Fullerton Junior College defensive tackle Melvin Lewis.

It’s a great day to be a Wildcat! Just when it appeared that Mark Stoops was done recruiting for the 2013 class, he’s reeled in a last-second commitment from Melvin Lewis, a 6’4″ 315 lb JUCO defensive tackle from Fullerton College in California:

It’s official, signed with UK #BBN twitter.com/BigMel94/statu…

— 3/11/1993 (@BigMel94) February 28, 2013

Lexington will be my new home — 3/11/1993 (@BigMel94) February 28, 2013

Lewis originally attended Compton High School in Compton, California, and was considering offers from Hawaii, Miami (FL), and Washington.

In high school, he was named 1st-Team All-State as a senior in California, and was 1st-Team JUCO All-American this year.

You can view his Fullerton profile here

You can view his highlights here

Here is brief excerpt from out interview with Melvin last week:

WBN: Thanks for doing this Melvin. Tell us about you, and how you got to this point in your life.

I’m Melvin Lewis born and raised in one of the craziest neighborhoods in Compton. My father was locked up when me and my brother’s were young. I have one older and two younger brothers. After getting out, he introduced us to basketball. I played basketball all my life.

I didn’t play football until 8th grade. Entering high school was horrible for me, I was bad in school and I lost a lot of close friends due to being killed or getting put in jail.

In 11th grade I decided to straighten up after my head football coach Calvin Bryant gave me a speech that I’ll never forget. I finally got my grades and everything straight and I graduated high school and started my journey at Fullerton College.

I met a lot of good people at Fullerton, especially, Coach Hoyd, who brought the best out of me on the field and classroom he also helped me with recruiting tremendously. Without my parents and some influential people in my life there’s no telling where I’d be right now.

Be sure to Follow Melvin Lewis (BigMel94) on Twitter

Jan 2, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) celebrate a third quarter touchdown against the Florida Gators during the third quarter of the Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Congratulations to the University of Louisville Cardinals on their victory over the University of Florida Gators in the 2013 Sugar Bowl.  For everyone watching the game, the Cards left no doubt over who was the superior team. And even though the final score was 33-23, it was never really that close.  From the first play interception returned for a touchdown, the UL was in control over one of the great programs of the SEC.  Again, congrats to Coach Charlie Strong and QB Teddy Bridgewater on a great, great win.

All that being said, the pressure is on in Lexington.  New Coach Mark Stoops has his work cut out for him.  Not only does he have to resurrect a program coming off a dreadful 2-10 season, he has to compete in the ultra competitive SEC and on top of that, the program right up the road has poised itself as a legitimate college football power.  With Louisville’s move to the ACC and with the Sugar Bowl win under its belt, the gap between the Cards and the Cats on the gridiron is as wide as it’s ever been and not in the favor of the boys in Blue.  The stakes have gotten higher for Coach Stoops and for AD Mitch Barnhart. A misstep at this juncture will regulate Kentucky as a college football also-ran for years to come.

So far, Stoops has hit all the right notes as he sets up his coaching staff.  From his celebratory first press conference to all his social interactions since, Mark Stoops appears to be up to the challenge to, like Charlie Strong, get the Kentucky football program into the upper echelon of college football.  While no one, at this point, is entertaining ideas of BCS Bowls or National Championships, most member of Big Blue Nation want respectability and to be better than Louisville.

Dec 2, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops spoke to reporters with Athletic director Mitch Barnhart (left) after being introduced as the new football coach at Kentucky in the Nutter Field House. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

For years, as the football Wildcats have struggled to forge a winning tradition or establish any type of consistency, the Cardinals were in the same boat.  But then, the athletic administration decided to do whatever it took to win. Louisville put money and other resources into getting the program where it is today, Sugar Bowl champions. Take it from someone that watched quite a few games from old Cardinal Stadium, Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium is infinitely nicer, more in line with facilities that you’d find at top 25 programs around the country. Tom Jurich, to his credit, has hired great coaches, each one adding to the football program, giving it more legitimacy. And finally, by keeping Coach Strong, Jurich and the University of Louisville have declared, “We’re here to stay. We don’t plan on going anywhere.”  The question is: Is the University of Kentucky prepared to do the same?

