Kentucky Wildcats Morning Headlines: Tyler Ulis is the real deal

Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Today is Media Day for Kentucky Football and we are sending Lyndsey Gough and Shelby Caudill to cover the event, so expect lots of coverage this afternoon.

Over the off-season, Kentucky fans and the team have adopted #WhyNot as the unofficial slogan for this season, but “Never look back” could be another option. ESPN looked at the challenges of the SEC’s second year coaches and forgetting the past is one thing this UK team has to do.

"Before Mark Stoops arrived, Kentucky went 2-10 and lost every SEC game by an average of 25 points. The cupboard was essentially bare. The fans were too busy waiting on basketball season to show up for the football games. It wasn’t a good situation. In Stoops’ first year, the results on the field were no different as the Wildcats finished 2-10 for the second straight season and failed to win a conference game for the second straight season. However, the players’ attitude was different — they showed fight — and the second-year coach believes you’ll see more of that this coming season. “We showed signs of it last year, and I know everybody at Kentucky appreciates that — being scrappy, being tough, playing with that great passion, playing with that great energy,” Stoops told Kentucky Sports Radio last week. “This year’s team is going to have that, and we’re going to never look back.”"

Rich Brooks had a knack for getting those “diamond in the rough” players and turned them into stars at Kentucky and it looks like Mark Stoops may have one of his own in Cole Mosier. Sue to injuries in HS, Mosier did not get the big time attention he may have deserved and he ended up taking a preferred walk on offer from UK. Mosier may have been a steal for UK’s offensive line.

"“He was an absolute steal for us,” Schlarman said. “Felt like we found a diamond in the rough from day one with him. He’s proven that over and over. He’s a very hard worker.” Mosier caught the eye of his offensive coordinator, too. “We’re lucky to get him,” UK’s Neal Brown said of Mosier this spring. “He’s going to play for us, whether it’s this year coming up, I don’t know, but there’s going to be a time when he’s going to play a lot of football around here.” Kentucky’s offensive coaches are most impressed by Mosier’s ability to pass protect, something one might imagine is quite important in an offense tabbed “Air Raid.” “That was his biggest area of improvement coming into the spring,” Brown said. “He had a tendency to kind of lean in pass (protection) and that’s when he gets beat, especially by more athletic people. He’s done a good job fundamentally getting his head back and his change of direction has gotten better.” For his part, Mosier has tried to focus less on the “why me?” moments and instead focus on the “why not me?” moments that he’s sure he will find in a Kentucky uniform. “I believe in myself,” he said. “I just keep working hard and trying to do the best I can every day.”"