transcript

Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
[00:59] Welcome to Hour 2 of Kentucky Sports Radio, presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones.

Speaker 3:
[01:05] Welcome back, Hour 2 of Kentucky Sports Delay Radio. Well, I can tell you that the good thing about this topic is you get a lot of messages. I mean, text machine fly.

Speaker 1:
[01:17] Are they more pro or more con?

Speaker 3:
[01:19] I mean, most people are probably 75, 80% saying that they think we take the right tone. One person writes, I don't know how in the world people expect you to do a show when the team loses 14 games, struggles, gets beat by 40 points, and come on and go, things are great. That would be ridiculous. And the fact that people suggest that you should want that means they don't actually want Sports Talk Radio and they should watch a show that's made by the university. Well, to some extent, I think that's true. I mean, there are, like, you know, people have a natural tendency to want news that affirms their beliefs, right? The only way I can do this is to do it in the way it's what I actually think. Now, another person says, I think you all were too negative during the season. You kept telling us that we couldn't make a run and fans got used to it and took on that perception. Well, maybe, but Shannon, I didn't think we could make a run. Turns out we were right. And we didn't make a run. You know, I mean, okay, go back to Stoops. We got accused of being a sunshine pumper for Stoops. Why didn't we call for Stoops' job earlier? Right? Like there's no winning. No, there's not. So that's one of the reasons when I hear people say KSR like wants UK to lose or sabotage. Here's the thing. The only time that this fan base is universally happy is when we're winning. This show's easy to do when we're winning. Right? Yes. Then I can go middle fingers up to the other fan bases. But when we're losing, what are you supposed to do? Because if you, if I come on here and say everything's great, then people will go, Matt, you're making it to where they won't make a change. You just can't win. So all you can do is just say what you actually think.

Speaker 1:
[03:19] The bottom line is we're radio guys. We're also fans. We want our teams to win. And like you said, our jobs are easier when we win. We profit. My livelihood depends on Kentucky winning a lot of times.

Speaker 3:
[03:31] Oh, dude. I mean, the difference in the rev, like the difference in the bottom line for KS Bar when we win or lose is hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Speaker 1:
[03:43] Amen.

Speaker 3:
[03:43] Hundreds of thousands of dollar difference. And that's just one thing. This radio show is the only thing we do that seems to be winning or losing proof. The website, much better when we're winning. The restaurant, much better when we're winning. Remotes are better when we're winning.

Speaker 1:
[04:04] Yes, good point.

Speaker 3:
[04:04] The only thing that's the same is this show, but everything else, it's when we, post game shows better when we win.

Speaker 1:
[04:12] Oh yeah.

Speaker 3:
[04:13] This two hours seems to be almost win, loss, proof.

Speaker 1:
[04:17] Cause we try to be somewhat objective. We're happy when they win, we're mad when they lose.

Speaker 3:
[04:21] But the rest of it, I mean, go look, there's going to be a study coming out here in a few weeks. I think that's going to say that when Kentucky is good in basketball, it has like an 8 to 10 percent effect on the Lexington economy.

Speaker 1:
[04:34] I believe that. I'm surprised it's not even higher.

Speaker 3:
[04:37] I mean, I've heard that that's coming out. So like that's it. I'm not surprised. That's how this state is. Dave, go ahead.

Speaker 4:
[04:50] Hey, thanks a lot, Matt. Couple of things real quick and I'm going to try to hurry. Lord knows that there's a lot of things you say that I don't agree with. But in this case, you guys, it's crazy to think that y'all aren't objective. I mean, seriously, you call it like it is. But this fan base can be ridiculous in both directions. Also, real quick, until Barnhart, Barnhart is a black cloud over this program. He just is. This whole fiasco, I think this fish stinks from the head down. Second thing, if we're getting a new president, why would he go ahead and pick the AD if there's a new president coming in? The last thing, and I hate to be a doubter about this, let me ask y'all a question because this hit me last night. If Mark Pope was not one of ours, would he have been offered this job to begin with?

Speaker 3:
[05:45] Well, I appreciate the call. I don't know. It would have been him or Shaka Smart. Probably not is the answer to that question. But we had gotten to the point that if Mark Pope wasn't the hire, the coach here would be Shaka Smart. So you'd have to ask yourself, is that better or not? I think the answer is probably no. But that would have been the question. I want people to understand, the way it played out, if Mark Pope had not been the coach here, it would have been Shaka Smart.

