Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast of the Leach Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnstown at one hundred Old Bloomfield Pike,
Family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boons Butcher Shop. Happy New Year, everybody,
Welcome in to the best of the Lead Report for
the holiday. We're going to hear an interview I did
(00:21):
with new football coach Will Stein. We'll talk some basketball
with Rob doster Field of sixty eight Evanmia Kala from
evanmea dot com. The show's presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises.
And let's get it started with a clip from an
interview I did with Fox Sports Tim Brando, who's had
a chance to work around and observe Will Stein in action.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Will is just a really, really good guy, and because
he played the position some of this is just based
on my memory that I'm pretty sure he was a
walk on, yes originally at Louisville, and his story as
a player is really similar to his story as coach.
(01:01):
He's just a really what you see and you're like,
no way, this guy is barely out of college, but
his wisdom and his understanding of college football and the
position of quarterbacks is huge, and I don't doubt for
one second that he'll be able to track some of
the top personnel and college football on the offensive side
(01:22):
of the ball to help make Kentucky viable very very quickly.
So it's a great get for Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Stan Brando from Fox Sports, who joined us shortly after
the will Stein hiring for Kentucky football. A couple of
Wildcat birthdays today, Oh Take it Away celebrating a birthday
on the New Year, and also Amano Timberlake wild Cat
History Notes and Birthdays presented by Kentucky Road Joe Sports Cards,
Said Memorabilia and Roadshowcards dot Com. We'll be right back.
(01:54):
It's the holiday edition of the Leads Report. Happy New Year, everybody.
We're presenting each and every day by our friends at
Bob Kat Enterprises. Up next on this best of the
Leech Report is the first portion of the interview that
I did with new coach Will Stein on the day
he was announced as the next head football coach for
the Wildcats. Is the courtesy of the UK Sports Network.
(02:17):
Make sure that you sign up to be a member
of UK Sports Network All Access so you can get
the opportunity to get interviews like this one. What's it
feel like to hear Will Stein, head coach of the
KNU w Olcus.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, Tom, when you say it sounds a little bit different,
you know, it's I'm a giant fan of yours, by
the thank you, listen to you on the radio ever.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Since I was a little kid.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it's pretty surreal talking to you right now, and
it feels really good. I asked my wife last night,
and really it might have been this morning. I don't
even know what time it is, to be honest, am
I dreaming? Is this still a dream?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Like?
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Is this actually happening? And I'm still alive, I'm still awake,
so I guess it's not a dream. And we're rolling somewhere.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
We could find a version of our call of your
Down pass here against Kentucky in twenty eleven, but I'm
guessing the Paul Rodgers version's gonna be a little excited.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Paul might be a little bit excited than you, you know,
But yeah, hopefully there's there's a lot of touchdown passes
in at Kroger Field, which it used to be Commonwealth,
So sometimes I catch myself saying that, But hopefully the
Wildcats are scoring a lot of those touchdowns now.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
I said the other day, before we knew who the
next coach was going to be, said, it just needs
to be somebody that truly believes in what you can
accomplish here. And I'm guessing you're that guy because you
grew up around a lot of fun times for Kentucky exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And listen, I had a great gig, and there was
one job that I always circled when I went out
there knowing that we could win, knowing that I potentially
have opportunities ahead of me if I did what I
was supposed to do and our team played well. In
the University of Kentucky was the one that I circled
because I know what this place is, I know what
it can be, but I'm honestly tired of saying what
(03:57):
it can be. I'm ready to get some stuff done
and you know, bringing Tunkey football irrelevance and to be
a major competitor in this Conference's.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Talk a little bit about your journey to this spot.
Everybody has influences on their life and maybe on their philosophy,
especially as a coach, that helped shape the coach that
you are people that you played for or worked with.
Is there any one or two guys that helped shape
the version of will Stein that we'll see.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
There's a lot of coaches, a lot of coaches. That's
one thing that I always say that I'm a product
of great coaching. I don't know why God chose me
to have these great coaches in my life, from my
little leagues coaches at Holy Spirit, to Bob Baty at
Trinity High School to the late great Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Charlie Strong.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Worked for Bobby Petrino in an lead offensive mind, you know,
went to Texas with Charlie and then worked for Tom Herman,
got out of college ball for two years and worked
for Hank Carter at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas,
who he's one of the best coaches in the state
of Texas and probably the country for high school football.
And then it worked with Jeff Trailer at UTSA, and
then had the opportunity in the last three years to
(05:03):
really learn from who I think is the most elite
coach in the country, and that's Dan Landing. So I'm
blessed and it's been really cool and a real cool
journey for me and ready to take everything that I've
learned up to this point and apply it myself to
my my new team.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Top level football in the state of Texas is probably
like some version of college football, but still you did
go to the high school level. What made you take
that little detour on the path that you've ultimately got
back onto.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, I had some opportunities to go take some FCS
jobs when I was at Texas as a quality control
and it had been five years, and five years isn't
really that long, But when you're twenty seven years old
and think that you know it all and you're ready
to call play, that's right.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
So there was an opportunity at Lake Travis.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And that's the home of Baker Mayfield and Garrett Gilbert
and at the time, a receiver named Garrett Wilson was
there and a quarterback named Hudson Card both major Division
One players and Garrett Wilson's down all for the New
York Jets. So I saw an opportunity to step out
of my comfort zone to go to a place that's
used to winning and used to scoring points, where they
(06:08):
have good players and learn how to call plays, and
I think it really helped me when I got my
time and got my shot under Jeff Trailer at UTSA
to call plays for him, that it wasn't my first game.
I'd already called thirty games at the high school level,
so I might say, well, high school football, you still
got a plan. You still got to call third down
and two calls, you know on the minus territory, or
(06:29):
you still got to make fourth down calls or run
a two minute drill. So I was prepared for my
moment and that's why I did it. And I'm a competitor,
and yeah, it was It was a lot of fun.
It really changed my outlook on coaching. I learned that
I don't know it all and that I needed these
two years to really grow to when my time came
at the college level, I was ready, ready to rock.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
It's still a little bit about just your growing up
as a Kentucky fan. So I'm assuming probably the nineties
is the memories you have of Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Football, for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, and really I remember how Mummy on the sideline
with his towel. I remember Tim Couch and Craig East
and you know Derrek Abney. I was a huge fan
of he is. You know, I saw Jacob Tammy yesterday
and a big fan of his as well. And then
obviously transitioning as a guy older and Andre Woodson, Raphael
(07:23):
Little Wesley Woodyard. I mean, there's been so many great
players that have come through here. You know, I saw
my cart line here yesterday, so it's uh yeah, the
nineties were definitely definitely for me. And you know obviously
how Mummy is a coach, was Rich Brooks, Guy Morris.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Uh, you know, I was not here.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I wasn't a fan when Joker was a coach because
I was playing against him. But you know, yeah, there
was a lot of great memories during that stretch of
Kentucky football.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Were you here for in the stadium for Kentucky Alabama
ninety seven?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I'm sure I was, you know, I know I was
here for the unfortunate Bluegrass miracle. I was on the edge,
I know.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's why I was gonna ask you were you rushing
the field at ninety seven?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
To remember it? As my dad.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I'm sure I was at that game, but I was
at you know, the game when when Kentucky beat LSU
on that big fourth down stop. I remember we tackled
Jacob Hester they're running back from LSU and ended up
rushing the field for that game.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So there was a lot of great memories and you know,
excited to make some more.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's exciting, I'm sure, just to be a head coach
for the first time and in the Southeastern Conference. But
there's even more for you because you grew up in
this state and your family's still here, and so many
friends that you grew up with that are now even
if they were rooting for you in a different color earlier,
they're still somewhere in their heart is gonna they're gonna
be rooting for you in blue too.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
And I have a great support system, starting with my wife, Darby,
who's been with me as a player, as a GA,
as a high school coach. He's he's been with me
throughout the whole ranks. And we two wonderful kids, Joey
and Demy, who they're my biggest fans. So I'm very
blessed in that sense. And yeah, the family connections here,
friends connections. Now, I'm probably gonna have some sort of
(09:12):
buffer because we still gotta win games, and we can't.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
We've got to have limited.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Distractions, but they're always welcome, as they know, and I'm
excited to be here. To be closer to home was
definitely enticing, but honestly, just the opportunity to win, an
opportunity to lead a team like Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Let's talk a little bit about now taking over this job.
