2025-08-01 - BBI - Big Blue Insider with Dick Gabriel

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Big Blue Sider. Dick Gabriel with you
on a Friday edition of our show, and it's sort
of a special edition. It was media day for Kentucky football,
meaning we got a chance to talk to coaches and players,
except for Mark Stoops, we talked to him on Monday.
We'll get back to him in just a moment. But yeah,
this is when you get a chance to fill up
your recorder and your camera and your notebook and all

(00:23):
that stuff. And then they had a practice for the
media open to the media this afternoon, Fan Day tomorrow,
weather permitting, so you had a talking season. If it
hadn't started for you before, it really kicks off today.
So you're gonna hear a lot more about the football
Wildcats as the next few weeks unfold, and four weeks
from tomorrow Kentucky kicks it off against Toledo, so we'll

(00:47):
hear from a lot of the players and the coordinators.
We're also got here from Brooklyn Delay in our second hour.
She is of course the SEC player of the Year
dating back to last year in the volleyball SEC Volleyball
and the Wildcats picked to win it all again. They
open up on the same day as the football Wildcats
are on the road, of course, down in Nashville for

(01:07):
a two day event, taking on Lipscomb and then Nebraska.
So we hear from Brooklyn later on in the show,
but until then, it's walla wall football. And I will
take you back to Monday, when Mark Stoops talked to
the media he's had some surgery on his face, having
something removed. I can relate. I had the same thing
done in the spring. Everybody should get checked out by

(01:28):
their dermatologists. But his surgery was scheduled for I think
it was actually Monday. It might have been Tuesday. But
he didn't want to, as he said, appear on camera.
You know, if it's anywhere near you, I it blackens
your eye. That's what happened to me. Didn't want to
be wearing sunglasses and a cap. He said, only coach
Prime can pull that off. So we hear from Stoops

(01:52):
on Monday, and he answered every question put to him basically,
and one of the questions, well, actually he brought this
up reamble his opening remarks about the fact that people
kept talking about how quiet he was in the off season,
and he said he didn't do anything differently in terms
of where he went, what he did, what he did
not do. But he said for the most part, they

(02:14):
just spent he and his staff spent the summer concentrating
on what went wrong last year and trying to make
sure it doesn't happen again.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
The off season was a success as far as we
needed to get bigger, get stronger, and again be more
dialed in, if you will, and make sure that things
were in order. You know, when I talk about those things,

(02:44):
I've talk about schemes, So talk about the way we teach,
you know, the way we lead, the way we connect
with players. We've done a very good job. We've been
very committed, you know, to re emphasizing those things that
are super important.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
To us as marks from Monday. It's the first time
I can ever recall a media day of any kind
where the coach wasn't there. But again he appeared earlier
in the week, so we did have his representative remarks
going into media day. Now, one other note before we
hit the braak couple of them. Actually, there is a

(03:19):
website out there, the Athletic which is great, as I've
told you many times, and there's a story out there
right now about the mac the Mid America Conference and
the headline is MAC upsets are a treasured college football tradition.
Will they go extinct in the new era? This is
a reference to all the times and I've talked about

(03:42):
them that MAC teams have come not just the election
in but other markets because they're always going to be
on the road against power teams for the most part
and pull off an upset. Kentucky lost to Bowling Green
back in eighty five. I know that's a while back,
but lost to Ohio you during the Rich Brooks era.
But other MAC teams have come down here and given

(04:03):
Kentucky all it has wanted. And remember last year Northern
Illinois stunned Notre Dame in South Bend when the Irish
were ranked number five. Now Notre Dame ripped off thirteen
straight wins got to the championship game in the College
Football Playoff. But that fit played into the debate about

(04:24):
how to seed Notre Dame, should it be in a
loss early in the season versus a loss late in
the season. That sort of stuff. But the reason this
writer brings it up was because of the approval of
the House Settlement, the arrival of revenue sharing and as
he puts it, it reinforces the age old divide between

(04:45):
the upper echelon of college football teams and teams in
the middle class, which is where the MAC is. And
that's not a knock on the MAC. We've known it
for years that this is a conference full of teams
that have guys who are late bloomers, who are maybe
transfers from bigger schools that were looking for more playing time.

(05:07):
You know, guys who were just they just missed on
them when it came to recruiting. But now the big,
bigger schools will have even bigger budgets, better facilities, better
paid staffs, and more talent on the roster. And guys
who might go to the MAC instead, they might go
to a big school and not play as much just

(05:28):
to get more money. You can't really blame them. So
the schools that are paying out twenty point five million,
they'll still play the MAC schools. But yeah, this guy
makes a great point. You may not see as many
not so much upsets, but even competitive games involving MAC teams.

(05:49):
But remember Toledo beat Michigan in eight Eastern Michigan beat
Illinois the following year, knowing twenty nineteen. I should say
Bowling Green beat Minnesota in twenty twenty one and then
you got at that Northern win over Notre Dame. So
it's an interesting article on the Athletic website. And of
course Kentucky opens the season with a team that could

(06:11):
come down here. It will give Kentucky trouble to Ledo,
that's my prediction, and it's capable of pulling off an upset.
It's the team picked to win the MAC. These are
Midwestern teams, Midwestern kids who grew up playing football, and
I commend you to the Athletic to read this guy's article.
But it is really interesting and he makes a great point.

(06:34):
One other note, Pro Football Hall of Fame will include
Antonio Gates and what a story. And if you play
fantasy football, even if you don't, you know who he is.
Really talented tight end for the Chargers San Diego slash LA,
but not a college football player. He was a college

(06:54):
basketball player at kent State. Speaking of the MAC. His
college basketball career ended in Lexington, Kentucky, in rupp Arena.
That's where Kent State played in the NCAA tournament, the regional,
the Southeast Regional. Back in twenty two. But that's not
to say his career didn't end in success. I was

(07:19):
at that game as you might expect, but I was
actually there working for the NCAA Radio Network. In fact,
that was my last, as it turned out, my last
weekend with the network because the deal changed hands. And
you know when it changes ange, lose your gig. So anyhow,
and I just loved working for the NCAA network and
Marty Brenneman was our playboy play guy. That was the
regional that saw well, there were the four seed that

(07:42):
four top seeds. Duke was number one, Pittsburgh out of
the Big East, was seeded third. He had a really
good team, twenty seven and five. Indiana behind Mike Davis
was seeded number five, and Kent State came in as
the seed had won the MAC had won the tournament.

(08:03):
MAC tournament was twenty seven and five. Everybody expected Duke
to emerge. Well, Indiana got hot, was down double digits,
got hot early in the second half to and a
bunch of three pointers and beat Duke. Kent State upset
Pittsburgh in overtime, seventy eight to seventy three behind Antonio Gates.

(08:24):
Pittsburgh had no answer for him. Twenty two points, eight rebounds,
four assists. He did have five turnovers, but he handled
the ball an awful lot. By the way, Pittsburgh got
a kid from Lexington, Jiron Brown, played at Bryan Station.
His brother played it more briefly and then transferred to Louisville. Anyway,
Jiron at thirteen points, eight rebounds and three steals. It

(08:51):
was a great game, and Kent State won it, and
then Indiana beat Kent State to get to the final four.
But people were looking at and Tonio Gates and saying,
you know, he's just not big enough to be an
NBA post player. He should try football. Well, guess what.
He not only tries football, but he sticks as an

(09:14):
undrafted free agent. And by the way, he had entered
Kent State after transferring from Michigan State and Eastern Michigan.
So now he sticks with the Chargers and he is
their career leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
And in twenty fifteen he became just the second tight

(09:35):
end only ninth player overall with a hundred career touchdown receptions.
That's just incredible for a guy who didn't play football.
In college, wanted to play for Nick Saban at Michigan
State and wanted to play basketball there for Tom Izzo.