Speaker 1:
[06:14] Where would we be with him, you think?

Speaker 3:
[06:18] I don't know. Who knows? But I'm just saying, that's what it was. Because once the university said, and Mitch Barnhart was told by university leadership, you cannot hire Bruce Pearl, Sean, excuse me, Chris Beard, Sean Miller and Nate Oates. They had the approval to hire either Scott Drew or Danny Hurley. Couldn't get them.

Speaker 1:
[06:45] Right.

Speaker 3:
[06:47] Was not allowed to hire those four. There was a moment, I've said this, I thought Bruce Pearl was going to be the coach here. There was a two-hour period. So what? Pope was announced on a Thursday night.

Speaker 1:
[06:56] Thursday night.

Speaker 3:
[06:57] Right, Shannon, wasn't it like 10.30 at night or something? Yeah. At 7.30 that night, I thought, or 6.30 that night, I thought we were hiring Bruce Pearl. Now, I think that was from stuff that had happened in the afternoon, and then late in the afternoon, it was told that they could not hire him, and then they quickly moved on Pope. Moved on Pope. So that's the time.

Speaker 1:
[07:23] The caller brought up a good point. Why is this president hiring an AD when he's getting ready to leave?

Speaker 3:
[07:27] Because some people would think the next president is already making the shots now.

Speaker 1:
[07:32] So I'm going to ask you this then. Did the incoming potential president, the one that made that decision, that the board doesn't have to approve all the hires, he has solo dictatorship? Did he set himself up to move into this spot and have it?

Speaker 3:
[07:45] Well, that would be, I can't say with definitiveness, but there are people who think that. But I can't say. I'm not there, so I don't know. Richard, go ahead, Richard.

Speaker 5:
[07:56] Okay, first time caller, long time listener.

Speaker 3:
[07:58] Who are?

Speaker 5:
[08:00] Yeah, thanks. Well, first of all, you guys' perspective is right, and I've been around a long time. I'm 65 years old almost. But I was a huge pulp supporter when he came in, but I just have a perspective and I'll get off. If you were running a business that had been top tier and you've fallen down a little bit, and you were going to hire a new recruiter or a company that's got a fine talent, and your first year that he hired a talent, you came in kind of average, and now you're looking at where we're at now and what he's got, wouldn't you be saying, hey, I need to move on and think about that? Then that's all I've got, thanks.

Speaker 3:
[08:37] I think people would do that, but then you also have to consider what that costs you. I mean, we're still paying Mark Stoops, right?

Speaker 1:
[08:46] Yes.

Speaker 3:
[08:47] We're paying Mitch Barnhart a million dollars a year, for some reason.

Speaker 1:
[08:54] You let Pope go, you're going to be paying him.

Speaker 3:
[08:56] Yeah, and then you're going to have to go pay a new coach.

Speaker 1:
[08:58] Pay a new coach.

Speaker 3:
[08:58] One of the things we've seen in these off seasons, I mean, go look at what happened in North Carolina. They ended up having to hire a guy that wasn't even in basketball right now.

Speaker 1:
[09:06] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[09:06] Because it's not as easy as it used to be to go steal guys.

Speaker 1:
[09:09] Right.

Speaker 3:
[09:11] I mean, we learned that when we went through it. Guys tend to be, you can win anywhere now. You can win anywhere, and that changes things. Go ahead.

Speaker 6:
[09:22] Hey guys. I just want to bring a little positivity here. I just want to remind the people, you guys have been doing this. I know Matt Jones, you've been doing this for quite some time. I've been listening myself for 12 to 13 years. All the negativity towards KSR, I'd like people to go watch that video, that run back of the press conference, when Matt Jones got that ovation. His cheeks got all red. It was awesome. That's the people that really care about Kentucky basketball. They support KSR and the negativity is they just don't haven't been around long enough or they just want to be heard. Another positivity is Mario killing it. He is absolutely killing it. I love the addition of Mario. He has been so good for KSR and he's an asset for sure. So good job for you guys and also ratings don't lie and y'all have the top ratings.