And the first day you're being announced is the day
that people are signing up new recruits, and in less
than a month, the transfer portal window is going to
be open. So obviously this is right there at the
top of mind, along with your duties at Oregon as
far as putting together your first roster, for sure. So
(09:50):
do you have a clear thought in your head exactly
yet of how you could go back doing that in
such a short window.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Sure, yeah, it's obviously a challenging task. But the great
thing about my situation is Dan Lanning, who I work
for or worked for. I guess I kind of work
for both right now? Yeah, you know whatever, But Dan
did it.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Dan was Kirby's defensive coordinator at Georgia and was able
to do dual duties between Oregon and Georgia throughout their
national championship run back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
So having his support is huge. Having the support of
organ is huge.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Having Mitch's support is huge, And if I didn't have
that support, it would be a lot more difficult.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
So yeah, it's been challenging.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You get the job and signing day is the next
day and they're getting announced and trying to FaceTime recruits
and talk to parents and players and agents and everybody
that's involved in the recruiting process now to make sure
that the guys that wanted to sign up to be
Kentucky Wildcats with the previous regimes still want to be
Kentucky Wildcats. And the good thing is those guys are
(10:53):
still on board, and I'm excited about them, excited to
learn more about them and develop the relationship. But then
keep putting the the class together for the future and
build relationships with potential portal you know, players in the
future and who's responsible for that, and then get on
the twenty sevens and twenty eights.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
It's the best of the Leach Report for New Year's Day,
and we'll have the second half of that interview with
Coach Stein coming up next. Leach Report comes to you
each day from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio return, refresh,
and refuel at Clark's. This is the best of the
Leach Report for this New Year's Day. And now we
get back to part two of the interview I did
(11:33):
with new Kentucky football coach Will Stein courtesy of the
UK Sports Network All Access account. You've built your reputation
in the sport with your work as a play caller,
coming here as the head coach, do you still want
to be the play caller as well?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I want to be the best head coach. And now
I've thought long and hard about that, and I don't
know if there is a right answer. I really don't,
but my initial goal is to not do it because
I got to be the best for the team. And
when you look at the last guy that won a
national title calling plays, I believe it was Jimbo at
(12:10):
Florida State.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Not to say it can't be done still, but I
want to be.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Completely engulfed in the game and making sure that I'm
my best for our defensive coordinator on the third down,
best for our special teams coordinator to make sure we
got all eleven guys on the field on a punt
return or an extra point.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
And I'm not convinced that my.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Offensive expertise, which I do believe is one of the
best in the country, is going to be best in
that situation where I can't be completely focused on being
the offensive coordinator play caller, So I will be highly
involved in the offense every single day in game planning
and preparation. We'll just have somebody else saying the play
call into the microphone.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Since you've had the expertise on the side of calling
plays and being on the offensive side, what do you
want your first offense? Is a college head coach to
look like?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Relentless, NonStop, very multiple, to be able to run the
ball to win or throw the ball to win.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
You know, a team that can lap the scoreboard in
a multitude of ways. A team that you know showcases
the abilities of multiple players at all positions. You know,
a team that plays with multiple tempos and something that
you all get excited about and you can call some
great games because you're excited that the ball is going
through the air, running through the end zone. So you know,
(13:33):
we've looked different every year. It hasn't been a cookie
cutter system. My system is very adaptable to the personnel
that we have. The players that we have to the
changes of the rules of college football, and I'm excited
to get with these players and really figure out early
on in this and really winner where we're at as
(13:54):
a roster and where we can go with this team.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
The legendary Kentucky Voice kW with Ledford which told me
you sound better when they win. So I'm counting on
you to make us sound good.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Yes, I have to. As a kid, you grow up.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Maybe playing games and video games, board games, whatever around football,
and then you're a quarterback for a great high school
program at Trinity, and you go to be a starting
quarterback University of Louisville, and then you call and plays
and all of this is happening, and you you envision
what it would be like to be a head coach
called and plays, design an offense or whatever. All of
(14:29):
that leads up to saying, probably nobody dreams about managing
budgets and trying to work in the nil space, So what's.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
That going to be like? This is why I got
my NBA.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
When I was a you, I never thought it would
pay off, and maybe it's paying off now.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
No, it's uh yeah, it's a lot. It's it's a
completely different world. But what are you gonna do.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
You're gonna sit back and say, oh, I wish it
was like the old days, or are you gonna go
attack it?
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Like the best.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Trade of a college head coach, and really a program
is adaptability because it's ever changing and it's going to
not be the same maybe in a couple of months
as it is today. So you just got to be
able to and willing to change with the times. And
the players still want to be coached, They still want
to be loved, they still want to be treated with respect, pushed.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
I don't think that the player has really changed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I think there's acquiring talent might be a little bit different,
but it's still relationship based. It's still waking these guys
up in the morning and putting them in bed at night,
and being relentless in our recruiting and hiring the best
staff in America to come here and pour into these guys.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
We talked to the players, you're inheriting here at Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yet I did at a team meeting yesterday, think it
went really well. It was my first time doing that,
so I enjoyed talking to them.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
What was your message to then? Uh, you know what?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yeah, yeah, I thank them, and I told them that
I'm not here to be mediocre. I'm not here to
just get by. I'm not here to be the team
said what if? Or man, I wish we would just
I came here to win and I've won every stop
of the way and I don't plan on really changing
that right now at all.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, I mean there's something to be said for when
you're recruiting players out of winning programs. There's something that
comes with that, and you've been around a lot of
winning outfits exactly.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And I'm gonna say this later.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
It's a great quote that we actually said before we
beat University of Washington last week. We said winners think
about winning and then losers think about winners. So I'm
thinking about winning all the time. And that's my job
here is to win football games and make BBN very
proud in the.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The and io L world. There is a business aspect
to it. But while you want to be able to
get the best roster within those that context, you also
want to find the guys that the winning is the
most important it is.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
And if the first conversation is dollars and cents, then
that's not the type of player that I want on
in this program. I want guys that, like you said,
love football, love to compete, are hard workers, disciplined, and
that are just our type of guys and love Kentucky football.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So we'll make this the last question. You can look
into the camera and what do you want to say
to the BBN and all those loyal supporters that you
are inheriting.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, it's just an honor to be your head football
coach and to take on this task as head football
coach at Kentucky. I cannot wait to be at Kroger
Field leading the Wildcats out of the tunnel and just
to make you proud and to put a product on
the field that we all love to watch.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
We all can get.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Behind and support. And that's what I need is your
support throughout this. It's not easy winning is it easy?
The SEC is not easy. But what makes it easier
is your support, your dedication, showing up every single Saturday,
being really loud on third downs for our defense, cheering
on our offense, getting extremely allowed to for our special teams.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
And I just want to have a lot of fun
with this and can't wait to see you this fall. Congratulations,
good luck, Thanks Tom. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Best of the Leads report for the first day of
twenty twenty six will continue when we return. It's the
Best of the Leads Report, will shifgers and hear a
little Kentucky basketball talk now with Rob Doster from the
Field of sixty eight. We cut up to him after
the Indiana win and he talked about the difference Jalen
Lowe's return is made for Kentucky.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
I honestly think that playing like this leans a little
bit more into the skill set of Jalen low Right.
Like Jalen low That was one of the questions that
I had when they decided to go out and get him,
is this is a guy that wants to have the
ball in his hands and wants to be able to
kind of dribble that thing and make decisions and make reads.