(09:56):
But he gets to Michigan State and Saban says, no,
better basketball. And by the way, Saban wanted to move
him to defense as a deandro linebacker, and so Gates said, no,
that's it for me. Leaves for Eastern Michigan, played part
of a season, went to a juco in California to
get his academics back in shape, and then Stan Heath

(10:20):
recruits him to Kent State. That name may sound familiar.
Stan Heath, on the strength of what he did at
Kent State, got the job at Arkansas, did not do
well there, but he certainly did well at Kent State.
But think about that, Think about the fact that he
wanted to play two sports at Michigan State and Saban said, no,

(10:42):
you're not allowed to play it. I wonder if when
he was recruited they told him he could play too,
probably and not only did Sabin shoot Dennis basketball ambitions,
but told him I want you to play on defense.
This is a guy who now is going into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame, one one of the greatest
receivers much less tight ends in the history of football

(11:06):
Antonio Gates. So his basketball career ending rapperna, but his
football career takes him to the Hall of Fame. All right.
UK Football Media Day is next on six thirty WLAP
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. UK Football Media Day.
Lots of interviews with players and the coordinators as well

(11:27):
as Mitch Barnhardt and of course Mark Stoops, as we
mentioned talk to us on Monday. He was there today
with the sunglasses on, but he had had the cancer surgery,
a little something taken off his face. He looked pretty
good otherwise and said it all went well, but that's
why he talked to us on Monday. Per usual, Mitch
Barnhardt opened with about forty five to fifty minutes on everything,

(11:51):
and I will get right to the football part because
you'll have the opportunity to sift through everything he talked
about as it related to the house settlement and scholarships
and the budgets and things like that. One of the
things that jumped out was the fact that UK had
about and I'm rounding up about six hundred and fifty

(12:13):
scholarship athletes on campus last year and that's up from
several years ago, from five hundred. Well now it'll be
back down to about five twenty five, five point thirty
five something like that, simply because of the fact that
because of all the new legislation, ruling, whatever, there are
more scholarships available now, especially for baseball and softball. But

(12:37):
that means, you know, they only have X amount of dollars,
so they can't afford to have as many kids on
scholarship at UK and Barnhart talked about how he found
that kind of disappointing. And I don't blame him because
I asked him, you know, and I will tell you
this that gosh, about fifteen years ago, he was looking

(12:58):
around thinking, well, if I can get this basketball higher correct,
this might be a good time to bow out gracefully
because everything was doing really well. Men's basketball was a
question mark because he had just hired Billy Gillespie, but
football was doing well, baseball, soft I mean, so many
sports were doing well. That would have been a good

(13:19):
time to kind of right off into the sunset. Not
unlike when Joe b had thought nineteen eighty three, eighty
four will be my last year as the Kentucky coach.
And he knew he had a chance at a national title.
But even if he didn't win it, he knew he
could go out with a really good team. That's the
Booie Turpin, Kenny Walker, that's the Seattle team, the Georgetown

(13:42):
team final four And because he told me, because of
the way they lost that game, he said, I can't
go out like that. So he came back the following year.
The team wasn't nearly as good, but pulled off two
big upsets in the ANSA Tournament and he was able
to go out really lost his last game, but went
out a winner. Well, Barnard had that opportunity, but Billy

(14:05):
Gillespie goin to mess that up. So he's hung around,
but he's done more than that. He has been incredibly
active on committees and dealing with legislation. And when you
think about it, if you're an athletics director and you
sign up forty years ago as he did, you know
you're going to deal with budgets, you're gonna deal with facilities,
You're going to deal with hiring and firing of coaches
right and watching teams grow and compete. And he did

(14:30):
a good job at Oregon State. He was an assistant
at a couple of places, but primarily Tennessee. Then he
went to Oregon State and helped put that football program
back on the map with some hires he made out there.
Then he takes the Kentucky job, and I know a
lot of you out there don't like him for whatever reason,
chief among them, as I understand it listening to people

(14:51):
talk ticket prices. He raised everybody's ticket prices and they're
still going up. Look, you want your teams to be successful.
And I know I'm preaching, even though I don't pay
to get these games. But this is what I'm sharing
with you that I've learned through the years. Because when
they were looking to hire a new ad when Barnart
signed on, you all called my show and wanted an

(15:15):
ad who knew that it was important to the Big
Blue Nation to be successful in everything. I don't mean
championships every year, but competitive in all sports, not just basketball,
not just football. Well that's what you got. That's how
Barnart got the job. He had a plan that he
put in front of elite todd as to how they

(15:36):
were going to do that. But as I said many times,
the next ad, whether it was Mitch Barnhart, whether it
was danis l whether it was Larry Conley, whoever had
been linked to the job. They were going to have
to raise ticket prices because Cliff Hagen, Sam Newton, Larry
Ivy had worked hard to keep prices down on football

(15:57):
and basketball tickets at the expense of other sports, so
a main revenue stream had to change. So, yeah, I
know your tickets have gone up, and they keep going
up and are going to keep going up. But that's
the way it is at every school in America. And
I'm not trying to dismiss anybody who thinks they've been
treated shabbily. I get that. But Barnhard is stuck around

(16:21):
And I asked him about that, and he said he
still likes seeing teams compete. He likes seeing players in
the locker room are getting ready to go out and
compete and be rewarded for their efforts. You know, the
national championships that have been won at Kentucky, the SEC
titles and tournament titles since he's been here, sixty something

(16:44):
SEC regular season and tournament titles. And I know I
sound like I'm being a big fan boy here, but
I'm just saving the facts because I look around at
the other schools and see what's happening there. But I
asked Barnhardt, you know what keeps you sticking around, and
he said that the competition, watching the Wildcats compete athletes

(17:07):
and coaches. But he also talked about football. One of
the first questions was basically, where are you right now
with football? And he said, naturally, we got to get better.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Got to We've got to fight and find our way
to some more wins in a really, really difficult schedule.
I was looking at their schedule the other day and
they said that I've heard everybody say that we've got
the second or third most difficult schedule in the SEC.
I've heard fifth or sixth, regardless if you look at
the schedule, it's a difficult schedule. So yeah, I've Mark

(17:38):
and I are chatting the other day and just talking
about you know, literally you go week to week and
you just take one week at a time, don't try
and get ahead of it. I've always loved when people
start giving prognostications, well, if this is a game that
they can win. Now, well, you don't know who's going
to be available injury wise. Rosterwis for either team at
this point in time, you've got to play with what
you have and you move on to the next one.

(18:00):
Been in this spot before, John, We've we've been in
a spot where we've were coming off some tough moments
where we didn't get what we wanted to do. And
Mark is really really good at fighting through adversity.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
If you follow Kentucky football, one of the topics for
discussion this summer, and I know this because I've heard
from a lot of you, has been how many wins
will it take for Stoops to save his job? And
Barnard talked about the schedule. Use the word unforgiving. It's
almost always unforgiving talking about the conference portion of the schedule.
And as I've said many times, the enemy for Kentucky

(18:32):
this year is not just the schedule, the calendar. When
did these games pop up? Ole, miss right away, Florida
almost right away? Opportunities. Yeah, but you can't ease into
the conference schedule anymore. You can't get experience for your
young people, your new people, your your transfers, your Red
shirts by playing East Nowhere State and then playing you know,

(18:54):
two or three times and then playing a conference game.
Not anymore. That ain't the way it works, thank you
to television. So if you're wondering about how many wins
will it take, Barnard addressed that, but I don't think
you'll like his answer.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
You know me well enough that I'm not going to
sit here and say it's this number of wins, it's
this number of things we're I'm not doing that. I've
never done that, and so I'm not going to start
doing that.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Now.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
We've been a place that's embraced our coaches. We've got
a longevity with our coaches, and we've never overreacted to things.
Maybe that's something that people don't particularly like about me.
I'm not particularly caring at this point.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
So and you know what, at this stage of his career,
he doesn't have to care. You know, he does care
about what do the fans believe, but what you think
of him, he can deal with it. Now. All right,
coming up, we're gonna talk more Kentucky football. We'll start
with the offense. We'll start with offensive coordinator Bush hamm Down,
We'll hear from three quarterbacks and more. Here in a
Big Blue Sider six thirty Wlap Welcome back to the

(20:01):
Big Blue Insider. It is the UK Football Media Day edition.
By the way, EKU Football Media Day is coming up Sunday.
We'll be there to talk with wal Wells and some
of his players. But right now we're talking about the Wildcats.
And as I mentioned earlier, Marx Troops. You heard from
him at the top of the show. He talked on Monday.
We heard from the coordinators today, including second year offensive

(20:23):
coordinator Bush Hamden. That's right, second year coordinator, first time
in five years. They've had the same coordinator two years
in a row. But yeah, he's coming back, and there
are some players coming back, but a lot of new
faces on offense, which means they have to learn to
speak the language of the Bush Hamden offense and that

(20:44):
is a challenge. In fact, he said it might be
even more challenging than it was last year when he
first got here.