Speaker 3:
[10:25] Thank you. I appreciate all that and I'm not like, that's very nice. That was a very special day for me when that happened. But I want to please people. I don't want to be like a lightning rod of people. Some radio hosts like to be the center of controversy. I think a lot, I don't want to be like that. I really don't. I want to be entertaining. But it is hard to make people laugh and be entertained when we're losing. When I tried to do that, remember the COVID year, I was like, we're losing. Let's try to at least have fun with the losing. And people are like, we don't want to have fun. We want to be mad.

Speaker 1:
[11:15] At times you're like our group therapist leader. This show is being on group therapy. You have to lead us through, okay, it's tough right now, but light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaker 3:
[11:24] I wonder how Louisville Talk shows did it that last year at Kenny Payne when he won four games.

Speaker 2:
[11:29] Well, they just stopped carrying in. That's the difference between their fan base and ours.

Speaker 3:
[11:34] Actually, I think you're right.

Speaker 2:
[11:34] No, I watched Vanetti do a pregame show and not one caller because nobody cared, right? I think that's the difference between us and everybody else. When we lose, we want to talk about it. Other fan bases just move on to something else.

Speaker 3:
[11:46] Yeah, they move on to their lives. Paul, go ahead, Paul.

Speaker 7:
[11:52] Well, gentlemen, my name is Paul Karam. I'm a former UK football player and I have a dilemma that I hope you guys can help me with.

Speaker 3:
[12:03] All right, we will try.

Speaker 7:
[12:05] I printed up 500 bumper stickers, and the guy who's doing the printing for me has sent me two drafts. The first one simply says, I'm a UK knucklehead. The second one says, I'm a knucklehead with the UK in knucklehead and big and blue. That's a good one.

Speaker 3:
[12:30] I'm expressing no view on whether or not you should make the bumper sticker. All right. So but if you are determined to make the bumper sticker, then I think the knucklehead with the U and the K capitalized, I think makes your point in a more subtle, effective way. Shannon, do you agree?

Speaker 2:
[12:51] I do. Yeah. Yeah. If you can somehow incorporate something that looks like the logo.

Speaker 3:
[12:56] What about Ryan? Oh, so we need to ask Ryan because Ryan is the person who falls for yard signs and bumper stickers. That's true.

Speaker 1:
[13:02] And I am kind of a knucklehead. So I definitely like the logo in the bumper sticker.

Speaker 2:
[13:08] Just don't get caught with like a copyright or something.

Speaker 7:
[13:11] I'm not trying to be a lightning rod. I'm just trying to help the budget.

Speaker 3:
[13:16] Okay. Appreciate the call. By the way, the Board of Trustees meeting is Thursday and Friday. And in theory, they have the ability to overturn that Mitch deal.

Speaker 1:
[13:26] And Governor Beshear encouraged people to go.

Speaker 3:
[13:29] You do wonder if to some extent that was the...

Speaker 1:
[13:33] Oh, I think the timing of it is that exactly why. He wants people to go to this business meeting on Thursday.

Speaker 3:
[13:38] Yeah. We're going to be in Manchester.

Speaker 1:
[13:41] Is it tomorrow or is it Thursday? Or Friday?

Speaker 3:
[13:42] It's Thursday and Friday.

Speaker 1:
[13:43] Thursday and Friday.

Speaker 3:
[13:44] Are the meetings. So, it could be a very... I think you're going to have people there who care about the law school thing. You're going to have people there who care about the Mitch thing. Could be quite a circus. Sounds like something Mario should go to. Oh, gosh. Bob and James down. Go ahead. You're off your suspension.

Speaker 4:
[14:11] Matt, you know, you were talking about the sheer being a presidential candidate. Did you hear now that since Afro Man went as a case up there in Ohio, he's considering a run for the presidency.

Speaker 8:
[14:23] Did you say Afro Man?

Speaker 3:
[14:26] Are you talking about because that guy got high guy?

Speaker 8:
[14:29] Yeah. How do you even know who that is?

Speaker 3:
[14:34] How do you even know who that is, Bob?

Speaker 4:
[14:38] Well, he's been around, I can say, he just won that defamation case up there, and I guess he's got a little boost.

Speaker 3:
[14:44] So you follow a lot of Afro Man's, like what Afro Man does?

