2025-06-17 - BBI

Vince Marrow's message to the BBN; Collin Chandler on year 2 under Mark Pope; (10:00) Murray State's classy farewell to the College World Series; (18:00) UK's new tight ends coach, Derek Shay; (39:00) WHAS Sports Director Kent Spencer on the Marrow Move & UK football; (59:00) Mark Stoops grilled by one of his own players; (1:07:00) an NCAA PSA aimed at curbing harassment of players & coaches may be working and it IS possible to get even dumber sometimes...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Big Blue and Cider. Dick Gabriel with
you on a Tuesday edition of our program. Much to
discuss tonight baseball, football, basketball. We'll hear from some of
the basketball cats. We'll here from Mark Stoops also got
to hear in a moment from Vince Merrow. At the
bottom of the hour, Derek Shay joined us. He is
a new tight ends coach for the Wildcats. Takes over
that position group for Vince Merrow. Of course, Merrow was

(00:23):
the associate head coach. We all know this recruiting coordinator.
But Derek Shay, he's just going to worry about coaching
tight ends and recruiting. He's got a really interesting backstory,
as most of these coaches do. I had a chance
to chat with him earlier. Today. We're going to talk
college baseball as we put the show together. Yesterday, I
was telling you, and many of you know by now

(00:44):
we have to pre record early in the day. It's
a long story. But Murray State in Arkansas we're playing
while I was putting the show together, so I couldn't
tell you what was happening. Turned out to be the
no hitter by Arkansas. So Murray State bows out, but
bows out incredibly, so gracefully, and you can see why
Omaha and college baseball fans kind of fell in love

(01:08):
with not just because Murray State was Cinderella, but just
the way the players and the coach, Dan Skirka conducted himself.
So we'll hear from them coming up very shortly. As
I said Derek Shay at the bottom of the hour,
Buddy Ken Spencer from WHAS formerly WTVQ, in hour number two,
he'll talk Kentucky football and basketball. Can't of course play

(01:29):
college football at Morehead States. I'm always interested to hear
what he has to say his observations about college football.
And a little bit later on Mark Stoops, who had
some fun talking on camera with one of his players,
but we mentioned Vince Merriw. He decided I thought this
was interesting yesterday afternoon to release via social media a

(01:52):
statement of his own and he had done a few interviews,
And I'll be honest with you, I have not attempted
to get an interview with Vince may simply because and
it's the cynic in me, but I would love to
know exactly why. It's the journalist in me. Why did
he leave? And yeah, it's a great opportunity and Jeff

(02:15):
Brohm are buddies. The college football landscape has changed. I'm
sure the way they're doing business at UK has changed,
and it affected Marrow. It's an offer he didn't want
to refuse. He's had other offers, but were there underlying
reasons that he left, And it's it's something that will

(02:36):
probably never really know for sure, and that's fine. It
may be none of our business, but just kind of
dance around the topic, you know. You know, I'm not
really interested in that, but I'm more interested in how
it affects the program I cover University of Kentucky, and
you know, I'll keep an eye on how it affects
the University of Louisville as well, and if it affects
UOL in a positive way, that could damage UK's recruiting efforts.

(02:59):
In a course, they play on the field played, you know,
they meet each other on the field of battle, as
they say, so, I think what's more important now not
as much why did he do it, as what's the effect?
How will this affect the way Mark Stoops and his
staff do business in terms of recruiting, in terms of

(03:20):
developing players and moving forward to try to erase the
memory of last year's disappointing season. Here's what Merrill had
to say. This was a message that had nothing to
do with his new job, but had everything to do
with how he feels about UK fans. He knows, of course,
how they feel about his move, but he kind of wanted,

(03:42):
in his words, to put a bow on things. Maybe
not a bow, but put a little perspective on it.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I want to talk to you guys, the Big Blue Nation.
I really love you guys, and I really really appreciate
because you guys really helped me built my career with
your support from when I first came here. I remember
if Buddy told me why you're going there? You you
guys are gonna be fired in two years. I was
the lowest paid coach. I heard all the jokes. I

(04:08):
wanted to build and bring players in so we can
win and we can have some pride and dignity. It
is hard. I'm not gonna even sugarcoat it. It's hard
because of my loyalty to really you guys, the fans.
But this is a job opportunity I feel I can
pass up. I passed up several other ones that people,

(04:32):
you guys as the fans know. But just like a
lot of you guys, you got families. A lot of
you guys had opportunities with different jobs, and you move
and take it. You doing what's best for your family.
I'm doing what's best for my career. I really enjoyed
being here thirteen years with you guys, because you guys

(04:53):
are a really good fan base to the Big Blue Nation,
one of the best. I'm pretty sure y'all going to
Blue when I come back, though, But I really do
love you guys.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
I have to appreciate the fact that they laid in
a little bit of music, you know, a little bit
of dramatic music, kind of soften the blow. Look, a
lot of you out there will never forgive him, and
that's fine. That's what college rivalries are all about. That's
what pro rivalries are all about. You know, Seinfeld did
a bit on it. You know, you're not rooting for
the player. He was talking more about the pros because

(05:24):
one player can get traded, let's say, from the Yankees
to the Red Sox, and then suddenly you hate them.
You're rooting for the jersey, You're rooting for the laundry. Well,
it's a little bit deeper than that with Vince Merrill,
because he had such a profound effect in a positive
way on the UK program, helping bring in guys like
Benny Snell and others who helped carry the Kentucky program

(05:47):
on a couple of occasions to double digit victories and
a lot of fun for you and me and the
media covering Bowl games down in Florida. That's important now
of late things have said, we know this, but when
you think about the new levels that Kentucky football has
reached with Mark Stoops and Vince Merrow recruiting out of

(06:10):
the state of Ohio out to Michigan, that's formidable and
it cannot be overlooked. And I know a lot of
you like to look at the most recent ski season
and it did not go well. But I also see
comments out there about how terrible the coach Stoops is.
He is not. And I actually saw some snide remarks

(06:31):
about how poor a recruiter a recruiter that Vince Merrow was.
He's not because lately some kids haven't worked out. But
that's sports. It's what have you done for me lately?
So we'll move on. We'll talk to the new tight
ends coach. At the bottom of the hour. Basketball Cats
have been talking to us as well, including Colin Chandler

(06:54):
and Trendoah and Chandler talked about the fact that even
though there's a lot of moving college basketball, he was
always coming back to be a Wildcat.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
There's a lot of different aspects to the game of
basketball right now, and I've always been taught loyalty from
my dad, but you're also taught to do what's best
for you and your career, and so I was very
prayerful about what I'm always thinking about, what is God's
plan for me? What's the bigger plan for me? And

(07:25):
I love my time here in Kentucky and through lots
of prayer, and because you have to, you have to
figure out what's best for you in your life and
where you're supposed to be for purposes maybe greater than basketball.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
I believe there's.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
Purposes for for being here that's greater than basketball. But
I feel and I know that I'm supposed to be here,
So that was I was pretty sure about that in offseason.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
So, yeah, a lot of players improved under Mark Pope
last year, but maybe cheap among them. What's Chandler who
took some minutes from Travis Perry quite frankly at point guard,
and he might have been one of the biggest reasons
that Perry decided to transfer. A Chandler shook the rust
and really helped his team down the stretch. And he

(08:15):
talked about this coming season and what he's hoping to
improve upon. But it's going to help. He said that
he knows the environment so much better.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
I feel like I know my environment a little bit better.
Is I was coming in a little bit blind last
year of what to expect from just coming home as
a missionary is kind of a whirlwind of life changing
as well as playing basketball for the first time and
then also playing basketball at extremely high level. I didn't

(08:44):
really know what to expect how to go about it.
Whereas I feel like this year off season, I know
exactly what I'm supposed to be working on. I know
what I can do. I have a lot of experience
on the court for what I can do and things
I can get better, and so I think I have
a lot better of a vision of what I need

(09:06):
to do. I think that's the biggest difference.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Up next, we'll take a look at what's been going
on out of Omaha. But a note that Oklahoma City
fought off Indiana last night the Pacers who made a
run late, but Shay Gilders Alexander was excellent as always.
His teammate Jalen Williams was even better. He put up
forty you know one twenty to one oh nine win.
Oklahoma City is one went away from his first NBA championship.