Speaker 4 (20:50):
You're brand new, You've got fifteen eighteen guys with you.
Just from a understanding of the system, the certain language
you're speaking is critical, you know. We certainly still have
to address the fact of our fifty seven players, thirty
of them are new, you know. So it's a good challenge.
It's a good blend. But again I think there's year

(21:11):
one issues and you know, when you get to year two,
the ability for everybody to be on the same page
as critical.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Naturally, there was a question about the quarterbacks, and nothing
has changed. We're excited about all of them. He said,
you know, right now, Zach Calzada would be the starter,
and basically said the same thing about the qbs that
he has said all along. But somebody else asked him
about running backs because of the run game Kentucky has
really enjoyed under Marx Stoops with Benny Snell and Chris

(21:41):
Rodriguez and other guys through the years. And it's the
transfers that Bush Hampden brought up first. Dante Dalla We
saw him in the spring as a guy who's played
at Nebraska and Oregon six two twenty seven. Seth McGowan
comes in New Mexico State, then a community college Juco,

(22:04):
then Oklahoma six one two fifteen. He's from Mesquite, Texas.
And those are the top two guys. Jason Patterson will play.
You gotta think Jimury Wilcox, we'll get a good look.
But he talked about those two new guys, the bigger guys,
as the first couple you're going to see carrying the ball.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
From a physicality standpoint, I think when you guys come tomorrow,
you'll see their big, thick, strong backs. And so from
there we feel comfortable with Jason Patterson and his development
and continue to bring him along. Maur is doing a
nice job as well. He showed glimpses last year. Consistency
is going to be critical, but I think everything will

(22:45):
go through the two big backs to start.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
By the way, you can see for yourself. Remember now
fan days tomorrow, weather permitting, you can come to practice
at ten am and get a look, as you said,
he told the media, But we're actually you know, we
had a chance to watch earlier today, but he said,
you'll see when you come to practice what these guys
look like. And we, as I said, we saw a
little bit of Downdhill in the spring. But it is

(23:10):
going to be interesting to see who gets the majority
of the carries, who rocks up the most yards, who
moves the chains. That's a key. Another key is who's
going to lead that receiver room. You knew about Dane
Key last year. Steady consistent had some drops, had some
bonehead plays, but made a lot of plays. Barryon Brown explosive, deep, threat,

(23:32):
as Jeff Picorro liked to say, would take the top
off the defense. And of course a kick return guy. Well,
now there are a lot of candidates, Fred Ferrier, Harley Gilmour,
Jim Mourni. Macklin is a guy they wondered would he
come back. He was a playmaker last year and could
have gone to some other places, but decided to come

(23:54):
back and stay at Kentucky. And I had a chance
to chat with him. We'll hear that in just a moment,
but Hamden talked about Macklin and how much he appreciated
the fact that Jamari came back.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
Got a lot of love for Jamary Macklin. I think
he represents this program in a big way. Certainly had
some tough decisions this offseason, and I don't think there's
any one player that myself or the staff would like
to see have a big year than him.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
So he loves him because he came back, and also
loves him because he can make plays, and he is
a grizzled veteran. I mean in an experience and an age.
This was a guy who started his career in North
Texas and did really good things, transferred to Missouri and
did good things, and bush Handen was there when he
did good things. So he comes here as a grad transfer.

(24:44):
Two seasons at North Texas too at Missoo played last
year for the Wildcats. Has a chance to play that
sixth year. That's why he has eighty seven career receptions
for seventeen hundred yards and seventeen touchdowns. Last year was
a factory. You didn't make the plays of course that
Dane Key played, even though he played in all twelve games,

(25:06):
started three, but also as a return guy, it was
UK's primary punt return guy. Averaged eight yards per return
on sixteen returns. Has a chance to produce a lot
more this year, both as a receiver and a return guy.
I had a good time talking to Jamori Macklin and
I mentioned to him that he made some plays last year,

(25:28):
and he says he's ready to make more.

Speaker 5 (25:30):
Confident and my abilities. I'm confident in what guy has
been doing to me.

Speaker 6 (25:33):
Man.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
I just I know my preparation, so I'm ready for
whatever whatever it's gonna come with it.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
I got to think the second year with bush ham Gun,
how much has that helped you? How much has that
benefited you?

Speaker 5 (25:42):
I benefited me a lot man. We already had a connection,
So I think that is going to help so much
on the field, you know what I'm saying. And him
being able to trust me and me being able to
trust him, he's going to.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Help you got in your quarterback likely Starny. I know
you've got to develop a relationship with him. How's that gone.

Speaker 5 (25:57):
It's been really good. It's been really good for us
all throughout some all through our spring man, we've really
been connecting and definitely during far camp so far, like
been connecting very well and get on the same page.
It's been a blessing.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
But it's got to be away from camp, right It's got.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
To Oh yeah, it's always got to be like in
the locker room like those is whinning really matters, you
know what I'm saying. Texting each other and just seeing
how we're doing and all those things. That's what really matters.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Everybody knows. Two veteran receivers moved on. Yeah. I'm just
thinking though that the wide receiver room is going to
see that as a big opportunity, is that right? O?

Speaker 5 (26:24):
Yeah, it's a big opportunity for guys to step up.
You know what I'm saying, even for myself and even
for some of the young guys. You step up and
be a leader. Man, you've got you don't. I know,
young guys probably feel like since they're young, they don't
have to be leaders, but they can learn how to
be leaders.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Now. You know, you feel like an older guy.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
I'm old man, twenty about to be twenty four.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm old man.

Speaker 5 (26:38):
Yeah, a twenty three about to be twenty four.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
It's well, congratulations, I appreciate how you're feeling.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
I feel good. I'm ready to roll. I'm ready to roll.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
What do you think people need to know about this team?

Speaker 5 (26:47):
Uh, we're ready to roll, ready to run through a
brick wall for coach tups. You know what I'm saying
in these coaches. So we're ready to do it.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
How much of that is that bitter taste from last year?

Speaker 5 (26:56):
I mean we don't really look. Yeah, you got to
use it, but you gotta use it because that's what
you learn. You know, you learn from the past and
what you've what you've done, and what you could have
done better. And we we look at that, but we
we were straight ahead baby, ready to go.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Well, I mean I was looking back one week Georgia
the next week as you guys were playing as well
as anybody in the country. Good can you draw on that?

Speaker 5 (27:16):
That's good? We need it, you know what I'm saying.
We ain't runing away from nobody who was not ready
run away from any competition. We need Georgia, old Miss Florida,
whoever it is, we need it.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
You're gonna return this year, turn this year.

Speaker 5 (27:26):
Yeah, A lot of people understand I wasn't. I went
that good last year, but I didn't got better even
towards the end of the season. I've gotten better at
pume returning and I got real comfortable this year. So
that's why I'm gonna help the next step of helping
his team.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
How do you get I mean reps, but I mean,
what do you What's what's better about you?

Speaker 5 (27:39):
I mean you just you just learned, you know your
your footing, all just the small details when it come
to that stuff, because you can just throw somebody back
there and they can be able to you know what
I'm saying. But it's a lot different when you get
a lot of reps, a lot of reps, a lot
of reps, you learn the footing, you learn like and
I feel like coach Prefer and coach JB. Coach Preefer
isn't here with us anymore, but he learned how to
help me a lot, and uh, they trusted me to
do that this year.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
Now you've got to be fearless.

Speaker 5 (27:58):
Yeah that too. Yeah, definitely fearless.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
You always been that way.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
Yeah, I really worried. I was scared. I tell you
that because of my first time you bat that. So
you get all these thoughts of like, let me not
drop the ball. But like when you're confident in your preparation,
like it's now, it's it's no brain, I got I'm
going to get hit too. Yeah, that's fine. That's what
the game of football is for, right, That's why you
gotta be smart. Sometimes you gotta furcast, sometimes you gotta
get away from it. You gotta be smart and knowing.
That's what the spatial awareness when you're in that position permpas,

(28:22):
that's probably the hardest thing to do it. I got
all to kick returns and everything is easy, but pump
return is probably the hardest. It's hard, but coach trusted
me in that position. I'm thankful that he allowed me
to be there.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
That is Jamury Macklin ready to make plays a wide
receiver and ready to bring in the punts and return
the kicks. And we'll talk about the quarterbacks when we
come back. Who's gonna be throwing to Jamury Macklin act
with more on The Big Blue Insider six thirty WLAP
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Coming up in
an hour, number two, we're gonna talk some volleyball. We're

(28:53):
talking to a lot of football today, but volleyball opens
the season on the same day as football does. That's
one month from tomorrow. On August thirtieth, the volleyball Wildcats
played down in Nashville against the host Lipscomb. They're hosting
a round robin event and Kentucky follows up on Sunday
with the match against Nebraska, which is always one of

(29:15):
the most powerful teams in the country. So that's Craig
Skinner getting his team ready for the upcoming season. So
we're gonna hear from Brooklyn Delay. She is the reigning
SEC Player of the Year. She'll join us coming up
in our number two. But we are talking football today
and time to hear from the quarterbacks. And right now,
Zach Calzada is the starter. So he was one of

(29:36):
the guys that everybody talked to today and he chatted
with us. You can hear Maggie Davis, you can hear
me some others ask him about being at UK and
why this was the place for him as he came
through the portal following a couple of years at Texas
A and M, where he helped engineer the upset of
top ranked Alabama, and then he transfers to Auburn for

(29:58):
a year but got hurt and play then he goes
do incarnate word at the one double A level in
San Antonio, racks up a lot of playing time, a
lot of yards, a lot of touchdowns, and decided his
final season would be spent back in the SEC at Kentucky,
And we talked to him about why this was the
place for him when he stepped through the portal.

Speaker 7 (30:18):
Now, for me, it was really just opportunity and I
love coach Hamden and his offense, and you know, the
pieces that you know are going to be put in
front of me and the guys that we have, so
you know, just really excited for the opportunity him to talk.

Speaker 8 (30:29):
Today about physicality and the SEC, specifically saying he maybe
made some mistakes running the quarterback a little too much
early on last year. Have there been conversations already about
what that role will look like for you in terms
of staying healthy in the SEC?

Speaker 7 (30:41):
I think for me it's just got to be smart
and aggressive. There's going to be times where you know,
I might have to put my shoulder down on gotta
have a situation. But you know, also got to protect
myself as a long season, you know, with some really good,
strong opponents, so you know, got to stay healthy, but
also got to.