Speaker 4:
[14:50] Well, it's just a media thing. I'm sure Bob's got one.

Speaker 8:
[14:54] But anyway. Thank you.

Speaker 3:
[14:57] Thank you, Shannon. Thank you, Bob.

Speaker 1:
[15:00] To me, that's why he's so entertaining. You never know. Never have any clue he's gonna bring to the table.

Speaker 2:
[15:05] Bob in Jamestown is gonna call up with an Afro Man reference.

Speaker 3:
[15:07] Well, first of all, he cannot be on topic. You know what I mean?

Speaker 1:
[15:11] That's what I love about it.

Speaker 3:
[15:12] Like, it's just, it's never gonna be on topic.

Speaker 1:
[15:15] Nope.

Speaker 3:
[15:16] No matter what. So he comes in and he's talking about, we're talking about the future of Kentucky basketball. And he's like, do you hear Afro Man's gonna run for president?

Speaker 2:
[15:26] Who's voting for him?

Speaker 3:
[15:28] I don't know. Tell me about Stockton Mortgage.

Speaker 1:
[15:30] Stockton Mortgage, stockton.com. That's the place you wanna go to. Had a guy reach out to Stockton Mortgage this week, talked to the lender, got him all pre-approved, and it's easy to do. He told the guy, he said, okay, go to the website, hit the get start button. It's right there on the website. It'll get you through the process. A lot of hassle, a lot of paperwork, sometimes go through the mortgage process. But if you hold, Stockton Mortgage will make it as easy as possible and get you to the closing table. So give him a call or go online at stockton.com, NMLSA259, Equal Housing Lender.

Speaker 3:
[15:58] Will Stein here in 12 minutes, KSR. Welcome back, Techie Sports Radio. Yeah, I mean, I know he was in the news a lot for the thing with the police officer, but I still was surprised that was his topic. A couple little things. Yankees have requested to the team to get to wear their first alternate uniforms ever. The Yankees have never worn alternate uniforms, only franchise, to never do it. The players want to do it this year, should they do it?

Speaker 1:
[16:28] Yes, I mean, times have changed. They'll go back to their pinstripes and no name on the back of the jersey, but why not wear it once?

Speaker 3:
[16:35] Shannon.

Speaker 1:
[16:35] Give them a chance.

Speaker 2:
[16:36] I'm fine with that. I mean, they play 162 games. I mean, who would be against them doing it one time?

Speaker 3:
[16:42] The Yankees always remember, they didn't let people have facial hair for a long time.

Speaker 2:
[16:47] Which is a dumb, of a Steinbrenner's rule, right? Yeah, I mean, one time here and there, yeah, that's good. I'm fine with it.

Speaker 3:
[16:53] You're all right with it?

Speaker 1:
[16:54] I'm definitely okay with it.

Speaker 3:
[16:56] Devin Hester is going into the NFL Hall of Fame, the return guy for the Bears. He was the 57th pick. He is the first 57th pick to ever go into the Hall of Fame. So to celebrate, Heinz 57 is giving him a lifetime supply of ketchup.

Speaker 2:
[17:13] I hope he likes ketchup. I can't stand it. So that would be-

Speaker 3:
[17:17] I forgot about that. You hate ketchup.

Speaker 1:
[17:20] Him and Drew, Drew doesn't like ketchup either.

Speaker 3:
[17:23] How do you not like ketchup?

Speaker 1:
[17:25] I love ketchup.

Speaker 2:
[17:26] I just don't like it.

Speaker 3:
[17:26] So with fries, no interest in ketchup?

Speaker 2:
[17:29] Ranch, cheese, even barbecue sauce.

Speaker 3:
[17:33] What are you-

Speaker 2:
[17:34] What you don't-

Speaker 3:
[17:35] You are from the sticks, putting ranch on your- you put ranch on everything, like on your steak?

Speaker 2:
[17:40] No, but on some fries, dip your fries in some ranch, that's good. It's good stuff.

Speaker 3:
[17:44] I mean, I like it, but I do think that's not-

Speaker 2:
[17:46] When you get cheese fries, they give you ranch to dip it in.

Speaker 3:
[17:49] They do.

Speaker 1:
[17:49] Yes.