(09:34):
Technically when they were the Super Socks they won one
back in nineteen seventy nine, but for Okasee this would
be a first. It was tough. They had an eighteen
point lead. Pacers cut it down to two, but oka
See hung on and they and the MVP of the league,
Shay Guilders Alexander the X Wildcat one went away from

(09:56):
an NBA title and by the way, she had thirty
one points. Tennissee actually blocked two shots, made a couple
of big steals down the stretch. I want a couple
of the Big bloon Sider Bottom of the hour, tight
Ends coach Derek sha six point thirty wlap Welcome back
to the Big boon Sider coming up at the bottom
of the hour. Derek Shae, Kentucky's new tight Ends coach,

(10:17):
a little bit later on Ken Spencer from w HS
We'll talk to you kay football and basketball, but we've
got to look back and tip the BBI cap to
the Murray State Racers eliminated just as Kentucky was last
year from the College World Series, although the Racers did
not get a chance to experience a win, but just
as Kentucky did last year, maybe even a little more

(10:40):
so because Murray State was a more of a cinderella
I think the Kentucky was last year. They really captivated
the fans out in Omaha. I remember Nick menze Ownes
sort of at a preliminary press conference in Omaha making
a plee to fans who maybe didn't have a team
to root for. He if you want to root for somebody,

(11:00):
rooted for us, and a lot of people did because
they liked the way Kentucky played, you know, the combination
of power baseball and small ball doing whatever it took
to win well. Murray State came in the greatest season,
of course, in the history of Racers baseball, the first
time a four seed came out of a regional since
nineteen ninety nine. Played well in its opening loss to UCLA,

(11:24):
but then yesterday no hit by gage Wood. I mean,
of all times for a guy to have a historically
great outing, here's a guy who was injured earlier in
the year. He missed fifty four days on the injured list,
and then last night throwed just a third no hitter
in the history of the men's College World Series, in

(11:46):
the first in sixty five years. Nineteen strikeouts, that's a record,
and at one point struck out seven straight racers. Murray
never came close to getting a base hit hard ground
ball was about as good as it got, and he
missed a perfect game by one at bat. He hit
a guy in the eighth inning. He also hit a

(12:08):
guy and knowing the seventh and he hit a guy
in the eighth inning, but they took the Murray State
hitter off first base called him out for interference, but
that was a bogus call. The ball hit the guy
in the right handed batter's box. They said he leaned
into it. He did not, But anyway, they weren't going
to get gauge anyhow, they weren't going to get to him.

(12:31):
He was unbelievable. But after the game, as usual, the
Murray State players and coach handled themselves so well, it
was incredibly well And somebody asked the players about the memories,
and they talked about just it wasn't so much the
games on the field throughout the tournament. It was being

(12:52):
together and making it happen. You know what, guys they
worked with for so long in some instances, And this
is Carson Garner, the Murray State third baseman, on what
he's taking away and what he took away from the
entire season.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
I told somebody the other day, I get to wake
up every day and go play the game I love
with my forty best friends.

Speaker 5 (13:14):
So that's what I remember most.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
I love that comment. But if you've been paying attention
to the Murray State run, it's not surprising. And our man,
Keith Madison, the Hall of Fame UK coach, was out
there in home all for a little while, had his
picture taken with Dan Skirka, tweeted it out. They know it.
In fact, Keith Madison spoke to the Murray State team
at Chapel on game day or the day before, so

(13:42):
he knows Skirka thinks the world of him, and Skirka
got a little emotional when he started thinking about this
run made by his team.

Speaker 6 (13:50):
You know, one of my wife's favorite movies is The
League of Their Own and say there's no crying in baseball, Well,
you can throw that out the window. There's no way
I'm making it through this right here. What these guys
mean to me.

Speaker 7 (14:06):
And my family.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
And watching Skirka speaking. And by the way, again, this
is a Murray team that beat Kentucky back in March
five to four. His son Keegan was sitting on his lap,
and it reminded me last year again at Kentucky being
there and Nick manngeone through the regional, the Soupers and
the World Series. He allowed his son Reeves to sit

(14:32):
at the dais for the press conferences. Reeves actually fielded
a question or two. During the postseason. He had his
own placard up there with his name on it, and
the Murray State player was so cool. And I've seen
this before at basketball tournaments, but the official placard with
their name with the emblem on it College World Series.
When the Murray State players got up and left, they

(14:54):
took the placards with them, and good for them. What
a great souvenir, you know, So you can understand why
fans really adopted the Racers and skirt Could talked about
the effect his kids have had on college baseball.

Speaker 6 (15:08):
What these guys have done to inspire people, to inspire
kids to play baseball, to inspire families to watch together,
to inspire families to come here and visit and be
a part of it. That's what's so special about this
and it's amazing. I mean, it truly is amazing.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
Skirk had talked about the fact that one of his
players said, don't be sad that it's over, be happy
that it happened. They weren't there, They weren't just happy
to be there. Of course, they wanted to win, but
the way they just handle themselves was so great. But
I also love the fact that Skirka tipped his cap
and shouted out the parents of the Murray State players.

Speaker 6 (15:49):
I mean, the parents traveling all over the place, you know,
providing for these guys. You know, nobody's on a full
ride on our team. Nobody's making money on our team,
and so the parents are sacrificing so much and the
guys are putting so much into it, man, And to
see them get to celebrate, you know, you say, into
the year, only one team's happy. That ain't the case.
This year, there's definitely more than one because these guys

(16:13):
just the run they went on, and you're not gonna
be able to wipe the smile off their face for
a really long time. And that's why I told them.
You know, they're gonna they're gonna share this for ages
and people are gonna ask them about it for ages,
and that's that's really the cool thing.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
And again, you gotta wonder because right now the money
isn't there for college baseball. It's still eleven point seven
scholarships plus whatever you can dig up with nil or grants.
How many kids and their parents had to pay their
way to play college baseball this year. It's gonna change
next year, thank goodness. But again, you got to tip

(16:47):
your cap to anybody who paid to be there as
a player, as a parent, and tip your captain the
Murray State Racers. What a great year. Derek Shay, new
tight ends coach is up next year on six point
thirty w l A P. Welcome back to the Big
Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with you on a Tuesday
edition of our show. And of course, in the wake
of the Vince Merrow story comes the news that Derek

(17:07):
Shay has been promoted. He is the new tight ends coach.
He has been on staff for a year already more
than a year now as the senior offensive analyst and
run game specialist, basically helping Eric Wolford with the offensive line.
He's got a long and interesting resume which includes stops

(17:28):
at McNeese State on the one double A level FCS level,
and right after that he goes to LSU to go
to grad school and as a GA worked for ed
Orgeron coaching tight ends and Ojeron had a full staff
of ten assistants, but he made Shae the tight ends
coach because he had seen him in action coaching at

(17:48):
IMG Academy when he was recruiting and he liked the
way Shae coach, so he added him to his staff
at LSU, and he went from there to Missouri where
he worked under Bush Hamdan as a senior offensive analyst,
and now they've been reunited at UK. I had a
chance to talk to him earlier today about the talented

(18:09):
tight ends room, which includes the likes of the veterans
Josh Katis, who's in his senior year, Willie Rodriguez, just
a sophomore but played a lot last year. Justin Katis,
a red shirt freshman. He is a Josh's brother. Henry Boyer,
the transfer of Illinois's huge six six two sixty five.
I saw him in the spring. He stands out, no

(18:30):
question about that. Uh and a freshman six four to twenty
five Michael Skinner. So it is a talented tight end room,
and we talked about that among other things.

Speaker 7 (18:41):
It's a really good room. There's a good mix, you know,
There's there's some older guys with some experience. There's some
young guys that have talent and potential that we have
to develop. And so it's an exciting time obviously to
be the tight end coach here because I get a
chance to get my hands on him and get a
chance to develop them and get him better, try to
get the most out of them. So I'm excited to

(19:02):
tack about the room.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Can I give you my theory about why people get
excited when they throw to the tight ends. Generally a
tight end play, if it's designed for a tight end,
or even if it's a you know, second or third option,
it takes a little longer to develop, and so people
in the seats get a little antsy. All can the
quarterback get it off, you gotta get sacked. And then

(19:23):
when he does, as often as not, it's a tight
end who's victimizing a linebacker who's not as fast as
he is, and generally something good happens. Does that make sense?