And he wants to be able to be put in
the ball screens where he is the one that is
(18:47):
making the choice on what happens, as opposed to letting
him be off the ball and kind of run in
some of those actions. So I think that having something
where you run a little bit less stuff and get
a little bit more basic probably is better for Jaalen
Lowe as a player in terms of what his profile
is as a point guard. Now, the risk that you
run is you're probably one more aggravation to that shoulder
(19:08):
as you away from him saying, you know what, I
don't know if I can do this right, and I
think that that is probably inevitable that that happens.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
The thing that's frustrating with shoulders is you probably need
surgery to fix it. Now, it's not something that gets
worse when you don't have surgery, and you can play
through it if you can handle the pain. But I mean,
Kentucky fan saw this last year with Lamon Butler. He
handled the pain for a while, but he was never
the same guy that he was before he started dealing
(19:38):
with this. So you can try to build around it,
but you're again like one screen that he runs into
at the wrong angle, away from having this be something
where okay again. Now it's January and you're gonna have
to revamp what you're trying to do all over again.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Totally.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Rob osterro Field of sixty eight Where all can people
find the Field of sixty eight products?
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, we're all live on YouTube every night at eleven
o'clock streaming on x and anyway. You get podcasts for
absolutely free toom It's absolutely free our podcast feed, Apple Podcasts,
Spotify everywhere, and look.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
For Field of sixty eight. Let's talk about the SEC,
since conference play will be starting before long. Obviously not
as strong as it was last year. What's your take
on just the overall strength of the SEC versus what
you expected coming into the year.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
I mean, I think we all kind of knew it
was going to take a little bit of a step
back from this year. It's probably taken more of a
step back than I expected that it would. But we're
at a point right now where I think that there's
a real possibility that Arkansas is the best team in
the SEC, which is crazy to say and probably not
what Kentucky fans want to hear. But Florida's got their warts.
I'm not a believer right now in Tennessee as being
(20:48):
that level of good. Alabama's got some injury issues that
they're dealing with, but they're small. They don't really have
the physicality inside. When you look at I mean, you
got to be big, and you got to be you
got to be tough to be able to win with
some of these bigger teams in college basketball this season.
I don't know if Alabama necessarily has that, so I
mean it might be Arkansas. Man, it might be Arkansas.
(21:09):
That is a team that is the best team with
the best chance to make a final four out of
the SEC.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
A lot to talk about the strength of this freshman
class this year for the sport of college basketball? Is
this going to give us maybe our best read that
we've had since the rules of engagement changed in college
basketball in terms of can you win with leaning heavily
(21:33):
on a freshman or multiple rookies in a time when
the game, the players are older than they've been in
a while, and teams are constructed differently than they were
five ten years ago.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
Yeah, probably, I would say that. I think last year
Duke was probably the best team that I think I've
seen since something doing this time and then in year
sixteen now of covering college basketball like this, if they
don't give away that game against Houston, I think that
they end up beating Florida, And I think that we're
(22:07):
talking about John Shires having a team that was in
the same stratosphere as twenty eighteens Illanova in two thousand
and nine. North Carolina and twenty fifteen Kentucky in terms
of how good they were. So I think that we
saw that you can win doing this.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Now.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
The issue is not whether or not you can win
with freshmen. The issue is whether or not the freshmen
are good enough for you to be able to win.
You know what I mean, Like, if it's next year,
then that freshman class is not going to be good
enough for you to be able to win relying on
to refreshmen. But Cam Booser, a Jta Barncer, Caleb Wilson, MIKEL. Brown,
some of the dudes that came into college this year
(22:47):
are just they're different.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Bob Nosterfield is sixty eight. It's the best of the
Leads Report presented by Bob kat Enterprises. And we'll be
right back. Latre Bark comes to you from the Clark's
Pumpin' Shop Studios, Return, Refresh, and Refuse at Clarks. It's
the best of the Late report for New Year's Day.
Next up, an interview I did with analytics guru Evan
mia Kala prior to the start of the basketball season
(23:09):
on my website.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
One of the things that I do is I for
every single team in the transfer portal. I look at
all of the guys that they've brought in, and I
basically evaluate how good their incoming transfer class is, both
looking at the quality of guys they brought in but
also the number of guys. It's kind of similar to
how you'll see high school recruiting rankings work, but it's
all based on my statistical models evaluations of all these
(23:32):
players and how good I project them to be. And
so Kentucky right now has the second best incoming transfer
class in the entire country, taking into account both the
quality of the guys that brought in but also the
number of pieces they have. They're behind only Michigan, and
I say that because Michigan there's kind of a big
asterisk with their class because one of their biggest additions
(23:57):
in the transfer portal is yax Landeborg, who is still
in the NBA draft process, and a lot of people
are saying there's a good chance you might go to
the NBA. So if lend Aboard were to not go
to Michigan, I think I think Kentucky would probably move
ahead of Michigan in my rankings and be the best
incoming transfer class in the entire country. So When you
take all that into account, it's been a really really
(24:18):
impressive off season for Kentucky and they've been pretty much
better than anybody in terms of the pieces that they're
bringing in through the portal.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
You did an interesting study also about what you termed
the best way to build a roster in this current
climate of the transfer portal and nil. What were some
of the things that you found out and how much
of it was a surprise, if any to you.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Yeah, I mean so, one of the things that I
look at often is in this modern transfer portal era,
where a team can retool or rebuild an entire roster
from scratch if they want to in the off season.
That's what we saw Kentucky do last year when Mark
Pope came in. The question is like, what is the
best way to build a championship level roster in twenty
(25:04):
twenty five because you have all of these different routes Now.
You can go the high school route and get you know,
high level transfers, which is something that Kentucky has done
a lot in the past. You can go the portal
route and fill a lot of your roster with new pieces,
veteran guys from other schools, or you can prioritize returning
guys from the previous team, retaining guys, and focusing on
roster continuity. All of these are very valid measures. And
(25:26):
so what I have found in looking at the data
of the most successful high majors over the last several
years is that the number one key is to get
more talent on your roster. I think that goes without saying,
but when you look at the teams that have been
the most successful, teams that have made final fours, that
have won national championships, that have gotten one season had
a lot of success throughout the regular season, the common
(25:49):
trend you'll see is that almost all of these teams
have had at least fifty percent of their minutes being
played by guys who are returning from the previous season.
So that means that they're building their teams around a core,
a key corp of guys who are coming back, and
then they're raising the talent level around them by getting
a couple key new pieces gither through the portal or
(26:10):
through the freshman ranks to raise the talent level. But
you're not necessarily completely re hauling an entire roster in
an offseason. You look at the last four national champions,
Florida this last year, Yukon the previous two years, Kansas
the year before. All of them were over that fifty
percent mark in terms of having returning players play a
majority of their minutes. And you look at this year's
(26:30):
final four, you had you know, Florida obviously, but Houston
and Auburn as well. All of them had about seventy
percent or more of their minutes being played by returning players.
And the blueprint for those three schools was keep your
key pieces from last year and then get a couple
key pieces to raise the talent level. Duke was the
exception in this year's Final four, but they were the
(26:51):
most talented team in the entire country. They had three
likely lottery picks on their roster, so it's not a
surprise that they were that good. But for a lot
of other teams who don't have that luxury of being
that talented, retaining your key guys from one season to
the next really is important.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
There's been that phrase in recent years as this trend
has emerged, it would say get old and stay old.
It sounds like now it's get old but stay familiar, right, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (27:17):
And I would agree you know, I don't think it's
it's right in all situations to have roster continuity just
for the sake of that, because you have some teams
that are just straight up not talented enough with the
existing guys they have in their roster, you know, to
be you know, competitive at the high major level. And
so in those cases, like you want to a fresh
(27:39):
a fresh start can always be good. You look at
you know, Louisville coming from the Kenny Payne era to
Pat Kelsey. You know, they lost their entire roster, but
their entire roster mostly stank, and so it was totally
appropriate for the new coach to come in and say, hey,
we're letting go of everybody. We're bringing in better talent.