Speaker 3:
[17:50] Yeah, they do. I think not liking ketchup is weird, but a lifetime supply of ketchup, you think they just give it to him all at once?

Speaker 1:
[17:59] Here's a garage full of ketchup. Go for it.

Speaker 3:
[18:02] That's what Costco is like to me.

Speaker 1:
[18:04] Well, this is Heinz. Heinz is the only ketchup to use.

Speaker 3:
[18:08] You're anti-Huntz?

Speaker 1:
[18:09] Anti-Huntz, anti-Roll Gold, whatever the other one called.

Speaker 3:
[18:12] Roll Gold?

Speaker 1:
[18:13] Something Gold. Roll Gold. I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 3:
[18:19] It's awful. I will say, when I see... Yeah, Huntz doesn't sponsor. When I see Huntz, it usually means this place wants to save money.

Speaker 1:
[18:26] Yeah, gotta have Heinz.

Speaker 3:
[18:28] I think we have Heinz at KSR.

Speaker 1:
[18:29] We do, yes we do.

Speaker 3:
[18:30] You guys might say, if we have Huntz, we might take it back.

Speaker 1:
[18:32] No, we have Heinz.

Speaker 3:
[18:34] John Kerry, that's his thing, right?

Speaker 1:
[18:36] I don't know.

Speaker 3:
[18:37] I think John Kerry's wife is the heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune. Yeah, just a little piece of info. Mike, go! Hi, guys. Sorry, guys. Anytime you're ready, Mike. Can you hear me? All right, Mike. All right, I gotta let you go. I'm sorry. Plus, I'm sitting here staring at Will Stein right now.

Speaker 1:
[19:11] He's ready to go.

Speaker 3:
[19:12] I'm sitting here watching Will Stein eat while he's eating. While he's waiting for his segment, he's laughing. I'm sorry, Will. Just eat. I'll try to stop looking at you. Martin, go ahead, Martin.

Speaker 8:
[19:23] Yeah, guys, in regard to the thing about your alleged negativity, I just want to put something in there on that. I'm an older UK fan. I remember the standard and I agree with the standard still. If I wanted to listen to the channel, that did nothing but blow smoke up my rear all day long, I wouldn't listen to you guys because sometimes it is what it is. I'm a firm believer.

Speaker 3:
[19:51] It is what it is.

Speaker 8:
[19:51] I agree. Sometimes it's true. When it is what it is, you can paint it up as ridiculous as you want to and try to sell it, but you guys don't do that. That's why I listen to you. The only reason I'm calling in is saying, I hope you never become that. Keep on doing what you're doing. Sometimes people just need to hear the truth, even if it's not painted up and finessed with the just right words and all that.

Speaker 3:
[20:18] That's true. Ryan especially, he doesn't always have the right words. I appreciate the call. I can't do it the other way. I was on the official network for a few years. Luckily, I was on it in 2014, 2015, and 2016, so we were pretty good.

Speaker 1:
[20:34] Pretty good run right there. Pretty good run.

Speaker 3:
[20:36] That wasn't that hard to do because it was pretty easy to talk about the 2015 team because we just beat everybody down. But it is tougher. You don't feel like you can say stuff. Since we're not officially on yet, we can do some breaking news here, Shannon.

Speaker 1:
[20:54] Okay.

Speaker 3:
[20:55] Runny-na-na! Kentucky gets another football commitment. Antoine Higgins has committed to Kentucky. He is from the Cincinnati area. Kentucky got in on him late. He visited campus, decided to come. His quote, you can tell it's a whole new program. It's different. Everybody is buying in. It's the family I wanted to be in. So there you go. Yet another big football commitment. Kentucky, I believe right now in the on three rankings, is sitting at number 11, which is crazy.

Speaker 1:
[21:29] That's crazy. What position is this guy?

Speaker 3:
[21:31] He's an edge, it looks like.

Speaker 1:
[21:33] Dude, those are hard to recruit, these good edge guys, so maybe they snuck in there and stole one anyway.

Speaker 3:
[21:38] And this is a new, you know, we've talked about how there are so many different spellings of the name Antoine.

Speaker 1:
[21:43] Oh, yes.

Speaker 3:
[21:44] This is one I've never seen before.

Speaker 1:
[21:46] Okay, try it.