Speaker 8 (19:34):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (19:34):
I love it. You know, you're exactly right. And that's
so unique about the position you get. You know, we
got to do it all. You got to block, you
got to catch, you got to pass protect. There's not
many tight ends in the National Football League that don't
play special teams, right, so you have to get tribat
on special teams. And so it's a it's became a
unique position in that you better have some smart guys
because they've got to know a little bit of everything.

(19:56):
And you're exactly right, you got to be you got
to be big enough to block, but you have to
be athletic enough to stretch the field and and give
us opportunities to catch the football down the field. And
and uh yeah, like you said, that's always everywhere, ever been.
Why are we not thrown at the tight end more?
We got to give him more catches. That's not just
unique to to Kentucky, I promise, But but but we do.

(20:16):
You know, we've got to continue to develop them and
give them a skill set to allow themselves to get
open and catch a football and make plays down the field.
And so that's that's our job is as coaches, and
that's why I'm looking forward to doing.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
I can't believe Josh Katis is already a senior. Feels
like he just got there. Uh, but that's a great
guy to have in terms of experience. And uh, I
know Willie Rodriguez, I mean, Mark Stews loves all those players,
but uh, he especially likes Rodriguez because this is one
physical kid. You talked about special teams. He you know,
he forced that fumble at Ole Miss. It turned out

(20:51):
it wasn't wasn't a fumble, but it was kind of
a window as to what he's all about physically, is
what was it?

Speaker 3 (20:58):
Not?

Speaker 7 (20:59):
No question the guy again, it's a testament to him.
He came in as a true freshman and his body
was physically ready to compete in the Southeastern Conference. And
that quite frankly, that's what usually holds guys back in
our league. You know, it's my fifth or sixth year
in the conference and you look at all these body
types and you look at these guys. It's not that
they're not athletic enough, it's not that they don't catch

(21:19):
the ball well enough. But the reality is that your
body has to be physically ready to take on the
battering of an SEC season. And to Willie's credit, you know,
he came in ready to do so and because of that,
he was able to get on the field. And you
know he's got the athletic tools to go with it.
He can move well in space, he catches the ball fluidly.

(21:43):
This guy's a good player and I'm excited about him.
And again, you know, I'm it's a challenge to me
to get this guy to take a jump from his
freshman to sophomore year and be a major contributor for
us and quite frankly, help us win more football games.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
You work with bush hand In in Missouri. This is
his first opportunity to take advantage of being a Kentucky
for the full cycle, you know, spring, summerfall. What is
it about his offense, Derek that that has you excited
and that should have Kentucky fans excited when it's clicking.

Speaker 7 (22:17):
Yeah, no question. I think the first thing that he's
you know, stressed continuity within your staff is important in
this day and aging college football because you know, college
football right wrong or indifferent is is more transient now
than ever, you know, with players, coaches and everybody, and
so when you create continuity on your staff, everybody gets
on the same page in terms of, hey, when we

(22:39):
install this play, this is the technique and fundamental we're
going to use. This is the verbage we're going to use,
and in the end that filters to the players. And
so you know, we've got a chance to be better
from that regard because our running back coach j bowl
Where is obviously back again. Our offensive line coach Eric Wolford,
who is as good of an offensive line coach in
the country, is back game in the second year in

(23:01):
the offense with Damian Washington, the receiver coach we just
recently hired, was with Bush previously at Missouri, and then
obviously I was I've been with hand in hand with
Bush for for several years. So I think that that
is our starting point and that it's going to help us,
you know, on the field in terms of instruction and
what Bush is looking forward, that that information is going
to get you know, more fluid to the players and

(23:23):
in terms of the offense and the scheme. You know that.
You know, Bush has obviously had success at previous places.
That's why he's here. And you know, we we've got to,
you know, put our players in the best position and
put our schemes in the best position to have success.
And Bush has done that obviously, not only in the
passing game, but also in the running game. You know,
he's had great success at Washington, uh throwing the ball around.

(23:44):
I obviously ran the heck out of the ball at
Boise State. And so we've got to put all those
things together and and obviously put those schemes together and
go have a better year on offense, playing and simple,
and we're working every day.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
To do that.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
You mentioned the old line. You have coached offense of
lineman in your career, not just tight ends. Other people
forget a tight end is an offensive lineman.

Speaker 6 (24:06):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
You guys have worked so hard with recruiting, with a
portal to make improvements and with the way as you
know college football is now, it's hard to develop players.
Hard to develop old lineman as a unit when everybody
five guys have to work is one. How do you
feel about what you saw in the spring and what
do you think we might see in the fall.

Speaker 7 (24:28):
Yeah, well, obviously Kause Wolford did an excellent job of
bringing in several transfer portal players in January. And because
of that, you know, the one thing that's important that
people get lost is especially at the offensive line position,
Like you're saying, these guys have to work in unison together.
I mean, five guys have to work in unison. And
so because we got you know, the majority of those

(24:50):
guys in January, we've able to you know, have an
excellent spring with them, an excellent off season of lifting
and conditioning, and those guys that have worked hand in
handing together for the past six months and are obviously
going to continue to do so throughout the season. So
I think that's an advantage for us, and that these
guys have been here together and uh, you know, they're
they're working together day in and day out. And the

(25:12):
other thing that we've got some older players there, you know,
which I think is a positive. Again, you know, people
are starting to study obviously the transfer portal and who
has had success and in the variety of things, and
I think what people are starting to find is Uh,
you know, experience and maturity is important right now in
college football, you know, and coach Wolf for the excellent

(25:32):
job with bringing in guys that have played a ton
of snaps in our older players. And I think that's, uh,
that's going to help us, I really do. So we're excited,
really excited about that group.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
We got a chance to talk to a lot of
those guys even before spring began, when they came in,
uh during the break, you know, came through the portal.
I always envisioned people materializing, you know. But one of
the guys, one of the old linemen, said that a
great advantage in having the experience you just reference was
the fact that they don't have to learn drills for

(26:05):
the most part, they already know how to do it.
So it's almost like you know, cutting to the front
of the line. You know, they use obviously, they use
that experience from and they know how to practice. I
guess is what I'm saying, that's got to expedite the situation,
I would think, Am I right?

Speaker 7 (26:21):
No, I think it does for sure. I think, like
you're saying, the advantage of guys playing a bunch of snaps,
and not only that, they're emotionally mature, which I think, yeah,
Wolf is an excellent job of, you know, kind of
going through the process of all right, yeah, this guy's
a good player. I do want him, but I'm going
to do my research. Makes for sure this guy is
an emotionally mature person. And you know, I think we

(26:44):
can say that about all those guys, and so what
goes into that is they have a good self awareness
and so even you know, hey, I've played all these snaps,
I know I need to work on my inside zone
step to the right because I've struggled with that over
the course of my career. And so when they get
out to the practice field there there they can you know,
potentially be more intentional about about what they're doing, which

(27:05):
is exactly what you're saying. I think. I think that
group is doing a really good job of honing their
techniques and fundamentals and working their tails off so that
we can have a successful fault.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
He is Derek Shay, the new tight ends coach for
the While Cast. We'll come back and talk more football
with Derek in just a minute. Here on a Big
bullone Sider six thirty wlap. We're talking to Derek Shay's
Kentucky's new tight ends coach. You played your college football
at Western Illinois. You were a leather Neck, and then
you transferred to Eastern Illinois, which is where Tony Romo played.

(27:38):
I happen to know, do they have like pictures and
posters of him everywhere?

