The Air Raid Officially Sounded Off for Mark Stoops at the Kentucky Wildcats Fan Day and 2014 Recruit, Jahlil Okafor, is Tired of the Rumors
By Wayne
When the Air Raid Siren sounded, the Mark Stoops era was officially underway as the Kentucky Wildcats held their “Fan Day” last night in spite of the threat of rain. Our own Lyndsey Gough was present and accounted for to document what went down.
"Before practice the air raid siren was blowing for the first time, a sound that received applause from the fans present. Coach Neal Brown said, “We plan on sounding the air raid sirens every touchdown. Maybe that will become the norm around here.” Once they cleared the field and practice got underway we saw what “high tempo” truly means to Stoops & co. Before practice Coach Brown said, “(speed) is the number one focus at the beginning of camp.” He wasn’t kidding- when switching drills, players run. When its time for a break, players run there. Coaches run, assistants run, managers run. Lots and lots of running. It seems to be paying off for the Cats, however. Fans got pretty engaged in practice and were applauding touchdowns and tough catches. Stoops said post practice that the team was a little off and didn’t perform up to par, possibly because of the crowd or the autograph portion before practice. The rain held off for several hours but when it came many fans decided to pack up and go. The Big Blue faithful stuck around, however and the fireworks show came at 10:00 as promised. Also making an appearance at practice were 2014 commits Drew Barker and T.V."
She also managed to score an interview with tackle extraordinaire, Avery Williamson.
"I caught up with senior linebacker Avery Williamson to ask him a few questions about his final fan day as a Wildcat. On his last fan day: “Its pretty said knowing that I won’t fully be a part of this fan base anymore but I’m glad I can be one of the people that helps start a great tradition with UK Football.” On practicing in front of a crowd: “It was good, kind of distracting for some guys but we’ll bounce back tomorrow. It was good for the freshman to play under the lights a little pressure.” Any fans that stood out?: “There was one guy who wore a UK mask and really had me laughing. Its good to see the BBN come out.” Overall, it was a great event, as most put on by UK athletics are. I highly recommend UK fans attend at least one fan day in their time. It was awesome getting to see the high tempo practices and the freshman in action for the first time. 22 days until kickoff in Nashville and a long road ahead."
Mark Stoops sat down with the media and discussed what he dubbed an “average practice” put on by his team. If his recruiting prowess to this point is any indication of his expectations for this team then “average” won’t be anywhere near the goal.
With the installation of Neal Brown’s “Air Raid” offense, it’s no secret that the starting QB will be critical to that system’s success and man do we have some good ones to pick from. I can’t remember a time in my life where we have had more than one QB worth anything, let alone 3-4 and all with different strengths that could allow more than one to be used when necessary. In fact, that’s a luxury not many teams have. Give a watch and see how they view the competition.