Speaker 8 (30:53):
Win games smart and aggressive. How do you do that?

Speaker 7 (30:56):
I think it's a game game by game and play
by play mentality. You know, when we need it, we
need it. You know when I got to get down,
I gotta get down.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Two veteran receivers left, but some talent coming back. I
know they're they're all new to you, but what's the
receiver room look like? Really good?

Speaker 7 (31:11):
You know, a group of guys that you know came
to work all summer. You know, I sent a text, Hey,
we're gonna throw you know, five pm on Sunday and
we got you know, twelve thirteen, fourteen guys out there.
So really encouraging to see that. And then you know,
you know, a really good start to camp. Guys are hustling,
you know, running fast off the ball, making a lot
of plays, So a lot to work on, but you know,
a lot to build off of as well.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Put up good numbers at your last stop. But you're
you were an SEC quarterback once upon a time. How
much of a help is that for you now?

Speaker 7 (31:38):
Yeah, you know, I think the experience, you know, was
really good and there was a lot that I could
learn from then, you know, at both stops. But I
think just being in the SEC and having experience with
you know, the speed of this game is different than
you know everywhere but the NFL. So I think it's
the strongest conference in America, you know, when it comes
to speed and competition and strengthen the guys. So just
that experience and knowing how to handle it and prepare for.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
And that is such a plus for a quarterback coming
into a new team who already knows about the competition
level in the SEC. As he said, and I don't
think it's hyperbole. It has got to be the toughest
league this side of the NFL. And so he's a
guy who knows what to expect now, So it does
cut her Bully. He played last year and of course

(32:23):
got the start against Murray State when Vandergriff was hurt
and played well. But Murray, with all due respect, was
the worst one DOAA team in America, and Bolli did well.
But then of course he struggles at Texas, struggles with Louisville.
But down in Texas he made some plays even though
he was beaten up like Vandergriff was, but he also
stood in there and made some good throws. And we

(32:46):
had a chance to talk to Cutter Bully Darryl Bird,
and I started off talking with him about how much
he has developed since he got here.

Speaker 9 (32:54):
I knew I'd have to get I'd do a lot
of work when I got here, but I've just been
focused one day at a time, stacking day's, keeping my
head down and just seeing the results since I've been here,
just stack in days.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
How tough is it to be patient?

Speaker 9 (33:10):
You know, that's just that's just the process. That's something
you gotta learn and it's not easy. But uh, at
the same time, it's kind of the beauty in all
of it.

Speaker 10 (33:18):
I don't know what the double question, but given the
state of the game, why didn't you just leave after
one year.

Speaker 9 (33:24):
Yeah, it's not a popular thing college football nowadays, But
my heart really is here. My heart is at Kentucky,
and I really love coach Hampon and everything he does,
and I just feel like I fit in, uh fit
in perfectly here.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
You said it was part of the beauty. What do
you mean by that?

Speaker 9 (33:40):
I feel like, Uh, you know, if you just wait
and keep your head down and work hard, you're gonna
you're gonna reap the reward no matter what area of
life you're in. And just keep your head on my
goal on like the goals I have set, And it's
just kind of it feels a little bit better when
you get stuff done after you've waited and grinded for it.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
People got to see what you could do against Murray.
Uh you go to Texas and you got hit in
the mouth and then you turn around and made a
great play. I mean, tell tell me about maturing from
one week to the next.

Speaker 9 (34:10):
Yeah, for sure, that's something you really got to learn
as quarterbacks. Stay level headed.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
Uh you know.

Speaker 9 (34:14):
I mean the team can go through a lot of
highs and lows, but you got to be the guy
who's calming the storm and no matter how high or
how low we get, I always got to be the
person who's, you know, gonna get the team back to
where we need to be. And that's that's one of
the biggest things I learned coming in from last year.

Speaker 11 (34:32):
What's the conversations like with him then those see you know,
heading into ye or two now after after a first year.

Speaker 9 (34:37):
No, it's been great. I love everything coach Hampdon does.
I love the scheme. I love the way he chooses
to like coach the quarterbacks, and the way he is
in the film room, everything like that. All around I really.

Speaker 10 (34:48):
Enjoy I'm curious what you learned about yourself because I'm
assuming last year was probably the first time since you
were six or seven years old you didn't play every
snap of every Yeah.

Speaker 9 (34:59):
No, there's a t under learning. Brock and Gavin, you know,
taught me a time. They really poured into me, and
so so so is Bo. Bo continues to pour into
me every single day, and so does Zach. And I
couldn't be more thankful for that. And I've made tons
of strides coming in from that.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
You can learn about yourself.

Speaker 9 (35:16):
Just come from last year or.

Speaker 10 (35:18):
Like from having to watch more employee.

Speaker 9 (35:21):
Just uh, you know, you gotta there's things to work on,
there's things to get better at, and shut to keep
stacking those days and keep getting better.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Keep stacking those days. I don't know who started that,
but it's popular and it has caught on. Keep stacking
those days. We also talked to Bo Allen. Bo's a veteran.
He started off at Kentucky, as you know, went off
to a couple of other spots, including Tarleton State, where
he did very well at the one double A level.
Transferred back in last year. For whatever reason, they chose

(35:51):
not to use him. I do believe in some of
those games where Kentucky was struggling, he could have helped,
but they chose not to. Bo is back for another year.
He's helping the young guys, and I asked him, what
do you see in this team. I'm really confident our team.

Speaker 12 (36:06):
I think we've got a great quarterback room, a great team,
great set of coaches, great offensive line. I'm really excited
for the year.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
You live this when you were a kid and you've
seen a lot of ups and now as in Kentucky football,
but the floor has been raised, hasn't it.

Speaker 12 (36:20):
People expect, Yes, yes, yeah, I would, Yes, I think.
I mean I've been fans here or from the two
in seasons, and way before that, I've been keeping up
with the team, So I think, yeah, it's great that
people do expect more and it's kind of what happens
when you start play better and win more games and
that sort of thing. So I think everybody welcomes in
on our team. We're all pumped about the season and
want to want to get out there every day.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
I know you want to play. Part of your job
as well as I guess helping these young guys get ready.
Coach has given you credit for that. What do you
tell a young guy about playing in the SEC? Playing
quarterback in the SEC?

Speaker 12 (36:52):
For the first thing when you're young is so everything's quicker.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
You got it? Just mentally?

Speaker 12 (36:56):
Is probably the biggest thing is I mean, everybody's really
a talented every every quarterback we bring in here is
extremely talented, as you all know. And just the most
important thing is just the quickness of speed of everybody.
Everything's a little bit faster. You're not as fast compared
to the guys you used to play in high school.
You can't make a lot of the same places you
used to be able to. But so it really all

(37:16):
comes to mental things and once you get bee that up,
everything else starts to slow down a little bit.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
You've moved around a little bit in your career and
you're back home. But I got to think that's up
in terms of maturity.

Speaker 12 (37:26):
Yeah, absolutely, I think that be coming back here, and
I feel like the coaches realized that too, just even
last year, that playing football was huge, but also just
I think as a man, it was a great thing
for me and a great experience for me, and a
lot of great people helped me out to get into
the spot I am at today and be able to
do what I'm doing now.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
I go bow as a legacy. His dad played here
and played pretty well, but was also a quarterback who
was competing with other guys and at a time when
it was tough to nail down the starting job. But
you got to think about bo Allen if he wants
to do it as a future football coach, think about
the knowledge he's racked up that he has accrued through

(38:05):
the years playing in different systems for different coordinators and
things like that. And now he is a help to
Zach Calzada. Although Cutter Bowley. Of course I think would
need more help than than Zach Wood. But anything that
can help any of these young guys, a veteran like
bo Allen can be of a huge assistance. But when

(38:26):
you think of how long he's been in the game,
when you think about along Jamoury Macklin's man, he talked
about how old he is, coming up on twenty four.
There are a lot of college football players like that,
Fewer and fewer, as we put COVID in the extra
year in the rearview mirror. But it's amazing to me
how some of these older guys have stacked up so

(38:49):
many days, and we're going to see a lot of
them on the field for the Wildcats coming up in
our number two, we'll hear from the old lineman, We'll
hear from the defense, and we'll hear from Brooklyn Delay
of the volleyball Wildcats. Want to come on a big
blue side or you're on six thirty up at your
late feet, welcome back to the Big Bone Sider. I

(40:53):
re number two of our program as we go deep
on the UK Football Media Day. We were there this
morning and this afternoon Une into just beyond noon. When
we talked to players and coordinators. Heard from Mitch Barnhart,
Mark Stoops of course talking to the media earlier in
the week, and you heard from bush Ham Dan and
our number one, the offensive coordinator. I'm going to jump
over to defense. We'll come back to the old line

(41:15):
because there's some interesting stuff there, but I want to
jump over to defense. Brad White is an established veteran
defensive coordinator. He's got a lot of new faces on
his side of the ball, and just like the offense
last year, the defense played really well until the midway
point of the year and then just kind of fell apart.