Speaker 7 (27:42):
There's no question, not just him though.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (27:46):
I started Western, I finished up the Easter, started student
coaching there. And while I was there, there's a gentleman
by the name of Jimmy Garoppo, quarterback, and before Tony
Romo was a guy by the name of Sean Payton.
So all three of those guys, which is a story
for another day, but not Sean Payton, but a guy

(28:07):
that was on our staff by the name of Roy
WICKI had been at Easternly for a long time and
recruited Tony Romo and recruited Jimmy Garoppolo, and both those
guys were obviously very very very under recruited, and he
had nine for talent and obviously found those two guys,
which is a book in itself, but yeah, you know,
interesting place. The other piece of that is there's a

(28:30):
lot of coaches that have been through Stern Annoy Mike
Shanahan's and Eachell Annoy Grad. Brad Childers, the former head
coach of the Vikings, the stern Illinoy Grad, actually one
of my mentors who was a longtime special teams coach,
won a Super Bowl with the Saints. Guy by the
name of Greg McMahon is an Eastern Illinois grad. Obviously
Sean Payton. So there's been some good players, but there's
been some good coaches too.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
Credible of coaches say it's Miami, but you know, hey, man,
Eastern Illinois got something on them. You play there, you
coach there, You coach at the FCS level, You coached
the high school, the prep school. Your first uh D
one job was LSU. You work with at Orgron there.
What was that like, Derek moving from McNee State which

(29:14):
had a really good FCS program, but now LSU, which
is you know the cream and look at the SEC
and you got everything you'd ever want to have. You know,
you always want more. You know, you're flying everywhere. I mean,
what was that like to make that jump?

Speaker 7 (29:28):
Yeah, I mean I joked at the time, I went
from the outhouse to the penthouse. Yeah, from McNee t LSU.
But obviously was fortunate enough, Like we talked about the
at Ozern, you know, you know, if whatever whatever it
may be, found something in me and hired me there.
And I think the thing about coaching, no matter what
the level. You know, one of my most impactful jobs

(29:49):
is I was a teacher and coach at Warren Central
High School, Indianapolis. Right right at I GA for a
few years, he's snowing only bowling green. I'm twenty four
to twenty five years old, and I get a full
time time job at Warren Central High School, Indianapolis, which
is obviously one of the best programs in the Midwest
at the time. And you know, I just think every

(30:10):
experience gives you something. And you know, I learned how
to coach there, you know, being a graduate assistant and
then going and doing it on your own and learning
how to coach, you know, not only not only Division
I players, but guys that are going to just have
just go to college and work regular jobs. You know,
you learn how to coach. And so I say all
that to say, you know, when I go to LSU,

(30:30):
I use the same skills as I did at Warren Central,
as I did at IMG, as I did at McNeice
to just go coach players. And I think the big
thing is, you know, all players are looking for how
to get them better. They're looking for good instruction or
looking for, you know, somebody to put their arm around
them as you're walking off the field after you've ripped
their butt. And I think I think that translates to

(30:51):
every level. And so when I went to LSU and
and started working there, although the lights were obviously a
lot brighter than what I was used to, I just
try to stay true to that and just continue to
coach the heck out of the players and try to
get them better. And we're fortunate enough there to have
some really good ones and some guys that are now
playing in the National Football League, and so that was

(31:12):
a great experience, you know, and quite frankly, my experience
and not to be conceded, but reputation working there has
led me to the last five or six years of
my career. And so you know, I've just tried to
draw on that and try to do the best job
every day, put your best foot forward and do the
best for your players, and hopefully everything else takes care

(31:34):
of it.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
So you were the co offensive coordinator at Warren Central
and again at IMG Academy. How has that helped you
as you further your career as a tight ends coach
as an O line coach?

Speaker 7 (31:45):
Yeah, I think the big thing sometimes office line coaches
you can get stuck, right, all you know is those
five guys. If you always joke, all you do is
watch the game zone copy of the film. You don't
watch the sideline copy, right, you know? And so I
think by by you know, you know, having coordinate responsibilities
at some places, it gives you just a better perspective
of the big picture. And that's what the tight end

(32:07):
position is. You know, you don't just you don't just
have to know who you're blocking in the box. You
have to obviously haven't understanding of the past game and
how you fit into all the schemes. And so I think,
you know, when you when you get coordinator experience, it
makes you kind of expand your knowledge and get outside
your box. And that's helped me progress to be able
to coach both positions, and I think that's that's given

(32:30):
me some flexibility.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
And org Ron gave you your first big break and
arguably he is, to say the least, a live wire.
Uh and now you work for Mark Stoops, and of
course I'm going to ask you to brag about your
your current boss. You're not going to say anything controversial.
But what is it about Stoops that that you have found,
I don't know, interesting, intriguing. What is it you like

(32:53):
about him as a as a hands on coach?

Speaker 7 (32:57):
Yeah, well there's there's really there's two things that stick
out me when people have asked me this question. And
you know, obviously we've all experience, We've worked for quite
a few head coaches at this point. The first thing
is this is you know, in this profession you're always
hunting a work life somewhat balance, which there's no such
thing in this profession. But the reality is, you know,

(33:19):
we all want to be good husbands, we all want
to be good fathers, and we all want to be
really good at football coaches. How can we try to
do a little bit of everything? And coach Stups, better
than anywhere I've ever been, values people's time, and he
values his coaches times, and he values his players time.
And because of that, you know, I mean Bush and
I talk about it all the time, it allows us

(33:40):
to try to be around our kids as much as
we possibly can, allows us to try to be the
best husbands we can and then obviously give the most
to our players. And that's because coach Stops doesn't waste
his coaches times. We get done what needs to get done,
and you know, we're allowed to do other things outside
of that, and that's not always case. And I've got

(34:01):
unbelievable respect for the way coach has done it here
because from my understanding, that's how he's done it since
day one, and uh, that isn't that is an unbelievable
trait that people in our profession are always on the
hunt for. And then within that, it's it's the same
exact thing with our players. You know, I've been places

(34:22):
which I won't name them, where we grind them down,
you know, like they're in the building probably more than
they're supposed to be, you know, by rule, and they're
they're they're in the building too much. And because of that,
they're not excited about by the time August gets around.
You know, when you show up a football camp in August,
like you should be excited going the season play football.
And that hasn't always been the case places I've been,

(34:44):
and it's the same thing coach values these guys' time
and he wants them to be excited to be in
the building. We're not going to grind them down and
do excessive amounts of work. Now, we obviously have to
get the work done, but he values the player's time
and because of that, you guy walk around here with
smile on their face and are excited to go to work.
And those are those are two traits that I've got

(35:08):
an unbelievable amount of respect for coach Stukes because of
those two things, and I think that's obviously why he's
had success here for so long.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
That's a really interesting answer. And I have been covering
Kentucky football really since the mid seventies, and one thing
I've noticed about Stoops. I noticed this was Rich Brooks
as well, and it didn't take long, and he was
a successful coach. And I'm not saying it's at the
expense of other Kentucky coaches, but just the way players
respond and react to Mark Stoops. He used to produce
his Coaches Show, so I'd see him interact with players

(35:37):
and that's genuine, you know, he just he enjoys the
players and they enjoy him. I'm not saying every one
of them. Uh, because there's always going to be somebody
out there as grumbling. But no, they really do enjoy
their relationship. Well, speaking of time, I've taken up enough
of years. I'll let you go with this. Uh, you're
a young guy, But again, what are you thirteen years
in to your coaching career if not more man the

(36:01):
way college athletics in general has changed since you left school. Nil,
the portal, all of that, lawsuits here and there. I
know you still love your job, but this is a
heck of a time to be a professional coach, isn't it.

Speaker 7 (36:15):
No, it is, it is, and there's no doubt about it.
And you know one thing I just spoke at a
coaching clinic about a month ago and this question, the
very similar conversation was had. And the one thing I'll say,
and this won't change for the eternity of time, is
if you care about your players, and you coach the

(36:35):
heck out of them, and you get them better, and
at the end of the day you put your arm
around them, I think you're going to always have success
in this profession. And if you can try to block
out some of the craziness, which is hard at times,
and focus on those things. I think you can have
a long, successful career, and I think by the end
of it, your players will have a lot of respect

(36:55):
for you. And everybody's different, you know, in terms of
why they do it, but that's why I do it.
At the end of this thing, and hopefully retire at
sixty five, we'll see how this thing goes. But at
the end of this thing, when it's all done, I
do I hope that you know, the players say, hey,
this guy treated me with respect, you coach the heck
out of you, got me better, and I'm going to

(37:17):
become a better person for it. And I think if
we all stick to that and have the best intention
of the players, at some point all this stuff will
blow over and hopefully we'll nail it back down to
what this thing's about. So that would be that would
be my thought on that.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
Well, you've already got players and guys who are coaching
singing your praises, so you're off to a good start.
We'll put to you that way and best of lucky
the upcoming season. Hope to see us soon in practice.
Thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 7 (37:44):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you for your time. Day, Thanks for
having me and look forward to seeing you this fall.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
Go cat and with any luck, this will be the
year we see tight ends catching more footballs. But got
to block that run game. First coming up next to
hour number two, Ken Spencer from w h AS formerly
wt v Q. He're Alexidon. We'll talk ing tucky football,
a little bit of basketball as well on The Big
Roman Siders six thirty Lap.

