In sports, success is typically measured by wins and losses. It’s always very black and white. Cut and dry. Not so in all cases however. Thank goodness we have Crayons for my Wildcats.
With high-ish hopes heading into this 2012 football season under Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach Joker Phillips, success won’t likely be measured by wins and losses, nor should it be.
So with that in mind, what will success look like this year for my Kentucky Wildcats?
The foundation of this group must be as a “family.” A functional family fights both for and with one another. This will take time and must be intentional. As an undergrad I roomed with the football players at EKU and the whole “we’re a family” idea is a total crock unless it is worked on intentionally. Many of the players didn’t care for another and I’m not talking players of the same position battling for a spot. They always tried to settle everything like a 3 year old on crack. In order for these Kentucky Wildcats to find success on the field, they need to operate the same when times are good as when they are bad. They need to fight (verbally and physically) amongst themselves as needed but when the dust clears they have to regroup and solidify. If they don’t have one another’s backs against the competition, media and fans then we’re going to be open to infection. That will not do.
What will do, however, is having swagger and all our players need to have it. My definition of swagger is “confidence backed by success.” We don’t need a bunch of entitled babies crying about playing more snaps, etc. We need grown men who are willing to work their asses off and do whatever it takes to be the beast they can so they can dominate. That’s the infectious mentality we need.
Creativity on offense has been lacking for the past couple seasons. Even when we had Randall Cobb running the “Wild Cobb” the options were QB keeper or pass. That’s not going to cut it. Now I’m not saying we need to strategize outside of the personnel we have but need to make sure we use every available skill and play in order to succeed. If we max out our potential, that will be a success.
Having a “go for the throat” mentality will take us far with the D. It’s what sets the Alabama’s apart. They’re a ruthless bunch that takes pleasure in inflicting pain on others. I’m not saying we need to play dirty but we do need to walk that fine line. If we can get that old school mentality on the Defensive side of the ball then we will win.
And if we are able to mix all of the above together we will have our final measure of success which is to be competitive in every single game and IN every single game without making excuses if we get crushed. Let’s face it; we play in the toughest conference in College Football but when a team quits, it makes every loss worse and creates deeper fan disdain. Kentucky does not need that. We’re a flaky bunch as it is sometimes.
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This leads us to the common measure of success across all sports; the record. A successful season will be 6-6 for my 2012 Kentucky Wildcats for the obvious reason of being bowl eligible but when it comes down to brass tax, we will consider the season a success at 3-9 if our 3 wins are UL, UT, and UF. And I have no doubt we will achieve at least that.
What say you, my fine friends, that I have missed?
Oh, and fasten your seatbelts people because 2012 is going to be a pretty wild ride for our UK Wildcats!
On, On, U of K!