(41:36):
And so now he's basically restructuring, rebuilding with a lot
of new faces.

Speaker 13 (41:40):
When you integrate a lot of new people into the organization,
you're trying to get them comfortable in our routines. And
they've done a great job of sort of getting used
to that, comfortable with that. Specifically on defense, we've gotten
our new guys in. Most of them came in January,

(42:03):
so they were able to, you know, get a winter
conditioning with the strength staff. They were able to go
through spring balls. You know, they've had summer. You know,
we had about six new freshmen that came in in June,
and we had you know, five or six that had
come in mid year, so the mid year freshmen were
able to make the transition easier for the for the

(42:25):
June freshmen. So it's it's been a very seamless transition.
The guys, they really like each other, they've sort of
grown with each other. It's been a good mix of
new guys, you know, guys that have been in the system.
But we're still sort of if you look at it
across the board on defense, we're probably about, you know,

(42:49):
I don't know the exact numbers, probably one third guys
that have been in the program, maybe closer to fifty percent,
but then fifty percent or maybe even more when you
talk about transfers new freshman So there's a lot of
growing in that system wise.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
And when you're talking about the system for Kentucky, if
you follow the defensive side of the ball, you know,
Kentucky's known as a three to four team, but not exclusively.
Sometimes you'll see four people on the line of scrimmage.
Sometimes you'll see five, depending on the situation. Brad White
is not a guy who blitzes a lot, but he's
really good at knowing when to blitz, when to bring

(43:32):
somebody off the corner, whether it's a d back or
a safety. I always marvel at the feel he has
for the game. How many times Kentucky's been successful at
the right time at bringing a corner blitz or something
like that. But he said it's a mistake for us,
my word, to try to pigeon ole Kentucky as strictly

(43:53):
a three to four team. Mark Stoops loves the word
multiple on offense and defense, and White talked about the
fact that it's not just a three four team.

Speaker 13 (44:04):
I think in this day and age in college football,
you've got to be multiple, you know, And we've been
multiple in the past. I know, you know, so many
people think of us, you know, as a three down team.
But even for the last you know, three years, you know,
if you turn on the tape and you crank the numbers,
you realize how sort of balanced we are. The reality

(44:24):
of the situation is is you just have to figure
out We've got a whole bunch of pieces on the
table right now, and we just have to piece them together,
and we have to figure out, Hey, what do the
new guys do best, what are they comfortable with? You know,
and maybe at times, especially again I look back to
last year, maybe we tried to, you know, force too

(44:47):
many things. You know, the round you know, peg into
a square or whatever it is, the square peg.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Into a round hole.

Speaker 13 (44:54):
You know, we've got to tailor around what the guys
can do and what they can do well, what they
can execute fast. Now they also have to learn and
our system is our system and it's been really successful,
but we as coaches have to adapt to put them
in the best situation.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
There it is. That's what every coach in America should
know at any level pee wee to pro. Players have
to learn about what you need them to do, what
you expect of them. But you also you're the guy
who built the team or you're part of a staff
that built the team, So you need to know what
they're capable of doing. And as he said, you can't

(45:33):
put that square peg in around hole. You got to
put them in a position to be successful no matter
what the sport. And Brad White has been good at that.
He kind of sounded like regretted some of the decisions
he made last year with personnel, but keep in mind
last year was hamstrung by injuries and stoops has talked
about that a lot. He didn't talk about it last
year because you didn't want to make excuses. But when

(45:55):
you lose three regulars or three guys who will be
a part of your rotation for the season back in
the spring, that makes it tough for you to develop
as a team. And then you lose a few more
per game. I mean, we maybe we should be surprised.
They won four games last season in the SEC. They've
got depth this year. They did a good job of

(46:16):
the portal apparently, and one of the guys who stepped
through and materialized. I always think of it as the
Star Trek, you know, beam down to the planet kind
of situation. But one of the guys who materialized intellectionon
is Dave gusta nose tackle a beast in the weight room.
Everybody I've talked to, every player has mentioned this guy

(46:39):
when they're like, who's looked good? Because he tore it
up in the weight room and he was really good
at Washington State and some of us had a chance
to chat with him earlier, and he started off answering
the question of how he fits into Brad White's defense.

Speaker 14 (46:58):
From his words, I've been a great figure yeah, because
because I'm not. He told me the role that he
wanted me to, like, uh, to basically plan, and I
guess spring I showed it. Fall camp I showed it,
and I guess fall camp. They're just thirty got a
dollar back. They want me to be healthy for that season.
And then I'm glad that I proved myself to the
to them because because again I came, I came here

(47:18):
to be a part of this team. I didn't basically
I didn't come here to be like just me like
because again, like it's a it's basically a team. And
then I'm glad that everything's worked that worked, that worked
that well for everybody.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
Iven every player I've talked to you with that exception.
When they look ahead to this year offensive defense, they've
mentioned you, especially your work in a weight room. If
you've always been a weight room guy, I mean, and
I've seen video of you in the.

Speaker 14 (47:42):
Weight room, I would say I've always been pretty strong
in like the weight room, because coming out of college,
I'm at not called high high high school, like my
bench I was only it's crazy, I was only two
hundred and thirty five pounds coming out of coming out
of college. But I've been yeah, and but I've mentioned
almost four hundred pounds though, and so and so that's so.

(48:04):
I guess it's definitely carried on.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
And you were twenty five was or twenty eight reps
in high school? No? No, no, here, no, it was
thirty eight thirty eight. Yeah, sorry, I've showed it yet
thirty Yeah, and people kind of went nuts over that, did.

Speaker 14 (48:16):
Yeah, yeah, it is so so they try to make
a whole video out of it. But I'm not I'm
not really a showy person because again I'm I'm kind
of a nerd that was born athletic, so I'm more
of an intro. I like to be in my home,
just me and my wife.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
With Josh, though, said he said, with some d Lineman,
you gotta worry about strength something, you gotta worry about speed,
he said. David's got both. Has that always been a
I've got a think it's been a huge help to you.

Speaker 14 (48:39):
Oh yeah, See when I was little, I was not
I was not coronated at all. I said, I couldn't
even do it like a ladder. So it definitely it
definitely took something like took some time for the speed asset,
but as a kid, I've always been pretty strong.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
How much are you looking forward to playing in the
SEC greatly?

Speaker 14 (48:54):
Because I got me and my brother here, And I said,
me and my mama are both like, are both happy
out here. And then so at a SEC just a
really a great schedule, and I got great, great, great
teammates with me. So I'm just happy about.

Speaker 4 (49:06):
That, Jagger said, you and he have already had some
pretty good battles.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
What are you seeing from him?

Speaker 14 (49:12):
Uh, Jagger is probably one of the best people and
best centers that I've been around. And he's just overall
this a great a great person. And then also farm
farmers of freaking nature at so as a ninety percent
of body fat at was sixty six and three point thirty.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
That dude is a freak.

Speaker 14 (49:28):
Edit, but jaggers also as freak of his own NFL
as he just makes me just a better just a
better player.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
This overall farmer to whom he is referring is Jalen
Farmer and old Lineman is a junior transferred in from
Florida six' five three eighteen and Apparently gusta says not
announced body fat or not a lot of body. Fat so,
anyhow that'll be interesting to see how farmer works out
here from The Old lineman in just a. Moment But

(49:55):
augusta also talked about his mom being here and his,
brother and his brother Is Devon, gusta who is what
a year or two younger Than, david is a d
back and played last season AT Uc. Davis and these
guys are From San, Bernardino. California fun, Fact San bernardino

(50:17):
is where they filmed a lot of THE tv Show
mash because the hills Of San bernardino NEAR la And
i've been through. There if you go back and watch
THE tv, show it looks like The, korea The South
korea that they were trying to portray in A tv Show.
Mash so they're a long way from, home but a
lot of guys come a long way from home to play.