But then once you actually have success and you are
good enough to make a tournament, you're good enough to
(28:00):
win a game or two in the tournament, that's when
it becomes really critical to then hang onto your key
pieces instead of letting them go potentially to other teams
in the portal and saying it's okay, we can just
re recruit that spot. A lot of times it's a
lot tougher from a team chemistry perspective, but also just
from you know, an overall roster, you know, strength and
(28:20):
continuity perspective to you know, bring in a like for
like replacement as opposed to just prioritizing the guy that
you already have, because oftentimes the guy you already have
on your roster is going to be more successful than
a similarly talented guy who maybe would replace him at
that spot.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Talking with Evbacala here on the Club Blueennile dot com hotline,
his website is Evanmeia dot com, it sounds like what
you're describing is what a lot of us older college
basketball fans grew up with. With a different twist. Teams,
you know, Joby Hall's Kentucky teams were built, you know
where they you have players stay with the program and
(28:59):
you get the payoff as they got older, and the
new guys they'd bring in to give them a shot
of more talent would be freshmen now instead of freshmen,
it's or it's not always freshmen now, it can be transfers.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Right, Yeah, that's correct. And you know the difference is
when you get a freshman out of high school, you know,
obviously there's a chance that freshman is talented enough to
only play one year in college and go to the
NBA Draft. But what you're seeing is, in this day
and age, because of how much money you can make
in college, a lot of good high school recruits are
staying for multiple years in college. It's kind of flipped
(29:31):
now where you can get one year rentals if you
want to call it that, through the portal. You know,
guys who have one year of eligibility left and are
willing to, you know, maybe come at for the last
year of college and make a big difference to your program.
And those guys can be very, very valuable in kind
of putting the final touches on a roster, but also
if you're continually having to rely on those one year players.
(29:54):
You know, I know there was a good number of
players Kentucky had this last season they got as they
were filling off their roster, but then they're going to
have to graduate after one year. You look at Lamont Butler,
Amari Williams, Deandrew Carr, Jackson, Robinson, Kobe Brayle, like, all
of these guys were just available for one year and
then they're gone. So if you can get guys, you know,
if you're trying to raise the talent level on your roster.
(30:15):
If you're able to get someone who will then play
for multiple seasons for you, that's really where you get
a lot of gold. Because you look at what Florida
did this year. You know a lot of their guys
originally were transfers. You had, you know, Walter Clayton and
will Richard who were They got them from the mid
major ranks, but they stayed for multiple years and it
(30:37):
was that second year or third year with the program
where they really really became elite. And so I think
that really is is the key is regardless of where
you get your talent initially, trying to retain them and
develop them for multiple years often means they're going to
have their best seasons down the road.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Talk with Evan Meakala and we'll continue the conversation here
in just a moment on the Lead's Report presented by
Bombcat Enterprises. Remember that you can subscribe to get the
analytics from Evan at EVANMYA E v A N M
I y A dot com. It's one of the favorites
for Coach Pope and his staff. This is the best
of the Leads Report for New Year's Day, and we'll
(31:16):
have more of the interview with Evan Miacala. When we
continue Best of the Leads report for New Year's Day,
let's get back to part two of the interview I
did before the season started with college basketball analytics analyst
evanmia Kala. We're talking about defense. You mentioned Quaintance in
your rankings. You had him number one sum He's back
(31:37):
to full strength, number one defensive player in the portal class, right, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
I mean, he obviously had an injury last year that
shortened his season, and you know this is taking into
account him coming back and being healthy. But from what
we saw in limited flashes for him as a freshman,
I don't I think that's arguable that he might be
like the most athletic, physically imposing defender in the entire
country this year year. And when you look at what
he did last year as a freshman, and you look
(32:03):
then at his recruiting profile coming out of high school,
the NBA potential that we know he has that freshman
is sophomore leap of staying in college and getting to develop,
and especially under Mark Pope and his staff, my model
just really predicts big things from him this year, and
if he can be healthy, he might be one of
the scariest players that in the SEC that any team
(32:24):
will face. How so well, I mean just because he
is going to be a disruptor. He's a freakish athlete,
and I think what I mean his numbers really stick
out even his freshman year in terms of his ability
on the boards, his ability to block shots at the
rim and prevent teams from getting where they want. He's
been a really good efficient scorer inside, even just in
(32:46):
his freshman year, and just in general in terms of
the advanced analytics, his impact on team performance defensively last
year when he was on the court. The Arizona State
team was night and day better when he was on
the court last year, and I think that's going to
translate to Kentucky this year as well. It's not just
the individual statistical numbers, it's just his presence on the
(33:06):
floor really makes a big boost to how your team
plays defensively as a whole, and I think we're going
to see that again this year.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Tonya with Evan via Kawa. It's Evan mea e v
A n m Iya dot com to click into all
of the analytical discussions that he gets into at his side.
What are the questions for you about this Kentucky team
from an analytics standpoint.
Speaker 7 (33:30):
Well, I think my metrics are going to be a
little bit lower on Kentucky than maybe what you'll see
in some of the other human rankings, AP poll, et cetera.
You know, I think a lot of team people think
this team has top five potential, and I think, certainly
in terms of their roster, they're absolutely capable of that.
I do think offensively, I talked already about the defensive
(33:51):
strengths of this team. I think offensively is where I
have a little bit more question marks. Nationally, I have
Kentucky's offense rank sixteenth in the country, so that'd be
just outside the top fifteen in terms of their predicted
offensive efficiency As a team. I think they have a
lot of really talented players, but there obviously have a
lot of roster turnover, and your only really main like
continuing offensive threat from last year is Otaga Away. You're
(34:13):
gonna obviously have a lot of other new talented players
playing with him. But I do think that it's not
a given that this team will click offensively from the jump.
Last year we saw Kentucky have a entirely new roster,
and especially in the early portion of the season, they
really looked good. So if Mark Pope is able to
do that again in saying okay, we're we're not really
going to struggle with chemistry earlier, it's gonna be fluid
(34:36):
from day one, then you know, wipe these concerns away.
But you know, I think it could take a little
bit of time for this team to gel and so
you know, we'll see how it goes on that end.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
One of the articles that clicked on your site talked
about the gap between high major teams and the rest
of college basketball widening. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 7 (34:58):
Well, I think the transfer portal, which makes it really
easy for players to go to any school they want
in any given year, and then the NIL money, which
is really largely concentrated in the big high major conferences
like the SEC, Big Ten, etc. Is really just kind
of making it kind of hard for any good low
major mid major players to pass down better offers that
(35:18):
are coming from these high major schools. Especially in college basketball.
It's been kind of interesting because, as it has been
noted a lot recently, the parody in college football with
nil seems to be up. There's a lot of schools
that are you're not necessarily having the top five or
top ten schools every single year, whereas in college basketball,
especially in these power conferences, we're just seeing such a concentration.
(35:39):
And when you look at the top five leagues in
college basketball SEC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, ACC, Big East,
and the average team ranking, the average talent that they
have on their teams compared to all the other conferences,
there's just a massive, massive gap going into the year
between them and the rest of the country. I think
it's probably the largest gap we've ever seen and certainly
kind of shows how the transferport and name image and likeness,
(36:01):
the fact that players can get paid has really kind
of led to this sort of talent accumulation at the
very very top.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
With that being the case, just as a basketball fan,
does that affect your opinion on NCAA tournament expansion and
that debate, Well.
Speaker 7 (36:16):
I think in a fair world where the committee is
truly going off of objective metrics that are measuring a
team's quality in terms of how they performed in the
regular season, if the argument for tournament expansion is well,
if we add in more spots, say eight more spots,
then we're going to be able to add more of
(36:37):
these mid majors, and we're going really objectively off of
selecting those that. I'm all for it, but the track
record has not shown that. There have been plenty of
cases in the last you know, two to three years
where you have mid majors or teams out of these
mid major plus conferences like the A ten of the
Mountain West who have absolutely had an argument compared to
these other power conference teams to get in and they
(36:58):
have not been selected. So, you know, if we're already
struggling to see some of these teams who should have
a shot getting in now, I don't see why that
changes if we add in eight more spots. So I
think in practice, I don't necessarily think you can make
the argument that, based on the track record of the committee,
adding more spots to the tournament will help the mid
major conferences, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
It's Evanmakala. Evanmiya dot com is where you can find
his work and really interesting discussions you can get into
as a college basketball fan with all of these metrics.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
Absolutely glad to be here.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
Thanks for listening to the leach Report anytime he mission show,
you can catch the Mingy Beef Tricky podcast. Find them
at Tom leach Ky dot com or on the iHeartRadio app.
