After Kentucky’s loss to Louisville on Sunday, the heat on Joker Phillip’s seat has been turned on considerably and whether fair or not, some Kentucky fans are ready for a change. One of those that is NOT calling for a regime change is former Kentucky All American Derek Abney:
"Joker is doing a great job keeping the current program in tune with former players and he really does bleed blue. It’s a great move by him to keep former athletes and players part of the program,” Abney said. Even if Kentucky does not have a winning season for the third straight year under Phillips, Abney believes he should keep his job. “I have thought about this some as a former player who played with Joker as my position coach,” Abney said. “I really feel he deserves another year barring some major problems happening.” Abney’s reasoning involves what is best for the long-term UK program. His theory is that if a new coach would be hired if UK has a poor year and that new coach uses talent Phillips has recruited to have success, he would likely leave Kentucky for a higher profile job. Abney suggested that’s what could happen at Louisville if coach Charlie Strong has a big year with the Cardinals."
In the end, I tend to agree. We have discussed Joker’s loyalty to the program several times on the podcast and that Kentucky is not a stepping stone on his resume as Louisville is for Strong. At the very least, Joker deserves the rest of the season, so stop howling for his head now.
As Jason told us yesterday, senior WR Aaron Boyd, after three frustrating years at UK, has finally worked his way into the starting lineup for Saturday’s game versus Kent State. It’s an interesting story that when WR coach Pat Washington came to UK, he did not want to hear any back stories or notes on his receivers so as to not be influenced. And he obviously saw something in Boyd:
"“I just watched him in the spring, and what he was was consistent,” said Washington, who replaced Tee Martin when the coach left for Southern California in the off-season. “He showed me that he could actually be where he was supposed to be and do what he was supposed to do and be there consistently.”"
It’s an extra long edition of the “Five for” today, so I consider this bonus coverage as I throw a couple of quick tidbits at you.
More billboard silliness, this time in Gainesville and talking smack from Texas A&M. The billboard has been removed already, but there is some mystery as to who actually paid for it as Texas A&M does not use the moniker “Aggie Nation”. Hrmmmmm.
And finally, today marks the 11th anniversary of the passing of Cawood Ledford. I could write another 1200 words as to what Cawood meant to me and my memories of him, but I will just leave you with this: