Kentucky Wildcats Football: Interview With Former UK Defensive Lineman George Massey
By Vinny Hardy
Had the opportunity to catch up with former Kentucky defensive lineman George Massey on 12/30/13. He lives and works in Lexington. We talked about what he’s into now, reflected on his playing days and squeezed in a little Matt Elam discussion. Hope everyone enjoys the interview.
"Vinny Hardy: I’m here with fellow Harlan County Kentuckian, fellow Lynch, KY native, fellow Cumberland Redskin and former UK defensive lineman George Massey. What’s been going on with you big fella?George Massey: Not much man. Just doing the family thing, the work thing and keeping up with my Wildcats. That’s about it these days.VH: Most definitely, most definitely. Now I know you’re also coaching at Bryan Station, right?GM: Yeah, I’m the defensive line coach at Bryan Station High School. We had a pretty decent year, not the year that we wanted this year but we did okay. We’re really pleased with the kids and some of the performances they had on the field. You know, we’ve got some kids that will probably be going somewhere and playing. We got one kid looking at EKU, one kid looking at Kentucky State and a couple at Georgetown. So you know, that’s a positive step for us.VH: That sounds real good. Now, how is it for you seeing the game as a coach now as opposed to as a player? How is it different?GM: Man it’s a little different because I still want to be hands on and physical with the kids like I was brought up. But you can’t do that these days, they’ve got so many rules and regulations . . . But like I tell everybody, I wanted to be the type of person that when I’m done playing the game I wanted to pour my knowledge that I have with these kids to help them get further along in the game than I was. I was taught by some good coaches but once I got to UK, you know, my skills really developed so if I can get these kids ahead of the game they’ll be that much further along. It’s good though.VH: Sounds good. Starting at that level teaching them while they’re still young, they can soak it up and absorb all those good habits. That’s the way to do it.GM: That’s it, that’s it.VH: You see yourself staying at the high school ranks, moving up to a head coach in high school or coaching in college someday?GM: I think I’m gonna stick with the high school right now. I like the place where I am right now as the defensive line coach there at Bryan Station. I like the camaraderie of the coaching staff. We have a good core group of coaches. We all get along, we all hang out and enjoy each other’s company. So I think I’m going to keep it at the high school level right now. I don’t see myself going on and venturing into the college or anything of that nature.VH: Continuity of the staff is just as important as what goes on on the field, right?GM: It is, it is. If you’ve got some coaches that don’t get along that can make for a long season. Your kids pick up on that also if you’re not gelling together. We all gel together pretty nicely.VH: That’s good to hear. Gotta flash back now to your playing days. We know you were All-State there at Cumberland for the Redskins. When did the letters and offers start coming to the mailbox when you were playing?GM: I would have to say my sophomore year, I started getting little letters trickling in from different schools like Cumberland College and things of that nature. Things didn’t really pick up until my mid junior year. I had the opportunity to go to the University of Kentucky football camp. I went up there and had a good performance. Coach (Bill) Curry, at that time, had the privilege of seeing me and I drew some interest from him. Some other different coaches were up there, drew some interest from them. So my sophomore year, but my junior year it really started to pick up.VH: Ok, ok. Now you hear some kids, which it’s a lot different now, you got Twitter and all the social media. Some kids hate the process, some guys stay tight-lipped and don’t say anything, some guys soak it up and love every minute of it. What was the whole process like for you?GM: The whole process of the recruiting, it was good. Being from a small town, I mean it’s hard for us from southeastern Kentucky to get seen by a lot of different coaches and a lot different schools. So for me the process of getting recognized by different colleges and things of that nature it was a cool process going to visit these different schools and meeting with people you saw playing on Saturday and getting the opportunity to be in the locker room and seeing them play. It’s a great opportunity for kids, it’s a fun time. I tell every kid that I meet don’t rush. Don’t rush signing with different schools, go visit each school if you have the