Interested in advertising on the show, email Leach Reports at
gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
We'll see next time on the Leach Report.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
M hmm
This podcast of the Leach Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnstown at one hundred Old Bloomfield Pike,
Family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boons Butcher Shop. Happy New Year, everybody,
Welcome in to the best of the Lead Report for
the holiday. We're going to hear an interview I did
(00:21):
with new football coach Will Stein. We'll talk some basketball
with Rob doster Field of sixty eight Evanmia Kala from
evanmea dot com. The show's presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises.
And let's get it started with a clip from an
interview I did with Fox Sports Tim Brando, who's had
a chance to work around and observe Will Stein in action.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Will is just a really, really good guy, and because
he played the position some of this is just based
on my memory that I'm pretty sure he was a
walk on, yes originally at Louisville, and his story as
a player is really similar to his story as coach.
(01:01):
He's just a really what you see and you're like,
no way, this guy is barely out of college, but
his wisdom and his understanding of college football and the
position of quarterbacks is huge, and I don't doubt for
one second that he'll be able to track some of
the top personnel and college football on the offensive side
(01:22):
of the ball to help make Kentucky viable very very quickly.
So it's a great get for Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Stan Brando from Fox Sports, who joined us shortly after
the will Stein hiring for Kentucky football. A couple of
Wildcat birthdays today, Oh Take it Away celebrating a birthday
on the New Year, and also Amano Timberlake wild Cat
History Notes and Birthdays presented by Kentucky Road Joe Sports Cards,
Said Memorabilia and Roadshowcards dot Com. We'll be right back.
(01:54):
It's the holiday edition of the Leads Report. Happy New Year, everybody.
We're presenting each and every day by our friends at
Bob Kat Enterprises. Up next on this best of the
Leech Report is the first portion of the interview that
I did with new coach Will Stein on the day
he was announced as the next head football coach for
the Wildcats. Is the courtesy of the UK Sports Network.
(02:17):
Make sure that you sign up to be a member
of UK Sports Network All Access so you can get
the opportunity to get interviews like this one. What's it
feel like to hear Will Stein, head coach of the
KNU w Olcus.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, Tom, when you say it sounds a little bit different,
you know, it's I'm a giant fan of yours, by
the thank you, listen to you on the radio ever.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Since I was a little kid.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it's pretty surreal talking to you right now, and
it feels really good. I asked my wife last night,
and really it might have been this morning. I don't
even know what time it is, to be honest, am
I dreaming? Is this still a dream?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Like?
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Is this actually happening? And I'm still alive, I'm still awake,
so I guess it's not a dream. And we're rolling somewhere.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
We could find a version of our call of your
Down pass here against Kentucky in twenty eleven, but I'm
guessing the Paul Rodgers version's gonna be a little excited.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Paul might be a little bit excited than you, you know,
But yeah, hopefully there's there's a lot of touchdown passes
in at Kroger Field, which it used to be Commonwealth,
So sometimes I catch myself saying that, But hopefully the
Wildcats are scoring a lot of those touchdowns now.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
I said the other day, before we knew who the
next coach was going to be, said, it just needs
to be somebody that truly believes in what you can
accomplish here. And I'm guessing you're that guy because you
grew up around a lot of fun times for Kentucky exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And listen, I had a great gig, and there was
one job that I always circled when I went out
there knowing that we could win, knowing that I potentially
have opportunities ahead of me if I did what I
was supposed to do and our team played well. In
the University of Kentucky was the one that I circled
because I know what this place is, I know what
it can be, but I'm honestly tired of saying what
(03:57):
it can be. I'm ready to get some stuff done
and you know, bringing Tunkey football irrelevance and to be
a major competitor in this Conference's.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Talk a little bit about your journey to this spot.
Everybody has influences on their life and maybe on their philosophy,
especially as a coach, that helped shape the coach that
you are people that you played for or worked with.
Is there any one or two guys that helped shape
the version of will Stein that we'll see.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
There's a lot of coaches, a lot of coaches. That's
one thing that I always say that I'm a product
of great coaching. I don't know why God chose me
to have these great coaches in my life, from my
little leagues coaches at Holy Spirit, to Bob Baty at
Trinity High School to the late great Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Charlie Strong.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Worked for Bobby Petrino in an lead offensive mind, you know,
went to Texas with Charlie and then worked for Tom Herman,
got out of college ball for two years and worked
for Hank Carter at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas,
who he's one of the best coaches in the state
of Texas and probably the country for high school football.
And then it worked with Jeff Trailer at UTSA, and
then had the opportunity in the last three years to
(05:03):
really learn from who I think is the most elite
coach in the country, and that's Dan Landing. So I'm
blessed and it's been really cool and a real cool
journey for me and ready to take everything that I've
learned up to this point and apply it myself to
my my new team.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Top level football in the state of Texas is probably
like some version of college football, but still you did
go to the high school level. What made you take
that little detour on the path that you've ultimately got
back onto.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, I had some opportunities to go take some FCS
jobs when I was at Texas as a quality control
and it had been five years, and five years isn't
really that long, But when you're twenty seven years old
and think that you know it all and you're ready
to call play, that's right.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
So there was an opportunity at Lake Travis.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And that's the home of Baker Mayfield and Garrett Gilbert
and at the time, a receiver named Garrett Wilson was
there and a quarterback named Hudson Card both major Division
One players and Garrett Wilson's down all for the New
York Jets. So I saw an opportunity to step out
of my comfort zone to go to a place that's
used to winning and used to scoring points, where they
(06:08):
have good players and learn how to call plays, and
I think it really helped me when I got my
time and got my shot under Jeff Trailer at UTSA
to call plays for him, that it wasn't my first game.
I'd already called thirty games at the high school level,
so I might say, well, high school football, you still
got a plan. You still got to call third down
and two calls, you know on the minus territory, or
(06:29):
you still got to make fourth down calls or run
a two minute drill. So I was prepared for my
moment and that's why I did it. And I'm a competitor,
and yeah, it was It was a lot of fun.
It really changed my outlook on coaching. I learned that
I don't know it all and that I needed these
two years to really grow to when my time came
at the college level, I was ready, ready to rock.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
It's still a little bit about just your growing up
as a Kentucky fan. So I'm assuming probably the nineties
is the memories you have of Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Football, for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, and really I remember how Mummy on the sideline
with his towel. I remember Tim Couch and Craig East
and you know Derrek Abney. I was a huge fan
of he is. You know, I saw Jacob Tammy yesterday
and a big fan of his as well. And then
obviously transitioning as a guy older and Andre Woodson, Raphael
(07:23):
Little Wesley Woodyard. I mean, there's been so many great
players that have come through here. You know, I saw
my cart line here yesterday, so it's uh yeah, the
nineties were definitely definitely for me. And you know obviously
how Mummy is a coach, was Rich Brooks, Guy Morris.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Uh, you know, I was not here.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I wasn't a fan when Joker was a coach because
I was playing against him. But you know, yeah, there
was a lot of great memories during that stretch of
Kentucky football.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Were you here for in the stadium for Kentucky Alabama
ninety seven?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I'm sure I was, you know, I know I was
here for the unfortunate Bluegrass miracle. I was on the edge,
I know.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's why I was gonna ask you were you rushing
the field at ninety seven?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
To remember it? As my dad.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I'm sure I was at that game, but I was
at you know, the game when when Kentucky beat LSU
on that big fourth down stop. I remember we tackled
Jacob Hester they're running back from LSU and ended up
rushing the field for that game.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So there was a lot of great memories and you know,
excited to make some more.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's exciting, I'm sure, just to be a head coach
for the first time and in the Southeastern Conference. But
there's even more for you because you grew up in
this state and your family's still here, and so many
friends that you grew up with that are now even
if they were rooting for you in a different color earlier,
they're still somewhere in their heart is gonna they're gonna
be rooting for you in blue too.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
And I have a great support system, starting with my wife, Darby,
who's been with me as a player, as a GA,
as a high school coach. He's he's been with me
throughout the whole ranks. And we two wonderful kids, Joey
and Demy, who they're my biggest fans. So I'm very
blessed in that sense. And yeah, the family connections here,
friends connections. Now, I'm probably gonna have some sort of
(09:12):
buffer because we still gotta win games, and we can't.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
We've got to have limited.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Distractions, but they're always welcome, as they know, and I'm
excited to be here. To be closer to home was
definitely enticing, but honestly, just the opportunity to win, an
opportunity to lead a team like Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Let's talk a little bit about now taking over this job.