(50:39):
Here AND i can't wait to See Dave gusta play
at the nose guard. Position and, again my apologies for
shorten you thirty eight. Reps at two twenty, Five jeff mcorol.
Said back in the, day he, SAID i did. Four all,
right we'll come back in here from The Old lineman
in just a. MINUTE a little bit later, on we'll
go back to defense with From jordan Love. It he

(50:59):
talked to a down In atlanta a couple of weeks.
Ago so more offense end defense coming up on six
point THIRTY Wlap welcome back to The Big Blue. Insider
coming up in just a few, minutes we're gonna hear
From Brooklyn. Delay she is the REIGNING Sec player of The.
Year she has a brand new gold medal from international
competition over the, summer and she is expected to Lead

(51:21):
kentucky to yet ANOTHER sec. Championship that would be nine.
Straight they don't give you any, credit they don't give
you a head. Start if you won last, year you
got to do it all over. Again But Craig skinners
team has been doing it consistently for a long. Time
so we'll hear From. Brooklyn coming up in just a few.
Minutes and AS i mentioned, earlier volleyball begins at the

(51:43):
same time as. Football in, fact there are two exhibitions
leading up to the regular season opener for. Volleyball The
wildcats play At lipscombe In nashville On saturday at about
the same time the football team is. Playing then they
follow up the next day with the game Against. Nebraska
if you can believe that one of the toughest teams

(52:03):
in the country every. Year so we'll talk volleyball With
brooklyn coming up, next BUT i wanted to share one
more interview with you from. Football this Is jordan Love
it And jordan we actually talked to him down In
atlanta on AT Sec Media days AND i got to
thinking About. Jordan he made a perfect sense when it
came to who are you going to take down To.
Atlanta first of, all there aren't too many veterans on the,

(52:25):
Team but go back and Watch kentucky football from last,
year any, game and you'll See jordan Love. It of,
course he's a safety and he's a good, one and
he's a guy who's in a lot of, plays in
on a lot of. Plays he has played in thirty
seven games as A wildcat so, far with thirty three,
starts and this is over three. Seasons he's not like

(52:48):
a five or six year guy in terms of his playing.
Ability he did red shirt his freshman, year but so
far in three, seasons he has played in thirty seven,
games started thirty three of them had him in there.
Early why because he makes plays over his career one
hundred and fifty six career tackles as a d, back
including three and a half for, loss seven interceptions for his,

(53:12):
career an additional four pass breakups and a fumble. Recovery
started all twelve games last, year second on the team in,
tackles had two picks in The Murray state. Game he's
just always around the. Ball he's a playmaker and so
The scrum THE uk media, group we had a chance

(53:33):
in the breakout room to chat with the senior defensive,
Back Jordan. Lovett, So, jordan we've heard a lot about
how you, know you're all, changing trying to reset the.

Speaker 15 (53:42):
Culture what's maybe different about how you're operating.

Speaker 11 (53:46):
Now is for, yes we are trying to change the,
culture especially with a whole bunch of new guys coming.
In you, KNOW i feel, like you, know so far
we've bonded great. Together Every wednesday would do this thing
called four for. FORTY a new, speaker a guest bigger comes,
in talks about life outside of, football outside of football
and on the field and just like how we can

(54:06):
be better for people like in. Life SO i feel
like that's been going pretty good.

Speaker 16 (54:11):
As a guy's good round for a. While you know
that that actually has stuck. Around what's your responsibility in
making sure that everybody is buying in to just, change.

Speaker 11 (54:20):
You, know just really like making sure everybody's on their,
toes make sure everybody doing what they need to, do everybody.
Is you, know we're doing a little bit more than last,
year a lot of a lot of, it more than
last year, actually you, know just everybody a lot more
down in this, year more to the smaller, things you,
know fixing the things that we could uh could have
fixed the pastn't.

Speaker 15 (54:38):
IT i think over half the roster is on the
team for the first time this. YEAR R so how
do you all use last year when so many guys
weren't here for.

Speaker 6 (54:45):
That experience that's all the.

Speaker 15 (54:46):
Time just how do you guys as veterans still use
what you what happened last year's motivation when so many
guys on.

Speaker 11 (54:51):
This Team because we know who we, are you, know
we know what we're capable. Of we know that we
didn't have the season we wanted last, year but you,
know we just gotta throw the pass, away put a head,
down keep moving, forward Playing turkey.

Speaker 17 (55:02):
Football, Jordan when you say you're more dialed in as a,
team what kind of triggered, that what does that look?

Speaker 6 (55:07):
Like uh in the off season leading up to training camp.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
Starting well triggered.

Speaker 11 (55:11):
It of, course the seasons of last, Year LIKE i,
said we know we, had we know we were capable.
Of we know that we have a real determined, team
and you, know like a lot LIKE i, said new
traffick got. It it don't even feel like T like
they don't even feel like they were, transferred like as
much as we bonded, Already like these guys are my,
brothers AND i feel like we got the chemistry to
battle with each.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Other so what are the.

Speaker 17 (55:30):
Top two or three things you have got to do
differently than a year? Ago so last year does not repeat.

Speaker 11 (55:35):
ITSELF i wanna say we had to do a lot
of things. Different LIKE i, said we gotta be more
a lot more dialed, in a lot. More we have
to our. Chemistry we gotta really like make sure that
we know our brothers, know like one person responsibility is
just as as important as the next. Man so really
just being dialed in with. Everything when you.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
Were around the ball a, lot you made a lot
of players last. Year how how does that or how
much confidence does that give? You? Going did this season
as one of the, leaders.

Speaker 11 (56:01):
You, know as a vet in like being in THE
sec for as long AS i, have it's been it's
really it gives me like a lot of confidence because
the game kind of slows down once you kind of
like being in and the, like you, know the speed
of the game kind of slows down then start kind
of getting. Easier, so, uh my play recognition is has
been upgrade this this.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Season so some new faces up, front how do you
feel about the back and forward because it looks like
there's a lot of experience.

Speaker 11 (56:26):
THERE i feel, great you, KNOW Dj, WALLER Jq, hardaway
Uh me And Todd. BRYANT i feel like like off
like the starters right, now BUT i feel like we
got Can bard real, good like when we've been working
our butts off this off season AND i feel like
we're gonna be.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
Great, jordan what was your reaction with Events le's For?

Speaker 11 (56:43):
Louis, hey you know it was, crazy especially Little you,
know it was, crazy but LIKE i, SAID i wish
the best for. HIM i wish the best for. Him
good luck to, him and you know when we see,
him we see.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Him what's it.

Speaker 17 (56:53):
Mean to be one of the guys selected to come
here FOR sec media. Days that's an that's one of
those leadership.

Speaker 11 (56:59):
Honors it means a, lot you, know it means a,
lot especially From Coach stoop's you, know because just the
LOYALTY i have for, him loyalty he has for, me
and like just being in the, program you, know just
sticking sticking, down like just carry on the blue collar
mentality like that that we're supposed to have the, Season.

Speaker 1 (57:13):
So you think much about what you're gonna, wear say
one time to take much about what you're gonna. Wear,
yeah put a lot of thought into.

Speaker 11 (57:19):
THAT i feel a little sweet, on you, know like
my mama really helped me out a little bit.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Too shout at to macan play.

Speaker 16 (57:27):
Too you're gonna be an underdog role a lot this.
Year do you like being in that?

Speaker 11 (57:34):
ROLE i love being in that role, because you, know
LIKE i, said being the season we had last, YEAR
i feel like it just brings more fuel to the.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
Fire you.

Speaker 11 (57:41):
KNOW i feel like that we're underlooked right, now you,
know as we should be from the season we. Have
but that's. Good that brings our feld fuel to the.
Fire we're just playing with a chip on our. Shoulders
so so we really have something to play.

Speaker 16 (57:50):
For your one is an underdog At Whole miss last.
Year just that give you some confidence knowing, That, okay.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
We can do.

Speaker 11 (57:56):
This yeah it, does but you, Know I'm i'm trying
to go step step by step right. Now you, know
first focus On. Toledo we're gonna go game by. Game
just keep our focus on the main, thing you.

Speaker 17 (58:08):
Know to pack me back off of. That when he
mentioned an underdog, Coach oops has relished that role over the.
Years have you seen a different mentality with him compared
to last year and especially over the last two months or.

Speaker 11 (58:21):
SO i kind of see the same, Coach, douugh same business,
guy same guy that's gonna take care of, business same
guy player leg, coach same guy that's gonna teach me.
THINGS i, know you, know it's been the same For.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
That's Jordan love of defensive back number twenty. Five watch
for him this. Year he will be around the football
in The wildcats played. Defense up, next we will talk
volleyball with A RAGNING Sec player of The, Year Brooklyn.
Delay that's ahead on six THIRTY. Wlap welcome back to
The Big Boon Sader Dick gabriel with. You we wrap
Up july this weekend Begin august. Today happy birthday by

(58:57):
the way to my Son JACK. R K Football Media.
Day if you're A uk football, junkie you are we're
getting your phil and from many different ways Of kentucky.
Football we had a chance to talk to a lot
of players today and we will throw out what they
call summer, camp and so it's a chance to catch
up with guys we talked to in the spring and
some guys we haven't met. Yet and we're swinging back

(59:19):
to offense in this segment to talk about the offensive.
Line and there are a lot of new. Faces we
talked to some of them back in the. Spring Alex
wolfschlager came in From Bowling. Green Jalen farmer mentioned him
earlier From. Florida Evan wibberley transferred in From Western. Kentucky
David lagrange is a long, snapper came in From. Lehigh

(59:43):
but you've also got some guys returning Like Jagger, burton
who apparently has looked really good in camp so. Far
some of the guys who have come back in better
shape and ready to compete for. Positions by a guy
Like shaia is p coming in six' eight three twenty
two From New Mexico, State Cameron jones From James. Madison

(01:00:06):
they've got a really good program over. There and of,
course a guy who started his career In arkansas transferred
To florida has played a lot OF sec, Football Joshua
braun six' six three, Forty two and we chatted with
him earlier today and he talked to us about a lot,
of things including just how Good Is?