Speaker 9 (39:00):
The show Everything Thenthing Dot Sat, Don't have to back,

(39:47):
Don't then Donning.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Joining us down
our celebrity Hodline is my buddy is a longtime friend
of the show. Mister Kent Spencer, former sports director w TVQ.
Here in lexingon now at w h A s over
in Louisville, and ask such covers both ends of the
interstate and when the Vince Merrill story broke, can't you
were looking at the story from both ends of the interstate?

(40:26):
Weren't you? This was maybe not a shock because of
rumors in the past, but still a surprise when it
comes to fruition. Right.

Speaker 8 (40:34):
I'll be honest with you, I was shocked, but it
was because of the timing. Oh okay, it wasn't because
he made the move. It was because the fact that
like we're mid June and this thing goes down. Now
you know, from everything, you're kind of here and now
you know, apparently this is this had been in the
works for quite some time. But it was still the
fact that it was in mid June, you know that

(40:57):
that was a little bit. That was a pretty big
shot to me. Now, the fact that you know he
made the move. I think while these things have happened,
while Jeff Brom has has gone after Vince Marrow before
when he was at Purdue and then already when he
was at Louisville once, it's still like, you don't ever

(41:19):
really think that he's he was gonna leave Mark Stoops
and until he actually did, you know what I mean,
it was like, oh my goodness, he actually did. At
this time, he actually you know, he actually left Stoops.
He actually left UK And then you know, Vince has
got a lot of friends around the world in college
football to go with to go to Louisville, and Jeff Brom, Yeah,

(41:43):
that was that was a surprise, because you know, it's
it's one thing to maybe talk about it or be
some sort of negotiations, but to actually pull the trigger
and do it. You know, I was surprised by it.

Speaker 1 (41:56):
You know, I thought you would leave from Michigan when
Harball made that run at him, and I threw a
lot of money at him, and uh, you know, some
boosters came through on this end to keep him. But yeah,
the timing was really bizarre. And the other thing too,
kent of course, is the position, the job, you know,
and Merrows has said, it's a job I couldn't turn down.

(42:16):
Any program worth its weight now has a GM like that.
So it's a bit of a step up for him,
isn't it. Although financially maybe a lateral move, but uh,
this is a different gig, isn't it.

Speaker 8 (42:29):
It's it's something that probably gives him more options now
than he was ever going to have before. Yeah, you know,
when you were at when you're at of Kentucky, you know,
I think, you know, the most he was ever going
to be somewhere was going to be either you know,
a tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. I don't ever

(42:51):
think he was going to be hired to the to
a similar position. I don't think he was ever going
to be hired as an offensive coordinator. I don't think
he's ever going to be hired as a head coach
at a Power five. But you know, this gives him,
this gives him so many more options on what to
do with his career, and you know, kind of take it.

(43:11):
Takes me off the practice field, you know it takes it.
You know it it and it also gives him a
level of focus that that he can that he can do. Now, now,
let me just say this. Do I think that Vince
Merrow would have made this move if everything was hunky

(43:33):
dory with him in the Kentucky football program. This is
just my opinion. No, no, my gut says absolutely not.
So something I think that all of this was was
was missing, which is why he probably entertained the offer
the first time, or and well not even the first time,

(43:54):
which is why he entertained this offer to begin with.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
You know, it's interesting because that was my next question
for you, And as you know, I always preface my
conversations with you by saying that you and Jeffikoor are
the only guys on the beat and know what it's
like to get hit in the mouth in a college
football game. But that said, that's one day a week.
The other six days of the week are about what
goes on off the field, inside the building, inside the

(44:18):
locker room, the weight room and all that. So yeah,
it was all about the vibe over there and coming
off a four and eight year nobody's happy, of course,
So yeah, I've got to think that there's something going
on over there, for better or worse, because something's got
to change, right yeah, And.

Speaker 8 (44:35):
And honestly like and at that point, like it's all speculation,
and to be honest with you, Dick, we would never
get a straight answer in the public eye anyway, right,
and by the way, should we. I mean, as much
as I would love it, you know, like, nobody's ever
going to come out and say this. Maryland is never
going to come out and say I thought this was

(44:56):
a nice deal. Because I don't know how much longer
we have to be honest with He's never going to
come out and say that. Mark Stoops is never going
to come out and say to be honest, like, I
didn't really like the direction that he was going, so
we kind of changed things up and changed this role
and he didn't really like it, so he bounced. I
just don't think you're I don't think we would ever
hear any of those things. But I do think like

(45:17):
somewhere along the same path that I just laid out
in a very quick manner is what led to this
move in the first place. And you know, to be honest,
if if some of that was if some of that
was true, then it allows, honestly, like both sides to
be able to move on. It allows you know, if

(45:37):
if Mark Stoops, you know, didn't like the way that
recruiting was going, or wanted to do different directions than
what Vince Marrow wanted to do, then guess what. This
allows them a clean break to be able to go
do that the way that they want to do it.
And then it allows Vince Marrow to land in a
landing spot and a job that's really really good for

(45:58):
him and that you know, he can work for somebody
that he's known for a really long time, that you
know what he's he shared the field of battle with
a long time ago, and so you know, it allows
it allows both sides to be able to move on
if that's the case. And while in the in the
media or the fans are saying certain things like maybe

(46:19):
it maybe it is the best for both sides, you.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Know what I keep thinking about and then after this
I will move on to actual football questions for you.
But I remember when when Louisville hired Brahm, and Mark
Steups had a kind of a pained smile on his
face because he liked, with all due respect to the
previous staff, he liked what was going on over in
Louisville because he owned U of L for a while,

(46:43):
and he knew that when Jeff Brom was hired. The
day Brom was hired, his job just got significantly tougher
as the head coach at the University of Kentucky, as
much for recruiting as for trying to play against Louisville.
I keep thinking about, you know, that press conference when
when Ark you know, was was gracious when he talked
about Jeff Brom and admitted that, Yeah, things are going

(47:05):
to get a little tougher now.

Speaker 8 (47:06):
You know, and even and if you look at it,
you know, even in the in the high school ranks,
right like even like recruiting the state you know, Kentucky
had Kentucky had you know, the city of Louisville pretty
much on lockdown.

Speaker 4 (47:22):
Yea.

Speaker 8 (47:23):
And but but I would say this, even when Jeff
was at Purdue. You know, Jeff could still come in
and get some high quality talent and bring them up
to Purdue. When Jeff was at Purdue, one time, I
was shooting a Thursday night. It was like a Thursday
night game. I was at Western High School and you're
from You're from Louisville, so you know what's all about.

(47:44):
And they're playing another team. It wasn't It was too
you know, not very good teams. On the other side
in the visitor stands. Guess who I saw was the
stands Jeff Brom you know what I mean like, and
I mean that that was the grinder that that he
was even at Purdue to come down here on a

(48:04):
Thursday night, yes, and excuse to come home, but to
go to that game and watch it and look into
talent like, yeah, the dude, the dude gets after it,
and you know it's it's you know, he has turned
this program around quickly and the two years that he's
been on the job, taking him to the a SEC
Championship game and they were good again last year.

Speaker 1 (48:27):
Didn't he get a kid out of Trinity to Purdue.

Speaker 8 (48:30):
Who had a heck of a career, The one kid
that yeah, Rondale Bore, he got Rod and then he
got another kid out of cow that was really good
in Milton. Right that that that went up, that he
got to come up to Purdue and Rondelle Moore, I
mean he's playing on Sunday. Yeah, so no, just just

(48:55):
you know, and and this year, right like I know
a lot of people in the LECs and community thought
Rock Kaufman should should be a Kentucky Wildcat. Yeah, and
he's a Louisville Cardinal and so they and they thought that.
You know, I know a lot of people down there
think that Kentucky made a mistake not getting his kids

(49:17):
and so did something. Man, these things happen.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
Talking to Ken Spencer, WHAS sports director over in Louisville.
We'll come back and talk more with Kent on the
other side of the break here on six point thirty
w l a P. Welcome back. We're talking with sports
director Ken Spencer from WHAS formerly WTVQ here in Electionton.
A lot going on with baseball and basketball, But one
other football question for you, Ken. I've been talking to

(49:41):
several people about the fact that this is going to
be the first full cycle for bush Ham Dan, you know,
being in the building, his system, players getting used to him,
the way he does things. All that the year jumped
from one to two for players is always big, but
it's got to be big, I would think for an
oc as well.