And the first day you're being announced is the day
that people are signing up new recruits, and in less
than a month, the transfer portal window is going to
be open. So obviously this is right there at the
top of mind, along with your duties at Oregon as
far as putting together your first roster, for sure. So
(09:50):
do you have a clear thought in your head exactly
yet of how you could go back doing that in
such a short window.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Sure, yeah, it's obviously a challenging task. But the great
thing about my situation is Dan Lanning, who I work
for or worked for. I guess I kind of work
for both right now? Yeah, you know whatever, But Dan
did it.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Dan was Kirby's defensive coordinator at Georgia and was able
to do dual duties between Oregon and Georgia throughout their
national championship run back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
So having his support is huge. Having the support of
organ is huge.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Having Mitch's support is huge, And if I didn't have
that support, it would be a lot more difficult.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
So yeah, it's been challenging.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You get the job and signing day is the next
day and they're getting announced and trying to FaceTime recruits
and talk to parents and players and agents and everybody
that's involved in the recruiting process now to make sure
that the guys that wanted to sign up to be
Kentucky Wildcats with the previous regimes still want to be
Kentucky Wildcats. And the good thing is those guys are
(10:53):
still on board, and I'm excited about them, excited to
learn more about them and develop the relationship. But then
keep putting the the class together for the future and
build relationships with potential portal you know, players in the
future and who's responsible for that, and then get on
the twenty sevens and twenty eights.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
It's the best of the Leach Report for New Year's Day,
and we'll have the second half of that interview with
Coach Stein coming up next. Leach Report comes to you
each day from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio return, refresh,
and refuel at Clark's. This is the best of the
Leach Report for this New Year's Day. And now we
get back to part two of the interview I did
(11:33):
with new Kentucky football coach Will Stein courtesy of the
UK Sports Network All Access account. You've built your reputation
in the sport with your work as a play caller,
coming here as the head coach, do you still want
to be the play caller as well?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I want to be the best head coach. And now
I've thought long and hard about that, and I don't
know if there is a right answer. I really don't,
but my initial goal is to not do it because
I got to be the best for the team. And
when you look at the last guy that won a
national title calling plays, I believe it was Jimbo at
(12:10):
Florida State.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Not to say it can't be done still, but I
want to be.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Completely engulfed in the game and making sure that I'm
my best for our defensive coordinator on the third down,
best for our special teams coordinator to make sure we
got all eleven guys on the field on a punt
return or an extra point.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
And I'm not convinced that my.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Offensive expertise, which I do believe is one of the
best in the country, is going to be best in
that situation where I can't be completely focused on being
the offensive coordinator play caller, So I will be highly
involved in the offense every single day in game planning
and preparation. We'll just have somebody else saying the play
call into the microphone.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Since you've had the expertise on the side of calling
plays and being on the offensive side, what do you
want your first offense? Is a college head coach to
look like?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Relentless, NonStop, very multiple, to be able to run the
ball to win or throw the ball to win.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
You know, a team that can lap the scoreboard in
a multitude of ways. A team that you know showcases
the abilities of multiple players at all positions. You know,
a team that plays with multiple tempos and something that
you all get excited about and you can call some
great games because you're excited that the ball is going
through the air, running through the end zone. So you know,
(13:33):
we've looked different every year. It hasn't been a cookie
cutter system. My system is very adaptable to the personnel
that we have. The players that we have to the
changes of the rules of college football, and I'm excited
to get with these players and really figure out early
on in this and really winner where we're at as
(13:54):
a roster and where we can go with this team.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
The legendary Kentucky Voice kW with Ledford which told me
you sound better when they win. So I'm counting on
you to make us sound good.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Yes, I have to. As a kid, you grow up.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Maybe playing games and video games, board games, whatever around football,
and then you're a quarterback for a great high school
program at Trinity, and you go to be a starting
quarterback University of Louisville, and then you call and plays
and all of this is happening, and you you envision
what it would be like to be a head coach
called and plays, design an offense or whatever. All of
(14:29):
that leads up to saying, probably nobody dreams about managing
budgets and trying to work in the nil space, So what's.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
That going to be like? This is why I got
my NBA.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
When I was a you, I never thought it would
pay off, and maybe it's paying off now.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
No, it's uh yeah, it's a lot. It's it's a
completely different world. But what are you gonna do.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
You're gonna sit back and say, oh, I wish it
was like the old days, or are you gonna go
attack it?
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Like the best.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Trade of a college head coach, and really a program
is adaptability because it's ever changing and it's going to
not be the same maybe in a couple of months
as it is today. So you just got to be
able to and willing to change with the times. And
the players still want to be coached, They still want
to be loved, they still want to be treated with respect, pushed.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
I don't think that the player has really changed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I think there's acquiring talent might be a little bit different,
but it's still relationship based. It's still waking these guys
up in the morning and putting them in bed at night,
and being relentless in our recruiting and hiring the best
staff in America to come here and pour into these guys.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
We talked to the players, you're inheriting here at Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yet I did at a team meeting yesterday, think it
went really well. It was my first time doing that,
so I enjoyed talking to them.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
What was your message to then? Uh, you know what?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yeah, yeah, I thank them, and I told them that
I'm not here to be mediocre. I'm not here to
just get by. I'm not here to be the team
said what if? Or man, I wish we would just
I came here to win and I've won every stop
of the way and I don't plan on really changing
that right now at all.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, I mean there's something to be said for when
you're recruiting players out of winning programs. There's something that
comes with that, and you've been around a lot of
winning outfits exactly.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And I'm gonna say this later.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
It's a great quote that we actually said before we
beat University of Washington last week. We said winners think
about winning and then losers think about winners. So I'm
thinking about winning all the time. And that's my job
here is to win football games and make BBN very
proud in the.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The and io L world. There is a business aspect
to it. But while you want to be able to
get the best roster within those that context, you also
want to find the guys that the winning is the
most important it is.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
And if the first conversation is dollars and cents, then
that's not the type of player that I want on
in this program. I want guys that, like you said,
love football, love to compete, are hard workers, disciplined, and
that are just our type of guys and love Kentucky football.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So we'll make this the last question. You can look
into the camera and what do you want to say
to the BBN and all those loyal supporters that you
are inheriting.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, it's just an honor to be your head football
coach and to take on this task as head football
coach at Kentucky. I cannot wait to be at Kroger
Field leading the Wildcats out of the tunnel and just
to make you proud and to put a product on
the field that we all love to watch.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
We all can get.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Behind and support. And that's what I need is your
support throughout this. It's not easy winning is it easy?
The SEC is not easy. But what makes it easier
is your support, your dedication, showing up every single Saturday,
being really loud on third downs for our defense, cheering
on our offense, getting extremely allowed to for our special teams.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
And I just want to have a lot of fun
with this and can't wait to see you this fall. Congratulations,
good luck, Thanks Tom. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Best of the Leads report for the first day of
twenty twenty six will continue when we return. It's the
Best of the Leads Report, will shifgers and hear a
little Kentucky basketball talk now with Rob Doster from the
Field of sixty eight. We cut up to him after
the Indiana win and he talked about the difference Jalen
Lowe's return is made for Kentucky.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
I honestly think that playing like this leans a little
bit more into the skill set of Jalen low Right.
Like Jalen low That was one of the questions that
I had when they decided to go out and get him,
is this is a guy that wants to have the
ball in his hands and wants to be able to
kind of dribble that thing and make decisions and make reads.