opportunity and make your decision after you’ve made all your visits. But make sure you take all your visits.VH: For sure, don’t go jumping into something. I was gonna ask you this one last, but since we’re already going that direction I’ll ask you right now. Being from southeastern Kentucky, did you feel extra pressure or go in with a chip on your shoulder to prove that guys from our neck of the woods could play at the SEC level?GM: I did, I did. Because you know we’re not known for having good football here in Kentucky. You always hear about the Florida guys or the Ohio guys. We always have decent quarterbacks come out of Kentucky. It was a little pressure especially for me being from Harlan County I wanted to prove that we do have some good football up in this area. I put it on my shoulders, I wanted people to recognize we have good football and get some of these coaches up here to recognize and to see some of the athletes we have coming out of these mountains because we do have some good athletes up there.VH: Absolutely man. What other schools were on your list besides UK? When you started trimming it down, who was it coming down to?GM: I trimmed it down to Tennessee, Marshall, Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, those particular four. Tennessee started recruiting at the last minute so that’s how I pretty much eliminated them. Eastern, my cousin was up there and I wanted to be close to him but I also wanted to play Division I and play in the SEC as well. So that was the process of eliminating them out of the picture. Marshall always had a good squad. I eliminated them because they weren’t in the SEC or on TV on a regular basis. That’s how Kentucky came about and Coach Curry was a good coach and Coach Ron Riley who recruited me is from the mountain area was a big push for me as well. That’s how Kentucky came about, my mom fell in love with him.VH: That’s what it’s all about, those relationships, and getting mom on your side. Coach Riley knew to talk to Miss Drena, right?GM: Exactly!VH: Flash back again. Now that you’re at UK what do think personally was your most dominant game?GM: We had the opportunity to play UConn one game and I had one of my best games in college. I had two sacks back-to-back so that was one of my biggest games that I probably had at the University of Kentucky. There were of course a couple more where I had some fumble recoveries and a couple more sacks. One big game was against Eastern Kentucky playing against one of my best friends Charles Tinsley (also from Lynch & Cumberland High School). We had the opportunity to play against one another. That was a big time game, had a sack in that game and a fumble recovery. That was one of my biggest games too.VH: Had to be memorable going up against Tins.GM: Yeah, yeah you know he was a head hunter. (laughs) So it was good playing against him.VH: He was another great athlete from the mountains right there in Cumberland. Like you said, it’s all about getting that exposure for our area.GM: Exactly.VH: Now over the course of your career which offensive line did you like facing the most?GM: It’s kind of difficult to say because playing in the SEC you face some of the top talent each and every week. People think that because Kentucky has the schedule that they have and some of the records that they have, they don’t understand that you play some of the top-notch teams each week back-to-back. Florida, Mississippi State now Texas A & M and Missouri are in there now. You got some good tough competition in there each week. First time I had the opportunity to play Mississippi State their offensive line was massive, I was like goodness gracious! It’s kind of hard to say because you play some good talent each and every week. I think it was my freshman of sophomore year I had the opportunity to see (former Florida D-end) Jevon Kearse out there on the field. He was long and the speed that he had, and I was like goodness gracious this guy is massive. So it’s kind of hard to say because each and every week you’re facing the top offensive linemen in the country. I can’t say one specific team particularly. You gotta come to play. They were all pretty good.VH: You had to bring it or else you’d get embarrassed, right?GM: Exactly, exactly. That big eye in the sky don’t lie.VH: That’s right. Now what was it like playing on New Year’s Day in that Outback Bowl in ’99? What was that whole experience like?GM: I mean, it was one of the best feelings in the world. You know, being in Tampa on New Year’s Day, warm weather, your family gets to come down and watch. It’s one of the best times I’ve ever had. It was awesome playing on New Year’s Day because everybody in the country is watching you on that particular day so it was