all the work in the offseason, they really need
him to do that. Athletically, those guys are great. You
just have a question about physically can they hold up
to an SEC schedule over twelve games, and it's going
to be a real test. They did sign the transfer
from TCU behind David and Rayner, who is a bigger
guy who can bring some of that physicality. That's good.
(30:31):
Antoine Smith, the retger freshman. The players in Atlanta at
SEC media days were raving about him. But he's another
kind of smaller athletic linebacker. They've had success with those
body types in the past. You know, think about Jordan
Jones or certain Jamie Davis before he really really grew
into what he became in the NFL. Like those guys
have worked in this defense and if they stay healthy,
(30:52):
I think you feel good about them. But the question
is can you stay healthy over twelve games.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Afar he's one of the guys that has always had
flashes of a player that you thought had a lot
more upside, and it didn't seem like he ever found
a place to land. He would be some kind of
a hybrid of a outside linebacker or a safety or
you know, fifty B whatever. And now he has had
(31:18):
a spot where they've put him, and he's focused on
getting bigger, and he's he knows clearly what his role is.
He's a guy that I could see having certainly the
best year of his career.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yeah. Absolutely, And that was an interesting decision last year
because it did feel like for his first two years here,
it was kind of like he was always in that
best eleven so that we're just trying to find a
spot to get him on the field, and maybe that
hurt his overall development. But last year they just said, like,
even though they had jamn Jimus Johnson and Eric Jackson back,
we're moving you to inside linebacker and that's your home.
And it ended up being he still ended up playing
(31:52):
a ton because those guys got hurt down the stretch,
But he wasn't a starter coming into the year, even
though we had always we had thought about him as
one of the best eleven defense for a while now,
but it feels like this is paid off now. He
got bigger, he knows the position, and because he got
that experience down the stretch when those guys were hurt,
it's not new in any way for him. But he's
just an linebacker now and he's a guy who knows
(32:13):
the defense inside it out. It's probably gonna be He's
not the loudest guy in the world, but they need
him to be that vocal presence in the middle of
the defense. I think he's definitely if you're talking about
breakout candidates on this roster, he's probably number one on
the list.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Back to the offensive side, what are you hearing about
the quarterbacks in the early days of practice.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, it was obviously made a lot of headlines and
people took note. The two days that we were out there,
Cutter Bowli had two really good days. I still don't
think it's a true quarterback competition. I mean, Mark acknowledged
last week if the season started today is at Calzato
would be the starter. He took basically all the first
team reps the two days we were out there. But
it's a big deal that Cutter has shown some improvement
from the spring because Franklin in the spring, I don't
(32:55):
think there was ever a moment where you thought he
was a serious challenger for the job. And they need
him to be ready because there are questions ay about
how Kalsada is going to adjust from you know, two
years of FCS coming back to the SEC and we've
seen so many times over the last decade Kentucky quarterbacks
get hurt. They just almost never make it through the
whole season with one guy. So they need Cutter ready
to go in in a moment's notice. And you feel
(33:16):
much better about that if he's improved and made that
jump over the summer than you would have just going
into the winter. That's why they had to add a
veteran guy. He clearly has a huge ceiling. Could be
a star in this league. He's just got to put
it together. The plan was always for him to sit
for two years behind Brock Vandergriff. Since Brock didn't stick
for the second year, they got complicated. But he's still
on paced, I think, to where he needs to be.
(33:38):
But they need him to be a viable option, and
what we saw in most two practices suggests he's getting
closer to that.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Back to Calzada, what's the best version of him. Do
you think what would that look like?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Yeah, I think it looks similar to what Kentucky fans,
you know, love so much about Steven Johnson and those
twenty sixteen twenty seventeen teams. Like Kalzada physically looks differ
than Johnson's because he's big and stocky and Steven was
obviously a smaller guy. But he can make plays with
his leg. Arm strengths are real plus for him. Remember
Steven had so many of those deep balls. Thinking back
to that Louisville game where they upset Lamar Jackson like
(34:13):
right off the bat, but struggled maybe some with that
intermediate passing, some short passing games. I think that could
be an issue for Calzada early on. We saw several
drops in the two practices where it just looked like
he threw it so hard. Maybe the receivers weren't ready
for that. So we'll see how that progresses a little bit.
But his personality and that kind of you know, willing
to put his body on the line reminds you Steven
(34:33):
and remind you Will Levis that first season. So I
think that part of it could make him a real
fan favorite. He's just got to make sure that he
improves that accuracy on the intermediate and short stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
In terms of leadership, you know, it sounds great him
looks good in the movies when the quarterback takes control
of the huddle. But I think the best kind of
quarterback leadership comes from the ability of the guys that
he's in the huddle with thinking that they're better because
he's out there at the helm. How Jared lorenzen lit So,
I think that's usually probably the you know, where a
(35:04):
guy like Kelsata can can best make a statement from
a leadership standpoint on the field.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, absolutely, And with so many new faces, like that's
going to be important too, Like everybody's going to be
looking for that guy. They just on offense in particular,
they don't have anybody back really can who can say,
like you, that's definitely the leader because he's played so
much here. I mean, they have a couple offensive linemen,
Joshkatis's back, but like, those aren't positions where you're necessarily
thinking you're you're a true leader. It needs to come
from your quarterback. And so if Zach can prove that,
(35:30):
you know, he's obviously not going to be live for
contact at any point in fall camp and these scrimmages.
But like the first couple of games, if he can
make some of those plays, I think that'll go a
long way to earning the trust of his teammates and
fans too.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, there's so much new on the offensive side that
it's you know, you can be You can choose to
be as optimistic or as pessimistic as you want from
what you have to go on.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean, you can really talk yourself into
a path where if you know, let's say, eighty five
percent of their transportations click, where this could be a
really surprising, you know, seven eight win team. But you
also have to be realistic about the fact that so
many of these guys have not played this level and
they didn't they weren't very successful in picking transfers last year,
and it could go the other way. But it's fun
(36:12):
at this point because we just don't know. I've never
seen a team where we knew so little about it
going into the year, even if we know the names
that are gonna play, And so that's gonna be really
fun early in the season to figure out, like how
many of these guys are legitimate and if they are.
I think that's a path to where this could be
a U. I know a lot of fans are checked
out right now and maybe aren't giving them the benefit
of the doubt. But if they play that way and
play with that chip on their shoulder, so many guys
(36:33):
from smaller schools proving themselves, that's a recipe to be,
you know, a fun team. If it works.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
That is John Hale. You can read them at Kentucky
Sports dot com and in the pages of the Lexington
Harold Leader.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Thank you, Thanks Tom leads.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Report Radio Network presented by Bob Ken Enterprises. We'll be
right back. Got a special offer from our friends at
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cornbreadhamp dot com. This is the Good Life Intropoard presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. And Ansley Alanor is headed to Finland
to continue his basketball career. He has signed a pro
(37:51):
contract with the top team in Finland's pro league. So
good luck to Ansley was a key piece to Mark
Pope's first And I was saying to someone yesterday I
was on the BBN Tonight Show. I think we were
talking about this about Annesley, and I said, if this
uh career with if the career stopped with Mark Pope
(38:13):
here in Kentucky plays out the way that everybody hopes
that it will, that first team is going to get
a lot of credit for what they did to make
it happen. As you can tell, we are out of
time for this edition of the Leads Report, so we
will see you tomorrow.
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