Speaker 3:
[21:48] Have you ever seen this Antoine? A-N-T-W-O-I-N-E.

Speaker 2:
[21:53] Oh, it's like he's mixing in.

Speaker 3:
[21:56] A-N-T-W-O-I-N-E. That's an Antoine I've never seen.

Speaker 2:
[22:02] Taking like the two different ways I've seen Antoine.

Speaker 3:
[22:05] And making it one.

Speaker 2:
[22:05] And combining them. Like the mom and dad couldn't decide on which version they want it.

Speaker 3:
[22:09] So they just compromised. I understand. That's right. Kevin, go ahead, Kevin.

Speaker 4:
[22:16] Yeah, three quick things.

Speaker 5:
[22:17] I know you got Coach Stein coming up.

Speaker 4:
[22:19] The guy that's printing up the bumper stickers, maybe he should print up one with I'm a butthole with a big orange U and T in there. The coaching search. Coaching search, if they do one for basketball, I wish they would do something differently instead of trying to go out for like a coach that's a success, real successful or D1 and you go through the dance, trying to lure him away, go for either a successful assistant coach at a program that definitely wants to come to a place like UK or a smaller division coach who's very successful like the football coach at Indiana and go in that direction. And nobody's ever mentioned the fact that the Baylor coach, they wanted him so bad and he hasn't had a very good last two years.

Speaker 5:
[23:04] No, no, that's exactly right.

Speaker 3:
[23:06] I don't know if that would have worked. I appreciate the call. You're right, Scott Drew.

Speaker 1:
[23:10] We don't talk about that. Didn't have a good year.

Speaker 3:
[23:12] Ended up not really having a good year.

Speaker 1:
[23:13] Hey, Wild Eggs Wednesday real quick.

Speaker 3:
[23:15] Okay, Wild Eggs Wednesday on what?

Speaker 1:
[23:17] On Instagram.

Speaker 3:
[23:18] On Instagram, do the word, Mario just put it up on KSR. We'll give away $50 from Wild Eggs on Wild Eggs Wednesday. Will Stein is next, KSR.

Speaker 1:
[23:27] Good job.

Speaker 3:
[23:30] TJ Smith, personal injury attorney.

Speaker 1:
[23:32] Call TJ, he'll make him pay.

Speaker 2:
[23:34] Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

Speaker 3:
[23:39] Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. Now happy to be joined by Will Stein, who was eating his lunch at the table there during the last segment. What were you eating? What's a good Will Stein lunch?

Speaker 9:
[23:51] I got a buffalo chicken wrap, okay? And I got a little cup of Greek yogurt with some fruit and granola in it.

Speaker 3:
[23:59] That's health. We're rolling, man. Yeah, the wife's helping keep you healthy. So, all right, spring practice has occurred. We talked to you right before it. Tell me how you characterize the spring that you just finished.

Speaker 9:
[24:14] Well, I mean, I think when you go through a spring practice, especially early on in like a tenure, it's really teaching these guys how we practice, how we meet, how we just operate on a day to day, you know, on day to day. So that was the big part for us early on is teaching these guys how to practice. And I was really pleased with how they responded to that because it was different than maybe years past here at Kentucky or even at their previous school. So that was big for us. And then just to find winning edges, like fundamentals and technique, like what those are on each particular scheme or side of the ball, and then just to bleed in the actual schematics of it and try to figure out where you want to take this team here in spring. And so we're really now we're in the phase of getting together as a coaching staff, all right, what do we like from the spring? Where do we go from here? What does the summer installation look like? And then going into fall camp, like how do we want to build this team for the future? So all in all, I was really pleased with our guys. I thought they were excellent from the very first minute that I got here on campus, opening up their chests to us and allowing us to coach them really hard and changing their mindset about how to play this game.

Speaker 3:
[25:29] What do we like about the spring? If you were to say, okay, these are the two or three things on next year's team, I think, are strength and here's the one or two things we're going to have to work on, what would they be?

Speaker 9:
[25:41] Yeah, I mean, I think the strength, I'll start offensively. I think we have a strong unit up front. I really do. I feel like it's going to play winning football consistently. I think our first five, six, seven guys are as good as I've been around in a long time. And I know that's putting a lot on them. It's obviously projecting something that has not even happened in a real football game yet. But I just see their size, their strength, their ability to retain information and play together as a unit. I thought that was really good.