Speaker 8 (50:01):
Right, Yeah, you're teaching. You know that that first year
you're teaching things. You know, left and right and and
and by the way, it's not just in spring practice,
it's not just in fall camp. It's all the way through.

Speaker 6 (50:17):
You know.

Speaker 8 (50:17):
I'm sure that there are tweaks and everything that he's
that he's making sure that his players are aware of.
And you know, if if everything changes, I mean, you know,
players play when when players are thinking, players are playing slow. Yes,
when players just know and they can go, they play

(50:38):
so much faster. And so I would imagine that there
was a lot of thinking going on with Kentucky last
year and this year. It gives them the ability. Now
now look, I mean, obviously you've got a new quarterback,
You're gonna have new pieces, but you know, for a
for a decent part of that offense, you're gonna have
guys that can play a lot faster, and I think

(51:01):
that will be a big key, you know, moving forward
for Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
You played on the offensive side of the ball at
more End State. Were you able to notice much about
him Dan's offense last year to get a feel for
what he tries.

Speaker 8 (51:14):
To do, you know, to be honest with you, I didn't,
only because you know, for me, it wasn't that I
saw games early on, but as the season goes on
when you're watching them on TV. For me, it's a
tougher thing when I don't get to see the all
twenty two. Look, you know, in a press box where

(51:35):
you get to see everything, it allows the field to
open up a little bit. So you know, I didn't
get that much of a feel for exactly what he
wants to do and how he wants to do it.
But to be quite honest with you, it's really really
hard to even get that feel when the offensive line's
not very.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Good, That's true.

Speaker 8 (51:57):
And so like you know, I and I'll go back
to remember when Neil Brown was here. It was the
offensive coordinator in the first couple of years, and he
was like, look, there's a lot of things that we'd
like to do. We can't, that's right, like and and
basically he was just saying, like, we're just not good
enough upfront. To do anything that I really want to do. Yeah,

(52:17):
And so you know, it's like, you know, it's kind
of like that everybody. Everybody's got a plan until you
get punched in the face. Well every offensive coordinator, they've
got really fancy plays. But if you can't block anybody,
you can't run them.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah. I was looking back, for whatever reason at that
seven year which was the best offense really in the
history UK football, and they could do so much, they
had so many weapons, but what was underscored was the
fact that Andre Woodson had time to throw right, so

(52:51):
he could find Stevie Johnson, you could find Keenan Burton
and Dickey Lyons and Rafael Little if he needed him.
And of course Jacob Tammy, you know. And now they
got a new tight end coach. We we just talked
to uh and he's got all kinds of talented players
in his room. But will they be able to leak
out and catch footballs rather than have to stay in
and chip or or full time block, right?

Speaker 8 (53:13):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent. Like and it's so funny
you mentioned that seven and you started naming guys and
my my instant reaction was Raffi, Rafael Little, right, and
and when you're highlighting a running back, you know that
you're good upfront to be able to highlight a running
back like they don't just get they don't just get
tough yards. You know, you've got to be you've got

(53:37):
to have the holes and you've got to have the
ability to get things done to be able to do that.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
And so.

Speaker 8 (53:43):
Yeah, it's it's it's great to have, you know, flashy pieces.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
You know.

Speaker 8 (53:48):
It's it's like there was a year in the NFL.
I always I always point to this, the Tennessee Titans
were like the number one seed in the AFC. This
was years and years ago and Carrie Collins And this
was not like New York Giants Carrie Collins. This was
Tennessee tight with Kerry Collins. He was there, he was
their quarterback. And Johnson was putting up video game numbers.

(54:10):
Well what why were they so good? It wasn't just
because Kerry Johnson had a resurgence. It wasn't because Chris
Johnson was this all world thing. It's because they had
the best offensive and defensive line in football. Look, I'm
a wide receiver. I love the fancy plays. I love
making you know, I back in the day. Like I
love making plays, but I will be the first to

(54:31):
tell you if you're not good up front on both
sides of the ball, you've got no change. And that
is what needs to continue an uptick this year. In fact,
I say it needs to continue an uptick. It needs
to make a drastic uptick for things to change in
that program, if.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
You're absolutely correct. Just a few minutes level with Ken
Spencer of whas over in Louisville. Last year was Kentucky
going to Omah. This year Louisville gets back to Omah.
And Uh, I've talked earlier about Murray State, but a
couple of days ago I talked about Dan McDonald, who
I know, Kentucky versus Louisville. I get all that, and
I'm a UK baseball announcer, but I do like Dan

(55:12):
McDonald a lot. And uh, he made some some headlines,
didn't they With the fiery outburst in the dugout. They
really lifted his team.

Speaker 3 (55:22):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
I know that you guys respect him as well. Uh.
That was a heck of a moment, wasn't it.

Speaker 8 (55:27):
Yeah. And sometimes look, sometimes your kids need a butt
you that's right to get him, to get him in
gear to get them. And sometimes you know, it's the
passionate plea of I don't understand what's going on. I
believe in you. You need to believe in yourself, and
you need to You can't. You can't sit back and

(55:48):
wait for something to happen. You got to go make
it happen, you know. And and he even said in
his post game he said, look, you know sometimes you
got to love him hard. And and you know, like
they know I love them, so they know that that
comes from of a good place. And so yeah, it's

(56:10):
it's you know, look, I mean the biggest thing, you know.
And and Ova Hall is a tough place. And I remember,
you know, watching the broadcast yesterday with Murray State in Arkansas,
and you know, the announcers were talking about like, look,
there's some people that try to change their offense when
they get here because the park just plays completely different. Well,
all season long, I mean, Louisville has an offense one

(56:33):
through nine that is good and they've had it all
season long.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
You know.

Speaker 8 (56:36):
The thing that was really missing for this team for
much of the season was they weren't very good on
the on the mound. Yeah, and then all of a
sudden in the In the postseason, they got a lot better.
Patrick Forbes came back, became a lights out guy. You said,
every a freshman really stepped up, you know what I mean, Like, yeah,
they've got they've got guys that they've really started to
throw the ball better. And McDonald told me before they

(56:58):
left for OHLL, He's like, look, hitt is great, but
but championships are won with pitching and defense. You got
to be able to pitch it and you've got to
be able to defend it, and and so like that's
the reason why why they got here. However, you still
need to be aggressive with the bat in your hand,
and even though that park is tough, you still got

(57:20):
to be able to get runs across the plate. And
so I just think that, like, you know, they were
in a lull, and I would say he passionately woke
them up.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Oh yeah, and maybe getting run ruled at Kentucky was
the wake up call that they had that the bullpen needed.
I still can't get over that one. Just a few
minutes left. I do need to ask you about basketball.
Watching these two programs UK and U of L coming
together for the next season under their respective head coaches.
You know, it occurs that both of these coaches, these

(57:54):
programs will be paralleled in terms of how they're judged
by the jobs their respective coach are doing.

Speaker 8 (58:00):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
Now, you know, maybe until both of these guys have retired. Uh,
because both of these guys roll in, they've got to
rebuild rosters. They both have success, they both play exciting basketball. Uh.
First of all, what do you think of what Pope
has done with his roster of late.

Speaker 8 (58:18):
Well, and they both have huge signs out in front
of the complexes of their program and online that have
money we'll spend. That's the most important thing roster.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
That's true.