And he wants to be able to be put in
the ball screens where he is the one that is
(18:47):
making the choice on what happens, as opposed to letting
him be off the ball and kind of run in
some of those actions. So I think that having something
where you run a little bit less stuff and get
a little bit more basic probably is better for Jaalen
Lowe as a player in terms of what his profile
is as a point guard. Now, the risk that you
run is you're probably one more aggravation to that shoulder
(19:08):
as you away from him saying, you know what, I
don't know if I can do this right, and I
think that that is probably inevitable that that happens.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
The thing that's frustrating with shoulders is you probably need
surgery to fix it. Now, it's not something that gets
worse when you don't have surgery, and you can play
through it if you can handle the pain. But I mean,
Kentucky fan saw this last year with Lamon Butler. He
handled the pain for a while, but he was never
the same guy that he was before he started dealing
(19:38):
with this. So you can try to build around it,
but you're again like one screen that he runs into
at the wrong angle, away from having this be something
where okay again. Now it's January and you're gonna have
to revamp what you're trying to do all over again.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Totally.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Rob osterro Field of sixty eight Where all can people
find the Field of sixty eight products?
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, we're all live on YouTube every night at eleven
o'clock streaming on x and anyway. You get podcasts for
absolutely free toom It's absolutely free our podcast feed, Apple Podcasts,
Spotify everywhere, and look.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
For Field of sixty eight. Let's talk about the SEC,
since conference play will be starting before long. Obviously not
as strong as it was last year. What's your take
on just the overall strength of the SEC versus what
you expected coming into the year.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
I mean, I think we all kind of knew it
was going to take a little bit of a step
back from this year. It's probably taken more of a
step back than I expected that it would. But we're
at a point right now where I think that there's
a real possibility that Arkansas is the best team in
the SEC, which is crazy to say and probably not
what Kentucky fans want to hear. But Florida's got their warts.
I'm not a believer right now in Tennessee as being
(20:48):
that level of good. Alabama's got some injury issues that
they're dealing with, but they're small. They don't really have
the physicality inside. When you look at I mean, you
got to be big, and you got to be you
got to be tough to be able to win with
some of these bigger teams in college basketball this season.
I don't know if Alabama necessarily has that, so I
mean it might be Arkansas. Man, it might be Arkansas.
(21:09):
That is a team that is the best team with
the best chance to make a final four out of
the SEC.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
A lot to talk about the strength of this freshman
class this year for the sport of college basketball? Is
this going to give us maybe our best read that
we've had since the rules of engagement changed in college
basketball in terms of can you win with leaning heavily
(21:33):
on a freshman or multiple rookies in a time when
the game, the players are older than they've been in
a while, and teams are constructed differently than they were
five ten years ago.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
Yeah, probably, I would say that. I think last year
Duke was probably the best team that I think I've
seen since something doing this time and then in year
sixteen now of covering college basketball like this, if they
don't give away that game against Houston, I think that
they end up beating Florida, And I think that we're
(22:07):
talking about John Shires having a team that was in
the same stratosphere as twenty eighteens Illanova in two thousand
and nine. North Carolina and twenty fifteen Kentucky in terms
of how good they were. So I think that we
saw that you can win doing this.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Now.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
The issue is not whether or not you can win
with freshmen. The issue is whether or not the freshmen
are good enough for you to be able to win.
You know what I mean, Like, if it's next year,
then that freshman class is not going to be good
enough for you to be able to win relying on
to refreshmen. But Cam Booser, a Jta Barncer, Caleb Wilson, MIKEL. Brown,
some of the dudes that came into college this year
(22:47):
are just they're different.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Bob Nosterfield is sixty eight. It's the best of the
Leads Report presented by Bob kat Enterprises. And we'll be
right back. Latre Bark comes to you from the Clark's
Pumpin' Shop Studios, Return, Refresh, and Refuse at Clarks. It's
the best of the Late report for New Year's Day.
Next up, an interview I did with analytics guru Evan
mia Kala prior to the start of the basketball season
(23:09):
on my website.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
One of the things that I do is I for
every single team in the transfer portal. I look at
all of the guys that they've brought in, and I
basically evaluate how good their incoming transfer class is, both
looking at the quality of guys they brought in but
also the number of guys. It's kind of similar to
how you'll see high school recruiting rankings work, but it's
all based on my statistical models evaluations of all these
(23:32):
players and how good I project them to be. And
so Kentucky right now has the second best incoming transfer
class in the entire country, taking into account both the
quality of the guys that brought in but also the
number of pieces they have. They're behind only Michigan, and
I say that because Michigan there's kind of a big
asterisk with their class because one of their biggest additions
(23:57):
in the transfer portal is yax Landeborg, who is still
in the NBA draft process, and a lot of people
are saying there's a good chance you might go to
the NBA. So if lend Aboard were to not go
to Michigan, I think I think Kentucky would probably move
ahead of Michigan in my rankings and be the best
incoming transfer class in the entire country. So When you
take all that into account, it's been a really really
(24:18):
impressive off season for Kentucky and they've been pretty much
better than anybody in terms of the pieces that they're
bringing in through the portal.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
You did an interesting study also about what you termed
the best way to build a roster in this current
climate of the transfer portal and nil. What were some
of the things that you found out and how much
of it was a surprise, if any to you.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Yeah, I mean so, one of the things that I
look at often is in this modern transfer portal era,
where a team can retool or rebuild an entire roster
from scratch if they want to in the off season.
That's what we saw Kentucky do last year when Mark
Pope came in. The question is like, what is the
best way to build a championship level roster in twenty
(25:04):
twenty five because you have all of these different routes Now.
You can go the high school route and get you know,
high level transfers, which is something that Kentucky has done
a lot in the past. You can go the portal
route and fill a lot of your roster with new pieces,
veteran guys from other schools, or you can prioritize returning
guys from the previous team, retaining guys, and focusing on
roster continuity. All of these are very valid measures. And
(25:26):
so what I have found in looking at the data
of the most successful high majors over the last several
years is that the number one key is to get
more talent on your roster. I think that goes without saying,
but when you look at the teams that have been
the most successful, teams that have made final fours, that
have won national championships, that have gotten one season had
a lot of success throughout the regular season, the common
(25:49):
trend you'll see is that almost all of these teams
have had at least fifty percent of their minutes being
played by guys who are returning from the previous season.
So that means that they're building their teams around a core,
a key corp of guys who are coming back, and
then they're raising the talent level around them by getting
a couple key new pieces gither through the portal or
(26:10):
through the freshman ranks to raise the talent level. But
you're not necessarily completely re hauling an entire roster in
an offseason. You look at the last four national champions,
Florida this last year, Yukon the previous two years, Kansas
the year before. All of them were over that fifty
percent mark in terms of having returning players play a
majority of their minutes. And you look at this year's
(26:30):
final four, you had you know, Florida obviously, but Houston
and Auburn as well. All of them had about seventy
percent or more of their minutes being played by returning players.
And the blueprint for those three schools was keep your
key pieces from last year and then get a couple
key pieces to raise the talent level. Duke was the
exception in this year's Final four, but they were the
(26:51):
most talented team in the entire country. They had three
likely lottery picks on their roster, so it's not a
surprise that they were that good. But for a lot
of other teams who don't have that luxury of being
that talented, retaining your key guys from one season to
the next really is important.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
There's been that phrase in recent years as this trend
has emerged, it would say get old and stay old.
It sounds like now it's get old but stay familiar, right, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (27:17):
And I would agree you know, I don't think it's
it's right in all situations to have roster continuity just
for the sake of that, because you have some teams
that are just straight up not talented enough with the
existing guys they have in their roster, you know, to
be you know, competitive at the high major level. And
so in those cases, like you want to a fresh
(27:39):
a fresh start can always be good. You look at
you know, Louisville coming from the Kenny Payne era to
Pat Kelsey. You know, they lost their entire roster, but
their entire roster mostly stank, and so it was totally
appropriate for the new coach to come in and say, hey,
we're letting go of everybody. We're bringing in better talent.
