by Ken Howlett – A Sea of Blue
At SEC Football Media Days on Wednesday, UK football coach Joker Phillips regaled the gathered media with his thoughts, aspirations, and expectations regarding the Kentucky football progam.
Today, I take a look at some of the thougths offered-up by Phillips, and proffer some opinions of my own on the heading the Kentucky pigskin program seems to be following.
First, Phillips talks about his newly hired assistant coaches: Mike Summers — Offensive line; David Turner — Defensive line; Tee Martin — Wide receivers; Greg Nord — Special teams & tight ends; Rock Oliver — Strength & Conditioning; Tommy Cook — Graduate assistant (Defensive line); and Clifford Snow — Director of Football Operations.
"“What I was looking for in hiring a coach is, number one, can he recruit. If you look at the staff now, we have seven coaches that have been ex-recruiting coordinators sometime in their career. Does that mean he’s a great recruiter? … it makes him an organized recruiter, a recuiter who can sell our plan. So we feel fortunate to be able to hire the guys we hired because of their recruiting abilities.”"
Nothing else Phillips says illustrates the fact the he gets it. He understands, through his three decades as a player and coach, that it takes talent to win. Afterall, coaches can only “coach-up” less talented players to a certain extent. And even then, the player with the most talent and drive will surpass his less-blessed counterpart more often than not. Not buying it? Witness UK’s record versus Florida and Tennessee over the previous three decades. Uh, unpleasant, to say the least.
Phillips made the astute decision to base the hiring of his staff, first and foremost, on their ability to recruit. And with UK’s 2011 recruiting class being rated in the top 20 in the nation up to this point in the recruiting “season,” it doesn’t take a Bear Bryant-football mind to ascertain it was the right move. And as long as the staff continue to prove Phillips prescient, his first series of major staff changes will continue to be praised, and may very well be the initial building blocks of a successful Joker Phillips coaching stint in the Bluegrass.
Next, Phillips waxes enthusiatic about one Randall Cobb:
"“Definitely, Randall Cobb will be the source guy in the league, no question about that. He’s got to get the ball in a number of different areas, whether it be special teams, punt returner, kick returner; whether he’s lined up at quarterback or receiver. He’s a guy that has to touch the ball, and has to touch the ball in numerous positions.”"
Once again, although it doesn’t take a great x’s and o’x coach to know, Randall Cobb should be the impetus of this season’s offense. Over the last two years Cobb has played quarterback, wide receiver, returned punts and kick-offs, all with great aplomb. The problem that has arisen, though, is the punishment Cobb’s (slight) body has taken throughtout the season has taken him out of a few crucial end-game situations:
First, at Commonwealth Stadium versus Mississippi State in a 31-24 UK setback last year — The ‘Cats received the ball with 5:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, down seven points, yet Cobb never touched the football. Worst yet, he wasn’t even in the game. He was so battered and bruised that the UK coaches opted not to do any more harm to his body than what had already been done. That decision, no matter how well intended, cost UK a real opportunity to win the ballgame.
Second, in a game so painfully frustrating it even now causes head-shaking and the “what if” game to create havoc with my psyche. Yes, I’m referring to last year’s Tennessee game, a game Kentucky lost in overtime, 30-24.
After receiving the ball late in the fourth quarter, down three-points, Kentucky’s Cobb rushed for 27-yards on four consecutive plays, putting UK in a position to win: 2nd and 7 on the UT 10-yard line. But Cobb never again touched the ball. Of course the ‘Cats had to settle for a field goal to tie the game, sending the contest into overtime.
Perhaps if the UK coaching staff had been more judicious in using Cobb, he would have been available (e.g. healthy) during the execution of the most important offensive series of the game. So, my advice to Phillips is to use Cobb, but use him in a way which won’t put in peril UK’s ability to win the game.
Next, Phillips tackles the quarterback question:
"“It’s important that your quarterback now — we are three years removed from Andre’ Woodson, so it’s important that our quarterbacks are winning games for us instead of just managing games. That’s what’s happened the last couple of years.”"
"“Our quarterback situation, we use it as a positive, because we got two quarterbacks that have won in the league. One was a true freshman last year that won on the road at some tough places that Kentucky hasn’t won at in a long time (Auburn & Georgia). We feel like we have two guys that can win in this league. (And) we have a really talented (redshirt) freshman that is excited about competing against those guys.”"
I won’t pretend to have the answer to UK’s quarterback quandary. As I see it, though, the quarterback position, and how well the starting quarterback performs, will be the difference in UK winning six or seven games, and Kentucky making a step forward, and winning eight or nine games. As Phillips so succintly put it, we need the quarterback to be an actual threat to throw the ball down the field with consistency.
Stretching the field is so vitally important to an offense’s success, especially an offense loaded with talented running backs. Facing eight-in-the-box on second-and-long is not condusive to winning football games, especially in the rugged SEC.
So whomever Phillips lands on as his starting signal-caller, it better be someone with the ability to not only toss the bubble-screen, but also launch an on-target post-pattern bomb 30,40 yards downfield.
It should be illegal for so many rangy receivers with soft hands — led by Cobb, Chris Matthews, La’Rod King, and Brian Adams — to be rendered impotent because the quarterback lacks the down field accuracy necessary to put the ball in their hands. Simply put, this season, that has to change.
Finally, Phillips speaks about UK competing in the toughest conference in all the land:
“No, last year we had a chance. We were one game away from being second in the east. We are trying to build on that, similar to what we’re trying to do to our program, to continue the growth of it. We’re tying to continue to build the growth of climbing this SEC ladder. We think our attitude, the attitide of our football team will allow us to do that.”
“But, the SEC East, one of our progra goals is to win the SEC East; not to win the national championship, but to win the SEC East. If you win te SEC East, there’s a chance you’re going to be competing for a national championship.”
Not since 1977 has Kentucky won more than four games in the SEC. Think about that. Thirty-three years! And only four times since ’77 have the ‘Cats managed to win four SEC contests.
If nothing else, UK’s long-standing lack of success within the SEC is indicative of how high a mountain the ‘Cats have to climb. B
ut, I’m one of the many who praised Phillips’ hiring, because for me, he possesses the characteistics of a good college football coach: Experience, recruiting success, and a belief that recruiting is the most important aspect of a head coach’s job description.
Now all that’s left to do is beat Tennessee (this year), Florida (at some point), and South Carolina (this year).
Thanks for reading, and Go ‘Cats!
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