Speaker 8 (58:33):
Now, look, I mean I think, uh so with Kentucky Burst,
I think Mark Well, you know, I think Mark Pope
has done an excellent job building this roster, adding adding
the right pieces. I mean, you know, you've got you've
got quality in your in your front court and your
back court. You know, you've added a national championship guard

(58:56):
who's willing to and teams ready to take the next
step in his game and be a more featured player.
You return your leading scorer from a year ago. And Dick,
I mean he may have already like he may have
been feeling this for a while, but let me, I
don't think you can underscore how big it was. Yeah,

(59:17):
Mark Pope got Brandon Garrison back, and he got Trent
Noah back, and he's got Colin Chandler back. You know,
like those guys, getting those guys where, you know, to
come back, we're key. But to get the guy who
played you know, maybe maybe the most roster last year.
I don't know about that, but I know we scored
the most points to get Otega Way back. Just to

(59:39):
lead those drills and to be back, it is invaluable.
And I and I'll guarantee you that coach Spieger is
ecstatic about that because, you know, I think within the offense,
you know, we talked about you know, uh, Kentucky football,
but for Kentucky basketball and the all sense of complicated,

(01:00:01):
you know, the cuts and everything that they run to
get familiarity back is oh.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
Yeah, yeah, especially with Pope's offense, which by his own admission,
takes a little while longer to master. But when they did,
and it's going to be up to Garrison to try
to figure out, you know, how to be a better passer.
He was okay last year, but he's got to try
to emulate Amary Williams, which he says he did, you know,
watching the way A MARII worked and did his thing.

(01:00:29):
And Pope has said year one to year two for
both his players and his staff within his system have
always been dramatically good. And I'm wondering I would have
think we'll see a similar move at U of l
under Kelsey am.

Speaker 8 (01:00:44):
I right, yeah, here, now here's the thing about and yeah,
like right, like both of them, I'm I always take
a little bit of more of a cautious approach. Yeah,
I know that's not sexy in today's day and age,
but I looked at, you know, the things, the pieces
that both teams added, and I say to myself, are

(01:01:06):
they better than what they had last year? And in
some cases, you know, you don't know. I think they've
done an excellent job of reloading them, but are they
Are they better than what they were last year? And
I'm going to have to see it, like like at Kentucky,
will Jalen Low be better than Lamont Butler?

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:01:26):
Man, that's a that's a that's a tough.

Speaker 10 (01:01:30):
But we got it.

Speaker 8 (01:01:30):
We got to see it, right, So let's now let's
look at Louisville and and and you know, will they
will it be a step up from Amari Williams. You know,
like that's a sweet sixteen team. So in order to
go deeper, you're going to have to have, you know,
pieces be better than what they were last year. So
at Louisville, you know, you've added these these transfers, and

(01:01:50):
everybody has gone nuts about you know, Mike kel Brown Junior,
you know Conway, you know, like these these guards they've
added in the backcourt. Okay, so do you think they're
better than Chucky Hepburn. Do you think they're better than
Terrence Edwards? Do you think you know what I mean?
Like so what we were talking about. I will say this,

(01:02:11):
it is awesome that there's this much excitement at this
point going into the season with both programs. Like that's
that's something that's really cool to see. And they're both
in the national conversation, which I don't really think they were.
They were only in the national conversation last year because
they had two coaches. Yeah, there's a lot of people

(01:02:35):
that believe that they have the rosters to compete for
this thing, and that's cool.

Speaker 1 (01:02:40):
I've seen Louisville ranked the head of Kentucky and some
of those way too soon top twenty five, which is
just fascinating. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Always
fun talking to Ken Spencer is the sports director at
wh has long time at WDTVQ, so he keeps an
eye on both ends of the interstate. For sex so much, brother, Hey,
always a pleasure. More from the basketball Wildcats when we

(01:03:02):
come back on the Big Blue Siders six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider. Thanks again
to Ken Spencer for joining us. If you are just
joining us. Earlier in the show we heard from Colin Chandler.
I have a little more from the UK guard who
was of course in his second year, but is just
now getting his basketball legs back. Really towards the end

(01:03:23):
of last year he got him back. Had the two
year mission coming out of high school where he was
the top player in the state of Utah, but went
on the church mission for a couple of years. Might
have played some pickup ball, but otherwise no basketball. And
now he drops in to lection in Kentucky to play
for the storied University of Kentucky Wildcats in the toughest

(01:03:44):
league in America under the new head coach who was
so high on him, and we could see why he
really came around. His best game in terms of points
was LSU on March fourth. Played so well in the postseason,
and now you wonder what are we going to see
this coming year. Somebody asked him at the recent media

(01:04:05):
gathering about the fact that he was able to shake
off that rust, and we kind of saw it happening,
but you know, you got to wonder when did or
if he felt like, yeah, the rust is gone and
I back.

Speaker 3 (01:04:19):
I don't have like an exact moment in my mind
or an exact time of when I felt like it
came off. But it's just been a big emphasis for me.
Is getting better every day? Is is yeah, becoming a
better player every day. And so I felt like there's
a lot that VbN didn't see in my journey of

(01:04:40):
getting back and feeling comfortable and feeling confident. So there's
a lot that went into that. But so I don't
know if there's like an exact time of where I
felt like, oh, I'm playing where I want to be
right now, because there's I mean, there's always more to
improve on. And and honestly, I'm I feel like it's

(01:05:02):
too far distant to remember how I really felt when
I was in high school playing I like, so, I
don't know. I get questions all the time of do
you feel like you're back into your high school form
or do you feel like you're playing as good as
you were in high school? Honestly, I have no idea.
I'm sure that I'm a whole lot better in a
lot of aspects than I was, and I might be

(01:05:24):
different in other aspects, and so I don't know how
to really distinguish that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
Maybe not. But it was kind of fun watching it happen,
wasn't it. And it's going to be interesting to see
him make a bid for playing time this coming season,
what with the new faces coming in and all. But
he's got that leg up year number two in the
Mark Pope's system, and he should be able to help
the new guys coming in. That's gonna be another plus,

(01:05:50):
you know, because Pope talked about year one to year
two in his system for the players, for the assistant coaches,
and now with all the transfers coming in. When you
got a guy like Chandler as a point guard, you
can help the young guys on the floor during drills
during games. Huge plus right direct your attention. I commend

(01:06:11):
you to the UK Sports Network, the Twitter account or
x if you will, and most recently they posted a
conversation as Ty Bryant, the defensive back, interviewed Mark Stoops.
I got a clip for I'm not gonna play the
whole thing and you need to go find it yourself
on X on Twitter at UK Sports Network. But Ty
Bryant with some interesting questions for the UK coach.

Speaker 4 (01:06:33):
Do you practice your motivate those speeches before you give
it to us on game day?

Speaker 10 (01:06:36):
I don't practice them, but I definitely put some thought
into it and try to have like three bullet points,
you know, as you know and sat in the room
for a long time, you have your Monday messaging, yeah,
you know of kind of football topics, and then you
have the motivational keys, and then you have the football keys.

(01:06:57):
So those are the things that I try to keep
in mind and build up throughout the week. And then
you know, prior to game, as you know, you were
either ready to play or not. There's very little the
head coach could say the five minutes before, three minutes
before we take the field, that that's going to change.
You know, the preparation, right, that motivation has been built
up them.

Speaker 7 (01:07:17):
Throughout the week.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Yeah, that's true, that's true.

Speaker 6 (01:07:20):
All right.

Speaker 4 (01:07:20):
So last of my questions. Then we'll get into some
of my teammates questions and people.

Speaker 2 (01:07:24):
Around the building.

Speaker 4 (01:07:24):
But if we all had to switch positions for a game, So, oh,
line plays, d line DB's play receivers, playbs, linebacker, play
runn back, running back, play linebackers, who do you think.

Speaker 2 (01:07:34):
Will do the best?

Speaker 8 (01:07:35):
Man?

Speaker 10 (01:07:36):
Another good question.

Speaker 4 (01:07:37):
There is a right answer to this too.

Speaker 10 (01:07:40):
I mean I got to put you in there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
I'm glad.

Speaker 10 (01:07:42):
You know, I'm glad You're not to put your position
group in there.

Speaker 6 (01:07:45):
You and j Love probably you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:46):
Know what I mean, Jordan?

Speaker 10 (01:07:48):
Could you two could definitely go do some damage on offense?

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
Yes, sir. Who do you think will do the worst?

Speaker 10 (01:07:52):
Probably the old lion trying to play the Okay, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
All right, So that's all the question we have for me.

Speaker 4 (01:07:59):
But here's some of the questions that my teammates wanted
me to ask you. Okay, not only my teammates, but
people around the building.