Speaker 3:
[26:08] Well, let me focus on that for a second. When you say as good as you've seen, I mean, you've been around good organ teams, you've played good teams. Just the offensive line, is it an offensive line that is at a level to be able to play with anybody?

Speaker 9:
[26:24] Yeah, I mean, when I look at it, I make it in terms of like, who's going to play in the NFL? And I think you have, I mean, maybe not in the next draft, because some of these guys are going to come back and play for us again, but you're looking at a starting unit that potentially all five could play in the NFL.

Speaker 3:
[26:41] That's pretty good.

Speaker 9:
[26:42] When you look at a team, when you look at a team, the best teams have the most draft picks, right?

Speaker 3:
[26:46] They do.

Speaker 9:
[26:47] And so the units that I've had the last three years, all Joe Moore finalists, being the best unit in the country, a lot of those guys are playing in the NFL and had some first round picks, some second round picks. And like, I see what it's supposed to look like. And those guys are going to play in the NFL. Now, are they all first rounders? I don't know. I mean, I think some have the potential to be, but you're definitely going to have all those guys playing in the NFL, you know, whether it's the next season or the following season, which is, I think that's a tell-tale sign of like, how good they're going to be. I mean, defensively, I actually really like our secondary. You think about Ty Bryant, Jordan Castell, both played a ton of snaps in the SEC. I like Terion Nichols a lot at corner. I think he's a really good player. Aaron Gates is playing a ton at star, you know, at Florida. Just got to stay healthy. And then it's really the corner spot is really, I think it'd be a good competition this fall, like Hassan Sykes, what he did this spring. We're coming in from Western Carolina, and then young Demarcus Gardner, who is somebody we retained, did a really nice job. And then Nasir Addison as well. So I like our secondary. I think our backers are a little bit unproven, but I like Grant Godfrey a lot. What he provides is from a leadership standpoint and understanding of our defense. Bo Barnes is an extremely talented, big inside backer. Reminds me of some of the former backers here at Kentucky from the past. He can run sideline to sideline. I think he's a really good player. And up front, I mean, I think Mike Ease is an elite type player. He's gonna play in the NFL for sure. You know, Tavian Gadsden, if he continues to stay healthy, he's a big body up front. CJ Works had a really good spring. Antonio Berry had a really good spring. I like Jayden Williams, what he did for us as well. So, I mean, I think Interior D-line is probably gonna be another strength for us. You know, big end will be a strength. We got some younger spots at Backer. But yeah, I mean, I really like our team. It's just about depth. Can we stay healthy? You know, and that's everybody. It's a cliche. Every coach says that, but-

Speaker 3:
[28:59] Well, let me ask you on the depth thing, because that's changed a lot in a way that I actually think would help Kentucky. This has been my thesis. Tell me if this is correct. You used to be able, if you were Alabama, you were whoever, Ohio State, you could get second, third string dudes that were all studs. Now those second and third string dudes might want to go start somewhere else. And now the talent is spread out more so that you can come in here and have a lot of guys with elite talent. Is that, am I correct in that?

Speaker 9:
[29:30] Yeah, that's 100% true. It's 100% true. So that's the big thing. It's not just getting the players, but it's having the right evaluation, you know? And you think about, like, I always go back to IU just because they just won it all. So it's the most immediate thing that I can think about talking about. I thought they did a great job of evaluating the correct players that come in and fit in their scheme. And you don't know how much people are paying. That's the hard thing because there is no, there's no database that says these guys are getting this much. But when you think about market value of players, I do think evaluation is still the number one thing that matters. Do they love ball and do they fit your style of play and your scheme? So that's what we're doing right now. When you talk about what's the next phase for us as a coaching staff, we're about to go on the road and start recruiting and finalize these 27s to make sure that they stay locked in and then try to evaluate the 28s and beyond. And then when you get to the portal season, it's a whole other...

Speaker 3:
[30:31] It's a different set of things...

Speaker 9:
[30:32] .of evaluation. Oh yeah.

Speaker 3:
[30:34] So we heard about this thing that UK announced, this blueprint thing, and they said, you guys at UK Football had used it early. So tell me, when you're sitting down saying, what kind of players do I want to target, whether it's that system or what else? I mean, how do you narrow... There are thousands of players. How do you narrow what it is you want?