I believe in Mark Stoops. I believe in Mitch Barnhart.  I believe they can bring Kentucky up to the level that the Big Blue Nation has dreamed about for years. And right now, they don’t have a chance.  If there’s one thing that Wildcat fans can’t stand, it’s being second to Louisville in anything. So Coach Stoops, the gauntlet has been thrown. How are the football Cats going to respond?

Sep 3, 2011; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive coordinator Mark Stoops (left) talks with cornerback Greg Reid (5) during the first quarter of their game against Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Seminoles beat the Warhawks 34-0. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

The addition of Mark Stoops as football coach for the University of Kentucky has created an massive buzz about the opportunities the passionate defensive guru can bring to the Bluegrass. While Stoops is obviously known for his outstanding track record as defensive coordinator, perhaps his greatest trait is his development of the defensive secondary. Anyone who watched the 2012 Kentucky football team would know that an improvement in the secondary is crucial to this team improving from this dismal season. After one quarter of the season opener against Louisville, the horrendous defensive back play was prevalent and Teddy Bridgewater continued to expose that weakness en route to a beatdown at Papa John’s Stadium that Big Blue Nation knows all too well. The rest of the season continued this trend ending with Tyler Bray dismantling the Kentucky defense for four touchdowns.

But enough with the doom and gloom of the past! Mark Stoops is here to the change the culture, and it could very well start with his huge impact on pass defense. First, Mark Stoops has a phenomenal track record of developing defensive backs and making them NFL ready. In his time with the Miami Hurricanes, Stoops helped develop a two-star recruit by the name of Ed Reed into the future Hall of Fame ball hawking safety that he is today. While the next-coming of Ed Reed may not be coming through Commonwealth Stadium, Stoops will certainly be an excellent mentor for a young secondary and is guaranteed to limit the all too common third and long defensive lapses that plagued Kentucky all season long. Aside from Ed Reed, Stoops coached NFL players like Sean Taylor, Antrel Rolle, Phillip Buchanon, and Trent Gamble. Stoops pedigree of producing NFL-caliber cornerbacks and safeties speaks volumes for the vast improvement he can bring to UK’s pass defense.

By the numbers, Stoops’ Florida State defense was the sixth best passing defense in the country, giving up only 164 yards per game and 12 touchdowns. Compare Stoops’ impressive numbers with Rick Minter’s defense who ranked  54th, giving up 229 yards per game and 21 touchdowns. While Florida State may have more talent than Kentucky this year on defense (as a whole really), the FSU defense prior to Stoops’ arrival had a bottom of the barrel defense that was being torched by passing attacks game after game. The season before Stoops hiring in Tallahassee saw Florida State give up 229 yards per game and 26 touchdowns. Each year under Stoops, the pass defense has improved and in just 3 years, he has developed a squad that is among the elite in the NCAA.

While my expectations for the new head coach are quite high, Stoops will need time to implement his game plan and recruit his type of players to play in the secondary. However, I fully expect the arrival of Stoops to make an immediate improvement on Kentucky pass defense. At the least, he won’t allow Teddy Bridgewater to drive the Cardinals 99 yards,connecting with wide open receivers on third and long multiple times. With some luck, Stoops could sign a few 2013 secondary players that fit his zone defense and develop the current Kentucky CBs and safeties to finally rid Big Blue Nation of the momentum killing first downs after holding the opponent well for the first two downs. The Stoops Era brings hope that Kentucky can establish a true SEC defense and bring the (hopefully) revamped offense back on the field.

It’s been a tough month for UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. He was forced to fire his longtime-friend, Joker Phillips from the role of head coach of the UK football team, and now he’s in the midst of a coaching search that will not only determine the success or failure of UK football for the next decade, but also the employment status of Mitch at UK.

Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate Messenger spoke to the parents of three current players, and they couldn’t believe it was taking UK so long to hire a new head coach:

What worries me is it is time to be recruiting and I thought by firing Joker (Phillips) three weeks ago that UK would have a new coach in place by now,” one parent said. “They need to be recruiting, maybe even looking at junior college players for some help. The kids are frustrated, especially the seniors, and wondering about the future.

Another parent didn’t like that he heard Barnhart told the football team they needed to give a better effort, and there lack of effort during the season played a role in Phillips being fired. That parent went as far to say that it “seemed a bit petty” by Mitch.