Speaker 8 (01:08:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:08:04):
If I had asked me one question and it just
had to be anything, It'll honestly be like, you know
what I'm saying, Where where do he see us? You know,
come August? You know what I'm saying, because every day
has been like a progress to me. You know what
I'm saying, Like just looking how many guys has transferred
in and the progress we have made and the leadership
you have stepped in and you know, showing us what

(01:08:26):
the coach is over here and how it should be done.
You know what I'm saying, And just looking back at
last season, which I wouldn't here, but last season or
this season, it's gonna be totally different. And that's what
everybody don't know. So I just want to see kind
of where his mind at because I know what mine at.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
Yeah, appreciate your brother, appreciate you.

Speaker 10 (01:08:42):
Yeah, Well, I don't know if they better not bring
all the energy? Better bring energy. What I do like
and you can attest to this, and I know you've
seen it is I love the fit, you know what
I mean. I like the way they've come in and
really adapted. And I think we've been trying to be
much more intentional about setting the standards. What is our culture?

(01:09:02):
What we've been through for so many years, and you
know is setting that bar high and making sure the
accountability pieces there, making sure the buying is there. And
I love this group, and I'm sure you could reiterate
that they see these guys have been very good about
buying in and you know, becoming a part of our
team and you know, our standards and our expectations, and

(01:09:25):
I really enjoyed those guys.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
By the way, that question came from Kendrick Law, the
wide receiver who is transferred in from Alabama, but Stoops
has said that more than once. I love the Fits,
So I think they did a better job on their
homework when it came to accepting kids through the portal
and plugging them in, not just position wise, but you know,

(01:09:47):
in terms of attitude and chemistry, it seemed to be
lacking in the last couple three years really, So we'll
see how that works out. But again, go to UK
Sports Network on Twitter on X and watch the whole clip.
Want to come six thir reap. Welcome back to the
Big Blue Insider final segment. As we wrap up this
edition of the show. I talked a lot earlier about
the College World Series, and you know, we look back

(01:10:10):
on last year Kentucky going to Omahawk. Will the Wildcats
get back there? Well, Nick Minzewing and staff, like everybody
in America right now reconstructing their rosters. I would love
to see a Division One team, that is, any kind
of contender that can point to a roster and say
we're basically playing a pat hand, which is what Kentucky

(01:10:34):
did last year. To a point. There were new faces
last year on that team, but when you looked around
the starting lineup, just about everybody was back from the
year before. Grant Smith and Melean Pitree up the middle.
You had, of course Devin Burk's behind the plate, Patrick
Herrera and others at third base. Ryan walt Schmidt was

(01:10:55):
back in left field and had an All American year,
had a first round draft pick Connie year. They brought
in a couple of center fielders, but it was Nolan
McCarthy who wound up playing a considerable amount of time
and made big plays in center field last year. He
had played a lot of right field the year before,
and of course James McCoy in rye field as well.

(01:11:19):
There were some new faces in the pitching rotation, but
for the most part, Kentucky was able to, as I said,
play kind of a pat hand and take advantage of
that experience, and everybody got bigger and better and had
good years. And they go to Omaha right now, just
about everybody in America rebuilding thanks to the portal, thanks

(01:11:41):
to transfers, thanks to high school recruiting, and Kentucky no different.
And of course the Wildcats really needed pitching and they've
gotten it. They got a kid from New Orleans named
Ira Austin. He's a right hander. They got Ryan Mullen
or Mulan, he is from Loyal and Marymount. He's a

(01:12:02):
right hander coming off Tommy John surgery. Missed last year,
but has a couple of years remaining. Got other guys.
Got a infielder from Indiana. May have seen this on well,
I'm looking at backcat central dot com, but it's been
on the interweb. Tyler Serne from IU from Indiana. Another

(01:12:22):
pitcher from Grand Canyon, Connor Madison who committed Madison with
two teas, a catcher from Elon, Alex Duffy, and by
default he has a shot at being the starter because
Kentucky's basically out of catching. So it's interesting to see

(01:12:44):
how Nick Menjee owned and his staff are putting the
record together, and you might wonder about whether or not
these guys are going to be able to compete at
the SEC level. Well, there's plenty of evidence to show
they can. They got the kid from Nku, Kaden Eshman,

(01:13:04):
he's a right hander. Berkeley Bounds from Eku, a right hander,
Jack Bennett from that really good Western Kentucky team, Bryce
and Trickle I think it is from North Florida. So
I count right now in the portal six different right handers.
Gonna need some left handed help. But right now Kentucky

(01:13:28):
is putting together a transfer class that should give the Wildcats,
given the returning players as well, a chance to compete
in the SEC and as such get back to being
able to host a regional. And if you can really
get hot at the right time host a super regional,

(01:13:49):
that's the secret. Really, it's no secret to getting to Omaha.
Because we had seen Kentucky under nickmnzeone win regional titles
but then have to go on and play in the
super Regional at Louisville at LSU Louisville a couple times,

(01:14:10):
and it's so much of an advantage to have that
home field edge when you're playing in a super regional.
So yeah, it's interesting to see how it's coming together.
I wanted to bring up one other note. I've been
trying to get to this for a while, but I
saw a story out there about the ad campaign by

(01:14:31):
the NCAA and this actually began during basketball season and
since then the powers that be have been studying research,
studying the numbers. It was a PSA public service announcement
about people who were attacking online and through emails and whatever,

(01:14:56):
athletes and coaches when it came to gambling. And according
to one story I saw, the NCA's campaign to curb
betting related abuse has worked, but if you read the story,
it's worked only to a point. Now. It's good because

(01:15:17):
it has had some positive effect. But this all started
coming out during March Madness, and it's one of these
problems you could see coming with more and more gambling
being legitimized. There's the betting services and things like that,
and it's been happening for decades. Gamblers attacking again through

(01:15:42):
crank calls, through emails, things like that, athletes and coaches,
and the theme was don't be a loser, don't harass players,
and basically coaches, and it's the kind of thing really said.
There's losing and then being a loser. Game time comes
with enough pressure. Way too often people are betting on

(01:16:03):
sports losing and taking it out on the athletes.

Speaker 2 (01:16:06):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:16:06):
According to the NCAA, the campaign, which ran during both
the men's and women's tournaments, has worked statistically, but again
at least in part. The Signified Group, which was a
data science firm hired by the NCAA, used AI to
monitor more than a million comments on x, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok.

(01:16:31):
ESPN shared the results and there was a significant drop
in abuse aimed directly at athletes during March Madness. Fifteen
percent of flagged abuse was targeted at players, down from
forty two percent the previous year. Betting related abuse also
dropped by twenty three percent, but that didn't mean that

(01:16:54):
all that hatred disappeared. It simply shifted, particularly on the
men's side, with social media abuse aimed at coaches and
tournament officials up by one hundred and forty percent, and
a lot of it was directed at the selections committee,
which kind of surprised me. According to one account, Bubba Cunningham,

(01:17:16):
the ad in North Carolina. He chaired the men's selections committee.
He got hundreds quote unquote of angry, profane, and even
threatening emails after the tar Heels barely made the field.
So that was more about who made the tournament and
who didn't at the expense of North Carolina than about gambling.

(01:17:39):
So yeah, it's a good thing. The student athletes got
less abuse, but the hatred's still there. It just shifted.
They looked at more than thirty one hundred abusive or
threatening posts and in case you're wondering, referred some of
them to law enforcement, but only ten of them, ten

(01:18:00):
of the most serious cases to law enforcement. But this
is one of those things that drives me nuts because
when I say, and you know, I'm no genius, you
know that didn't we see this coming?

Speaker 2 (01:18:16):
Well?

Speaker 1 (01:18:16):
Who didn't see it coming? I mean, I remember when
Bill Curry's wife got threats because the gamblers didn't like
what was going on, but Curry's football team. So now
it's happened, it's happened for a long time, it's going
to keep happening. And the fact that they are monitoring
and they are referring some of them to law enforcement

(01:18:40):
at least gives you a little bit of optimisty, so
that's going to do it. Thanks so much, thanks to
my guest Derek Shay can't Spencer. That's it. Good night
from the garage and Lexingdon.

Speaker 5 (01:18:50):
What you've just said is one of the most insanely
idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in
your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything
that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this
room is now dumber for having listened to it. I

(01:19:10):
award you no points, and may God have mercy on yourself.

Speaker 9 (01:20:00):
I think don't showing can think anything, then stat I think,

(01:20:37):
don't think the dons of scows