awesome during that time period to be playing on a New Year’s Day bowl game. I left Kentucky and I could say I was on the one team that got to play on New Year’s Day.VH: Just turning on the TV watching that morning, I’m sure I speak for the whole fan base. Everybody watched those New Year’s Day games. They didn’t stretch it out now like they do with the national championship game on Jan. 6 and all of that stuff. New Year’s Day was the day. When you turned on that TV and saw Kentucky on there! Man, that was something else. Turned it on and there y’all are on New Year’s Day just like Michigan and all those other schools there y’all were. That was something else.GM: Yeah, great times. Great times.VH: Now there’s a pretty good D-lineman in the state right now. Mr. Matt Elam over at John Hardin. Have you gotten to see him play a lot this year? Have you coached against him at any point and time?GM: I haven’t had an opportunity to get to check that kid out. I’ve heard of him but I haven’t had the opportunity to sit and watch him on film. Heard he’s a pretty decent kid.VH: He’s down to Kentucky and Alabama and he’s going to decide this coming Saturday. Now you played the position yourself, as a fellow D-lineman from Kentucky what’s that adjustment he’s going to have? He’s going to be in the SEC no matter which school he picks. What’s that adjustment like that he’s going to have to face as far stepping his game up and being ready to go from dominating in high school to playing in the best conference in the country?GM: I guess the speed of the game and how strong everybody is. That’s one of the biggest things I had to overcome. One thing I wish I could’ve done is red shirt so I could have the opportunity to get bigger and stronger. I had to come right in and play because we had a defensive lineman who had to sit out so I was forced into the lineup. That’s the biggest thing, the speed and how strong all the guys are.VH: Yeah, and that never changes in the SEC, year in and year out that what it’s like.GM: Yeah, and I heard we got a good chance of getting Elam too.VH: He’s starting to lean a little bit isn’t he?GM: Yeah.VH: It would be good to see him in blue. Just the fact that Kentucky is in there with Alabama in his final two. That says a lot.GM: I actually saw Coach Stoops the other day and I congratulated him on the job that he’s doing getting some of the talent that he’s getting in. I know he’s getting another defensive lineman from a JUCO school that’s supposed to be pretty good to anchor down the nose. He has everything going in the right direction. I just hope Big Blue Nation is patient with him, I think he’s on the right track building the program.VH: That was going to be my next question, you just covered that base.GM: He’s put together a good staff. I actually played with their offensive line coach John Schlarman. He’s one of the best that we had. If it wasn’t for a couple of injuries he would’ve been playing on Sundays. He had some knee issues that prevented him from going a little bit further. John will get those boys right. It’s just going to take him (Coach Stoops) getting his staff in there, the kids that he wants in there, implementing his strength program and I think they’re going to be alright. He’s known for being a good defensive coach and I think he’s gonna have the defense in a good position in a couple of years.VH: Yep, little by little he’ll get more competitive. It’ll take a little time because this is the SEC but he’ll get them there. Did you get some looks as far as going to the NFL?GM: I worked out for a couple of teams, I ended up playing in Canada and the Arena League. I worked out with the Saints and the Bears and wound up tearing my knee up.VH: That’s what I thought.GM: I had a couple of surgeries on it and decided not to do anything else with it. I looked at long-term down the road, playing with my kids and things of that nature. Some people have a hard time of calling it quits. I just wanted to look at long-term and being able to run and play with my kids in the yard and doing other stuff. So I shut it down. It’s a hard thing for an athlete who’s been playing since the 5th grade to actually stop doing it. Eventually we all have to. Mine came sooner than I would hope but other than that I can’t complain. I’m doing well with the company that I’m working at now and I have a good family and I’m able to walk up and down my stairs without any trouble. (laughs) It’s positive.VH: (laughs) It’s a fine line, but you have to have that perspective to know when to say when, right?GM: Yeah, you gotta know when to hold’em and know when to fold’em!VH: For sure. I sure appreciate the time bro.GM: No problem Vinny. You got my number, anytime you need anything let me know."