I’m not even going to go into the dozens of reports of potential head coaching decisions that have been reported today, so I’ll just tell you this:

UK will hire who they hire when they hire them. It’s not worth getting bent out of shape to figure out who it will be, because too many people have their own agenda and will tell you something different. Just relax until UK officially announces something, because until then, nothing else matters.

Nov 17, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats running back Jonathan George (25) runs the ball against Samford Bulldogs cornerback Brandon Nettles (27) and cornerback Alvin Hines (21) at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

On a beautiful fall night perfect for football in the Bluegrass, the University of Kentucky watched 19 seniors play their final game at Commonwealth Stadium. It was also the final home game for UK Head Coach Joker Phillips, who came to Kentucky as a wide receiver in 1981, and left on November 17th, 2012 as a winner as his young Cats squad defeated the Samford Bulldogs in dominating fashion, 34-3.

To say he had seniority at UK would be an understatement.

The Cats would waste no time jumping all over the Bulldogs as they opened the game with a 14-play, 69-yard drive that ended in senior Gene McCaskill catching an 11-yard TD pass from Jalen Whitlow to give Kentucky a 7-0 lead with 8:26 left in 1st quarter. The true freshman QB was 5/5 for 27 yards on the drive, and had a key scramble for 7 yards on fourth-and-2 down to the SAM-26.

The UK defense responded emphatically as they forced the Bulldogs into a three-and-out in a drive which they lost yardage, and after the punt, UK took over at their own 22.

Jonathan George proceeded to rip off a 23-yard run on first down. Whitlow later converted a 3rd-and-long with an 8-yard run to give UK a first down at the Samford 31. Whitlow would cap-off the drive as he ran 20 yards for a TD to put the Cats up 14-0. UK ended up outgaining Sanford 157 yards to 43 in the first quarter.

Samford would answer Kentucky’s first two TD drives with a drive down to the UK-24, but the  UK defense stiffened and the Dawgs settled for a 41-yard FG to cut the deficit to 14-3.

UK would get those points back as Whitlow drove the Cats 34 yards and senior kicker Craig McIntosh hit a 35-yard field goal to give UK a 17-3 lead with 7:10 to play in the first-half.

Joker Phillips made sure the excitement didn’t end as he had Joe Mansour kick on onside-kick that UK recovered, but the Cats were offsides and Samford got the ball at the SAM-35.

After forcing the Dawgs into a 3-and-out, DeMarco Robinson took the punt all the way to the house for the score, but it was called back after the referees called a personal foul on Rashad Cunningham for an illegal block.

Freshman QB Patrick Towles would then come into the game, and after he drove UK to the 1-yard line, Johnathan George fumbled and the Dawgs recovered at their own 1-yard line. The defense would respond as they forced Samford into a 3-and-out and  UK took over at the SAM-32, and backup RB Raymond Sanders would score on a 14-yard TD run to put the Cats up 24-3. The ensuing Samford possesion would see backup defensive tackle Tristian Johnson pick up a fumble and go in for the score after Donte Rumph made the sack that caused the fumble, and the Cats took a commanding 31-3 lead into the half.

UK’s halftime lead is 31-3 over Samford. The Cats rolled up 266 yards of offense and averaged 5.9 yards per play.

I come here not to praise Caesar, but to bury him.

- Mark Antony, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

It’s time. Time for a change.  From ashes and ashes and dust to dust, today’s football game between the University of Kentucky Wildcats and University of Missouri Tigers started off as a football game and quickly turned into a funeral of sorts.  There’s no way that Joker Phillips can be the head football coach at UK next year.  I understand that he ended the losing streak against Tennessee and finally beat Steve Spurrier, but right now, this isn’t a very good football team.  And not only that, but there doesn’t seem to be any hope on the horizon.

For years, decades really, the UK Football program has sold hope. Hope that a brighter day was right around the corner. With the right players or coaches, the program could turn the corner and find itself in the second tier of SEC schools.  The fans in the Big Blue Nation have seen some of the most gut-wrenching losses and have kept coming back for more. The seven overtime game against Arkansas. The Bluegrass Miracle against LSU. And how many blowouts have the folks in Commonwealth Stadium been subjected to? Way too many to count. Yet, the fans kept coming. There were flashes of greatness, from the Alabama victory in 1997 and the triple overtime win against eventual national champion LSU in 2007.  But right now, who knows when that next highlight will come?