Speaker 18 (01:00:27):
Dave, Gusta, YEAH no i think he's just he's. Really
twitchy he he's got a great. Get off Me and
jagger talk about this all. The time he's one of
the few defensive lignment that we've gone up against that
not only do you have to worry about, his speed
but you also have to worry about. His power usually
you have one or the other, with defensignment especially into your,
defense alignment and he walks the line between the two,
very FINALLY and i think he does a great job

(01:00:49):
of using his god giving leverage and power to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
His advantage how Well has jagger taken to the?

Speaker 16 (01:00:55):
Center POSITION so i know he's gone back and forth quite.

Speaker 18 (01:00:57):
A bit let, me see he's the Fifth center i've,
played with and he's taken to it like. Everyone else
he's done a great job of knowing, the responsibilities known,
the IDs communicating that to the rest of the. Offensive
line if if we have, a miscommunication he does a
very good job of making sure we're on the right
page before the center snaps, the ball and if that
Means telling zach Or telling cutter to hold on a

(01:01:18):
second so we can get everything, ideed correctly he does
a good job of making sure we're all on the.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
Same page there's been so much talk about the old
line over. The, YEARS everybody i think has learned that
five guys acting, is one but generally that sort of
happens organically. Over time you guys have been thrown together
in a matter of months. Or weeks how challenging is
that to develop that, sense of, you know working As.

Speaker 18 (01:01:40):
Want it's definitely, A challenge. I feel whenever you have
as many transfers as we do on the, offensive line
it's going to be a challenge to get all five
to act. AS one i think it's definitely a credit
to the guys who were here. Last year they've done
a very good job of opening their arms and welcoming
us as transfers. Into HERE and i feel like on the,
OTHER side i feel like the Transfers like Pete and

(01:02:01):
woolley have done a good job of not stepping on
anyone's toes and not being, too arrogant so. To SPEAK
and i feel like when you are, a transfer it's
very important that you make it known that you're here
to be a. TEAM player i think in college, football
nowadays it's, very transactional AND so, i think especially as the,
offensive line you have to know that, your brother the

(01:02:22):
guy next to you is there to play for you
and for, this team for. The STATE and i think
we've done a good job of navigating that we meet
outside of football all. THE time i feel like this
is The closest i've been with an offensive line in
the shortest amount. Of TIME and i think it's a
credit to Guys Like, malachi wood Guys like jagger who
have taken, us in shown us some of the great

(01:02:43):
Things about lexington and just allowed us to take joy
in being a part of The big.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
Blue wall and it is all. On, them honestly it
doesn't matter what they do, on defense because if the
offense can't move, the ball can't put the defense in
a good spot in terms, of, field busy it's going
to be another. Long year we've talked about it. All
summer it's going to come down to the old Line.
Bush ham dan talked about the new guys, up front
what he expects and just what they should expect first.

Speaker 4 (01:03:13):
And foremost before you get to the skill. Set, piece
look it's a speed. Dating process, you know in a lot.
Of ways you had two weeks to replace a lot,
of guys And Certainly eric wolford did a. Great job
and there's some luck in. It too, you know from a,
PERSON standpoint i think all five of those guys are,

(01:03:33):
very focused they're, very driven they know what's on, the
line and from a, leadership standpoint we will go with.
Them again skill, set wise, YOU know i think some
of them have played in this league and, others haven't
and that will be the biggest challenge for them is
week in and week out what. They're facing the physicality

(01:03:57):
will be critical for them to develop that kind, of
toughness if, you Will and camp.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
He didn't get into, it there but they do need to.
Develop depth people, get hurt people. Get tired but if
you recall When The Big blue wall was at its
Best Under. John schlarman they were able to develop depth,
because again at, its best they had so many. Good
players remember those times when they would replace all but,
the center All But, drake jackson and leave them in

(01:04:24):
for an. Entire DRIVE and i Remember Asking eddie graham
when he WAS, the oc where you tempted to when
you got close to the goal line sub for the.
Old lineman, he, said no they were. Good enough they
needed to learn to execute and. They did that's how
it was When The Big blue wall was at. Its
best so maybe we'll see it again. This year, up

(01:04:45):
next we'll flip you back the defense Away From, jordan
lovett a playmaker on the. Defensive side Later On brooklyn
DELAY Of uk volleyball on Six thirty wlap welcome back
To The Big, blue insider joining us now as someone
who has been busy. ALL summer i mean a lot of,
us have but probably no One Like. Brooklyn delay she's
been playing a lot of volleyball this summer and now
as a gold medalist again winning In the Pan. AM

(01:05:07):
cup i believe it Is The Pan american Cup In
costa rica. This month welcome to. The, show congratulations.

Speaker 19 (01:05:14):
Thank you, so much thanks for.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
Having Me what is it like traveling overseas with a
team that's, you know not been together for a, long
time but you've got to figure each other out and
you're going up against some of the best players in.
The world tell me about.

Speaker 19 (01:05:26):
That challenge, you, know yes it's, a challenge but it's
just so fun to play with these girls because we
all come from different colleges and we don't get to
play together. That much so it's definitely a. Learning experience
you had to learn from some of the best players
not only in your country, but others and you kind
of just take it as a. Learning experience you go.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Through some, grueling practices some competitive Practices. At kentucky you
Talked With craig skinner about that. A lot how much
has that prepared you for?

Speaker 19 (01:05:58):
International play, YOU know i think obviously it has. Prepared
me craig is one of, my favorite if not Best coach,
i've HAD and i think just him always pushing you
to be your best definitely transferred over INTO the usa
gym and just kind of like that confidence that you

(01:06:20):
have going into that, because yes you trained for, a
week you don't know if you're going to make the roster,
or not and just going and practicing like it could
be your last is kind of the.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
Biggest key you played for the under twenty ones and
won a gold Medal IN toronto i think it was
last year and THEN which, i think, of course YOU
Were sec player Of the year. And all i've got
to think you felt fairly confident going into this, summer's
ACTION am? I, right.

Speaker 19 (01:06:52):
Yes you know there's always room, for improvement but last
year was a pretty good year for the team as,
a whole, and yeah going into, this year it's going
to be. Super, exciting yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Well you're picked to win it. All again that's the, news.

Speaker 19 (01:07:06):
THERE right i don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:09):
About, THAT well i mean you've won eight in, a
row but you know that doesn't make it. Any easier
they don't give you a head start because, oh yeah
so tell me about motivation as, a team what that does?

Speaker 19 (01:07:21):
FOR you i mean just knowing that it's. Not, guaranteed
yes we have one in eight years in, a row
but that doesn't really. Mean anything each year. Is different
the teams just keep getting harder, and harder and now
WITH the, sec tournament it's going to. Be different. This
year there's actually two rings you, could win SO the
sec can ruin one overall and then one for, the

(01:07:44):
tournament so it should be. Really EXCITING but i think
just taking it, one day one day at, a Time
like craig, always says and just staying in the.

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
Present moment we had a chance to Talk. WITH craig
i think you were, still overseas but he talked about
the TOURNAMENT and i brought up the fact that when
it was, first introduced the notion of bringing, it back
they used to have one back in. The, day yeah
coaches weren't crazy about, the Idea and craig said that
was as much as anything because they had a lot

(01:08:13):
of things to figure, out about, you know making the
scheduling more balanced and things. Like that but eventually everybody
got on the. Same page but that's one thing you
mentioned was the players were good. With that, YOU all,
i know you're going one match in, a time but
the idea OF an, sec tournament you guys, like that. Don't, you.

Speaker 19 (01:08:31):
Honestly we have no experience with, the TOURNAMENT so i
think we're just super pumped that we got to play
these teams and it kind of just prepares you for
the tournament because IT'S if i believe so it's if
you when you, keep advancing if, you lose. You're done
so it kind of just is a good role into
the tournament style of play and always just like, the

(01:08:54):
plane like it's. Your last and with that you never
know who's going to show up at the end of,
the year and during the season you can all have
like ups, and downs but with one final tournament FOR
the sec it should be interesting to see who comes down.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
On top Talking to Brooklyn, De lake Kentucky Volleyball all
american who won a gold medal In The pan am
competition over the summer and now looking forward to, a
season it's right on top. Of us but one more
question though about your, summer work your body of work.
THIS summer i. Wonder though and the FIRST thing i
said to YOU when i got you on, the phone,
it was, you know are you are you getting? ANY rest,

(01:09:32):
i mean are you afraid about afraid? OF burnout, I
mean i KNOW the u athletes make sure to get
off your feet whenever, You can but you still got
a lot of gas in, THE tank, i, guess.

Speaker 19 (01:09:43):
Huh, yes no definitely not looking, at that but a
little bit of rest after the two strenuous WEEKS that
i had is going to be good and going right,
into preseason preseason with two it as is going to,
be tough but really looking forward. To it was lifting
with the team today my first, day BACK and i mean.

(01:10:05):
Open gym it just makes me really excited about. The,
season well you Were.

Speaker 1 (01:10:10):
In, costa rica you Were in toronto, last year and
you follow that up with a. Great season so let's
talk about this. Year's team you lost some really good
teammates but picked up some new faces Including, Ear, yeah
eva who came through the transfer portal From the, big
ten From a big. Ten power tell me about how
that's gonna help help you and help the team on the.