But then once you actually have success and you are
good enough to make a tournament, you're good enough to
(28:00):
win a game or two in the tournament, that's when
it becomes really critical to then hang onto your key
pieces instead of letting them go potentially to other teams
in the portal and saying it's okay, we can just
re recruit that spot. A lot of times it's a
lot tougher from a team chemistry perspective, but also just
from you know, an overall roster, you know, strength and
(28:20):
continuity perspective to you know, bring in a like for
like replacement as opposed to just prioritizing the guy that
you already have, because oftentimes the guy you already have
on your roster is going to be more successful than
a similarly talented guy who maybe would replace him at
that spot.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Talking with Evbacala here on the Club Blueennile dot com hotline,
his website is Evanmeia dot com, it sounds like what
you're describing is what a lot of us older college
basketball fans grew up with. With a different twist. Teams,
you know, Joby Hall's Kentucky teams were built, you know
where they you have players stay with the program and
(28:59):
you get the payoff as they got older, and the
new guys they'd bring in to give them a shot
of more talent would be freshmen now instead of freshmen,
it's or it's not always freshmen now, it can be transfers.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Right, Yeah, that's correct. And you know the difference is
when you get a freshman out of high school, you know,
obviously there's a chance that freshman is talented enough to
only play one year in college and go to the
NBA Draft. But what you're seeing is, in this day
and age, because of how much money you can make
in college, a lot of good high school recruits are
staying for multiple years in college. It's kind of flipped
(29:31):
now where you can get one year rentals if you
want to call it that, through the portal. You know,
guys who have one year of eligibility left and are
willing to, you know, maybe come at for the last
year of college and make a big difference to your program.
And those guys can be very, very valuable in kind
of putting the final touches on a roster, but also
if you're continually having to rely on those one year players.
(29:54):
You know, I know there was a good number of
players Kentucky had this last season they got as they
were filling off their roster, but then they're going to
have to graduate after one year. You look at Lamont Butler,
Amari Williams, Deandrew Carr, Jackson, Robinson, Kobe Brayle, like, all
of these guys were just available for one year and
then they're gone. So if you can get guys, you know,
if you're trying to raise the talent level on your roster.
(30:15):
If you're able to get someone who will then play
for multiple seasons for you, that's really where you get
a lot of gold. Because you look at what Florida
did this year. You know a lot of their guys
originally were transfers. You had, you know, Walter Clayton and
will Richard who were They got them from the mid
major ranks, but they stayed for multiple years and it
(30:37):
was that second year or third year with the program
where they really really became elite. And so I think
that really is is the key is regardless of where
you get your talent initially, trying to retain them and
develop them for multiple years often means they're going to
have their best seasons down the road.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Talk with Evan Meakala and we'll continue the conversation here
in just a moment on the Lead's Report presented by
Bombcat Enterprises. Remember that you can subscribe to get the
analytics from Evan at EVANMYA E v A N M
I y A dot com. It's one of the favorites
for Coach Pope and his staff. This is the best
of the Leads Report for New Year's Day, and we'll
(31:16):
have more of the interview with Evan Miacala. When we
continue Best of the Leads report for New Year's Day,
let's get back to part two of the interview I
did before the season started with college basketball analytics analyst
evanmia Kala. We're talking about defense. You mentioned Quaintance in
your rankings. You had him number one sum He's back
(31:37):
to full strength, number one defensive player in the portal class, right, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
I mean, he obviously had an injury last year that
shortened his season, and you know this is taking into
account him coming back and being healthy. But from what
we saw in limited flashes for him as a freshman,
I don't I think that's arguable that he might be
like the most athletic, physically imposing defender in the entire
country this year year. And when you look at what
he did last year as a freshman, and you look
(32:03):
then at his recruiting profile coming out of high school,
the NBA potential that we know he has that freshman
is sophomore leap of staying in college and getting to develop,
and especially under Mark Pope and his staff, my model
just really predicts big things from him this year, and
if he can be healthy, he might be one of
the scariest players that in the SEC that any team
(32:24):
will face. How so well, I mean just because he
is going to be a disruptor. He's a freakish athlete,
and I think what I mean his numbers really stick
out even his freshman year in terms of his ability
on the boards, his ability to block shots at the
rim and prevent teams from getting where they want. He's
been a really good efficient scorer inside, even just in
(32:46):
his freshman year, and just in general in terms of
the advanced analytics, his impact on team performance defensively last
year when he was on the court. The Arizona State
team was night and day better when he was on
the court last year, and I think that's going to
translate to Kentucky this year as well. It's not just
the individual statistical numbers, it's just his presence on the
(33:06):
floor really makes a big boost to how your team
plays defensively as a whole, and I think we're going
to see that again this year.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Tonya with Evan via Kawa. It's Evan mea e v
A n m Iya dot com to click into all
of the analytical discussions that he gets into at his side.
What are the questions for you about this Kentucky team
from an analytics standpoint.
Speaker 7 (33:30):
Well, I think my metrics are going to be a
little bit lower on Kentucky than maybe what you'll see
in some of the other human rankings, AP poll, et cetera.
You know, I think a lot of team people think
this team has top five potential, and I think, certainly
in terms of their roster, they're absolutely capable of that.
I do think offensively, I talked already about the defensive
(33:51):
strengths of this team. I think offensively is where I
have a little bit more question marks. Nationally, I have
Kentucky's offense rank sixteenth in the country, so that'd be
just outside the top fifteen in terms of their predicted
offensive efficiency As a team. I think they have a
lot of really talented players, but there obviously have a
lot of roster turnover, and your only really main like
continuing offensive threat from last year is Otaga Away. You're
(34:13):
gonna obviously have a lot of other new talented players
playing with him. But I do think that it's not
a given that this team will click offensively from the jump.
Last year we saw Kentucky have a entirely new roster,
and especially in the early portion of the season, they
really looked good. So if Mark Pope is able to
do that again in saying okay, we're we're not really
going to struggle with chemistry earlier, it's gonna be fluid
(34:36):
from day one, then you know, wipe these concerns away.
But you know, I think it could take a little
bit of time for this team to gel and so
you know, we'll see how it goes on that end.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
One of the articles that clicked on your site talked
about the gap between high major teams and the rest
of college basketball widening. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 7 (34:58):
Well, I think the transfer portal, which makes it really
easy for players to go to any school they want
in any given year, and then the NIL money, which
is really largely concentrated in the big high major conferences
like the SEC, Big Ten, etc. Is really just kind
of making it kind of hard for any good low
major mid major players to pass down better offers that
(35:18):
are coming from these high major schools. Especially in college basketball.
It's been kind of interesting because, as it has been
noted a lot recently, the parody in college football with
nil seems to be up. There's a lot of schools
that are you're not necessarily having the top five or
top ten schools every single year, whereas in college basketball,
especially in these power conferences, we're just seeing such a concentration.
(35:39):
And when you look at the top five leagues in
college basketball SEC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, ACC, Big East,
and the average team ranking, the average talent that they
have on their teams compared to all the other conferences,
there's just a massive, massive gap going into the year
between them and the rest of the country. I think
it's probably the largest gap we've ever seen and certainly
kind of shows how the transferport and name image and likeness,
(36:01):
the fact that players can get paid has really kind
of led to this sort of talent accumulation at the
very very top.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
With that being the case, just as a basketball fan,
does that affect your opinion on NCAA tournament expansion and
that debate, Well.
Speaker 7 (36:16):
I think in a fair world where the committee is
truly going off of objective metrics that are measuring a
team's quality in terms of how they performed in the
regular season, if the argument for tournament expansion is well,
if we add in more spots, say eight more spots,
then we're going to be able to add more of
(36:37):
these mid majors, and we're going really objectively off of
selecting those that. I'm all for it, but the track
record has not shown that. There have been plenty of
cases in the last you know, two to three years
where you have mid majors or teams out of these
mid major plus conferences like the A ten of the
Mountain West who have absolutely had an argument compared to
these other power conference teams to get in and they
(36:58):
have not been selected. So, you know, if we're already
struggling to see some of these teams who should have
a shot getting in now, I don't see why that
changes if we add in eight more spots. So I
think in practice, I don't necessarily think you can make
the argument that, based on the track record of the committee,
adding more spots to the tournament will help the mid
major conferences, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
It's Evanmakala. Evanmiya dot com is where you can find
his work and really interesting discussions you can get into
as a college basketball fan with all of these metrics.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
Absolutely glad to be here.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
Thanks for listening to the leach Report anytime he mission show,
you can catch the Mingy Beef Tricky podcast. Find them
at Tom leach Ky dot com or on the iHeartRadio app.
Interested in advertising on the show, email Leach Reports at
gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
We'll see next time on the Leach Report.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
M hmm
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