Speaker 19 (01:10:31):
Front line, you know she is an a set of.
A player i love having her in. The gym we
actually had our whole team Here, in january so we
were able to play with everybody that was going to
be on our roster going into, the fall which was.
Really nice our three freshmen, came early our, three TRANSFERS
and i mean even included like the leadership that, she has.

(01:10:53):
The experience she's playing ON the u twenty three team,
right now and it just makes me. Super excited is
just having a powerful farm like that to just learn from.
Each day we kind of feed off of each. Other
well so it's been super fun and she is one
of the Best teammates. I've had so she is an

(01:11:13):
absolute gem of a person.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
Because she has played so much volleyball at such a.
High level do you feel like you're going to be
able to assimilate quickly, as teammates reading each other and
communicating on. The, court.

Speaker 19 (01:11:27):
Yeah, you know we had the, whole SPRING like, i said,
being together and definitely at first we had so much
change in the spring with two, new coaches six incoming.
PLAYERS losing i believe it. Was sixteeniors so we were
kind of just working through a bunch of things and

(01:11:48):
trying to find. That change but she's just been AWESOME
and i think we compliment each other, really well and
just the way she plays the game is super cool.

Speaker 1 (01:11:57):
To Want eva hudson is one an outside hitter you picked,
up well she'd been on, the roster but Last Year,
BROOKE baltimore i was able to get out on the
court finally as a, middle blacker and what a year.
She had She's Preseason. All conference that was such a
plus for you guys last year and SHE as i
said she had to sit the whole year after. An

(01:12:19):
injury what do you expect from her?

Speaker 19 (01:12:20):
This year, YOU know i think she's just really hungry for.
The season she did have experience ON the u twenty
three training series. This summer she just. Got back but
she is one of the Best teammates i've, ever had
the hardest workers in the gym every. Single day you
always know you're gonna get her best every time you're

(01:12:40):
stepping foot on the on. The court and it's just
going to be super exciting to see her the gross
that she's had since freshman year to now just becoming,
a leader becoming so dominant on. The court it's just
been super cool because she deserves every bit.

Speaker 1 (01:12:57):
Of it one of the, Other returners Asia think pennwe
the chance to talk to her when they brought some
players in for us after we Talked, with craig and
she really blossomed, last year? Didn't She and craig said
he loved and he said every coach would love to
Have an Asia thig pin on. Their roster what makes her, so.

Speaker 19 (01:13:14):
Special honestly just her competitive style. Of play she brings
so much fire into the gym each day and with
so many injuries, last year she really had to step
up into that sixth rotation, outside POSITION and i think
she carried herself. Really well being a freshman going into
that is really tough because you have to adapt the.

(01:13:36):
College GAME but i think she did a great Job
and i'm just super excited to see what she has
to do.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
This year and somebody else they brought in to talk
with Us Was, molly tuzzo who about a third of
the way into the year took over as a, starting
liberro which kind of surprised some, of us But as, craig,
said man she earned that spot in practice and made
you all stronger Defensively because eleanor was still on the
floor quite. A bit but tell me about what she

(01:14:04):
brings to. The, squad.

Speaker 19 (01:14:06):
Yeah, you know they were battling all year for that,
grow POSITION and i think that just made us stronger
because you had that constant competitiveness in practice. Each day
but she's just one of the Quickest people i've, ever
met and just through. Reaction time she's super fun to.
Play WITH and i mean she was with me and
the training series Going in Colorado Before, costa rica and

(01:14:30):
honestly just love playing with her and just the energy
energy she brings every single.

Speaker 1 (01:14:36):
Day Talking, to Brooklyn Delay Kentucky. All american the volleyball
schedule is another. Tough one, of course You, Got Nebraska,
Penn STATE. Pittsburgh smu it all starts with Exhibitions The
blue White on, august Sixteenth, That's saturday, august sixteenth and
then the following week an Exhibition With. Ohio state AND
then i mentioned those. Other teams now that you're Looking,

(01:14:58):
past lipscomb they've got a nice team Down. In nashville
that whole Weekend, In nashville you're going to learn a
lot about your team, pretty early.

Speaker 19 (01:15:05):
Aren't you, oh yeah. For sure craig loves to schedule
a hard pre, conference games but it honestly just makes
us better and prepares us for the. Long run how do.

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
You deal, with, That, though brooklyn because you don't win.
THEM all i mean, there times, you know we see
the scores come in from, you know out on the road,
and wow they dropped, another one, you know and you
wonder about what that's going. To mean but like, you
said you treat them all as. Learning experiences you're, also
competitive so you just kind of have to forget about that.
Final score is that the way?

Speaker 19 (01:15:35):
It, works yeah, you know the past two Years that i've,
been here we've always had a losing record going INTO,
The SEC and, i mean you can't really look at
that because you've got to move on take it out the,
learning experience like, you said but it honestly just makes
this better because you're playing tough competition every. Single game

(01:15:56):
you're learning so much as, a group you're fine tuning.
Your life you're sixteen things, in practices so it's honestly
all a learning curve and going into, a conference that's what.
You need you can't really go into conference not playing
any tough GAMES because I mean sec is one of

(01:16:16):
the best conferences, for volleyball so you kind of got
to be ready straight from the, get Go and craig
always prepares us.

Speaker 8 (01:16:23):
For.

Speaker 1 (01:16:23):
That well, the schedule as, you know includes a Trip,
to texas but that's Not. Until november a lot of volleyball.
Before that and you've already touched on this a, little bit,
but yeah you're picked to win, the conference you're defending multiple,
defending champs but the league's getting tougher, and tougher. ISN'T
it i mean it's not Quite the big, ten yet

(01:16:44):
but there are so many good athletes now IN. The
sec what's that been like being a part of that?
Growing process, you know it's.

Speaker 19 (01:16:51):
Just, really cool especially just to see how volleyball has
developed over the couple of Years that i've been. In college,
but yeah like, you SAID the sec is really tough
and you can't really take any games for GRANTED because,
i mean last year we dropped the Game, to auburn and,
you know it doesn't. Really matter you got to show
up every single game or you will lose that game

(01:17:13):
because every game is tough and you can't really overlook.

Speaker 1 (01:17:17):
Any, team Yeah that auburn game was, A puzzler, i
know but you all put it to, good use. Didn't
it you learn, from it and you you're strong down
the stretch AND now i know you want. Even more,
you know you won a deeper run IN the. Ncaa
Tournament and i'll leave you, with this the Fact that
kentucky has won is THE only sec team that's ever

(01:17:37):
won a, national championship and that was back IN the
covid year when they had to split the season before you.
Got there but the fact that it's. Been done Brooklyn.
At kentucky does that help you guys, knowing, that hey
we can get. It done it is possible to do
this kind.

Speaker 19 (01:17:51):
Of, thing yeah, you know we talk about it. Every
year obviously that's the, end goal but we can't overlook.
The conference we can't overlok pre. Conference games but since,
WE have, i mean some coaches that were on, That
Team madison lily would always talk about it the past.
Few years obviously she's not gonna be with us, this

(01:18:11):
year but just having that competitive fireness every single day
in practice and just knowing what the standards, are here
it's super exciting to see what we're gonna do.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
This, YEAR well i appreciate, your TIME and i know
that you're so thrilled and proud to win that. Gold
medal what's it like you got another gold medal on?
Your resumes what's it like when they hang that medal around?

Speaker 19 (01:18:32):
Your neck, you know it's just an honor to Where The,
United states jersey and just wrap. Our country it definitely
just shows that it's way bigger. Than ourselves and it
Was just i'm super GRATEFUL that i was able to
get the opportunity and it definitely was a.

Speaker 1 (01:18:50):
Lifetime experience thank you so much for your TIME and
i can't wait for the season. TO start i know
you feel the, same way but best of luck.

Speaker 19 (01:18:57):
To you thank you, so much.

Speaker 1 (01:19:01):
And that'll do it Thanks. To brooklyn and again volleyball
begins at just about the same time, football does so
it's all coming right. At us we hope you enjoyed
the football interviews if you relate to, the show of
course you can hear it and podcast version go to
wherever you get your, Favorite Podcasts. Apple podcasts iHeart but
a lot of football chatter on. This one and then
we are grateful that you joined. Us tonight that's a

(01:19:24):
good night from the Garage.

Speaker 6 (01:19:26):
In, LEXINGTON no i can't make you. Do it you
gotta look at the guy next. To you look into.

Speaker 20 (01:19:32):
His, EYES now i think you're gonna see a guy
who will go that inch. With you you're gonna see
a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because,
he knows when it comes down, to it you're gonna
do the same.

Speaker 6 (01:19:48):
For him.

Speaker 21 (01:20:02):
Tact taping the show anything canning the Bat like don

(01:21:11):
don don don don.

Speaker 8 (01:21:25):
Don don

Speaker 21 (01:21:29):
Donating to the

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2025-08-01 - BBI

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