Speaker 9:
[30:54] Well, I mean, that's one reason why I have a GM and an assistant GM and a director with player personnel. We have an entire department dedicated to personnel, to acquiring talent and evaluating talent. I mean, I wish I could walk you guys back to, basically, our war room. There's like freaking 20 minions back there to just slice and film and building lists of boards and their students and a lot of them are unpaid and they just love Kentucky football and they want to do whatever it takes to help. And then they want to see themselves rise within this business and this profession. I mean.

Speaker 3:
[31:30] So is it like half football guys, half nerds?

Speaker 9:
[31:35] Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of personnel guys there, you gotta have some nerdiness to you, but they're all football guys too. I mean, you gotta have a blend. I mean, even coaches, you gotta have, you can't just have all freaking jocks, man. You gotta have a, you gotta have a blend. It's a team. So that's what these guys are. And, but they love it. And they come up here. They're the first to arrive, last to leave type kids and just grind on film and getting players names. But also, I mean, a lot of our coaching staff knows a ton of guys around the country, high school coaches. And so we get fed a lot of names as well. And we're tight with recruiting services too. And, you know, the Tom Loy's of the world, you know, the Steve Wiltfungs of the world, that give us a lot of names too, that we just start building up this database. And, you know, we recruit more than like a basketball or baseball, not in terms of time recruiting, but we have more players. So, we have to cast a wide net, you know, for our team.

Speaker 3:
[32:28] Do you, okay, so as I've been hearing all these people that have committed, and you've gotten some amazing commitments, I know you can't talk about the specifics of them, but high ranked guys, they all say the same thing. The culture there is fun. The coaches are fun. People are excited. Every single person, they don't just mention the culture, they all have the exact same compliments to it. It's got to be gratifying, and is that what you're trying to build?

Speaker 9:
[32:56] Yeah, I mean, the fun's in the winning though, Matt. You know what I'm saying? Like that's what it's really fun, is when you go win on Saturday. So they came here this spring, they love what we're doing. It's not just a sales pitch, it's not just a one-time discussion. They see the energy. They saw it in January when they came, they saw it in early March, they see it again in April. Like, man, these guys haven't changed. They see it on our Zoom calls, on our FaceTimes, on every conversation that we have. We're the same guys. So I think it's just recruiting is about waking these kids up and putting them to bed. You know, it has to be an everyday thing. It can't be once in a while, or, hey, we got this kid committed, now he's good till December. F that, it's not. It's not. You better still recruit these guys.

Speaker 3:
[33:42] You better still go, yeah.

Speaker 9:
[33:43] Like, your hair's on fire. Because just cause we got an awesome QB, number two in the country, you don't think that everybody's trying to still kind of talk to him? I mean, you're crazy if you don't think that's true. Or just because a kid committed somewhere that didn't choose us, you don't think the Wildcats are constantly talking to him and his family and his people? Yes, you have to. It's not over till it's over. And even when it's over, it's still not over nowadays. I mean, you can get out of a commitment or a sign after you sign. I forgot what they called the post-sign-y portal guy. I mean, it's like crazy. So you better recruit these guys all the time. And then you gotta recruit your own team. You gotta recruit your own team. So it's constant, but that's why I hired these guys. I mean, I hired guys that are like me, that love football, that love their family. I mean, I don't want to say-

Speaker 3:
[34:38] Don't wear quarter-zips, though.

Speaker 9:
[34:39] I mean, you can't- Guys that you want to go grab a beer with after work.

Speaker 3:
[34:42] But you can't wear quarter-zips, though, coach, is what I heard.

Speaker 9:
[34:45] I mean, I got one on right now. I told you, aggressive take, super aggressive take. All right. And I think I meant to kind of talk about like button up and stuff. I just don't want to be walking around on eggshells. I don't want our players to walk around on eggshells because we're dressed like a corporate office. We're football coaches. So that was my point. It was super aggressive. I actually love quarter-zips. So I don't know who's the guy on your old staff.

Speaker 3:
[35:07] Billy is very dis... He's sitting right here. Who is it? Billy. Show it so Will can see you here.

Speaker 9:
[35:12] We got the same name, dude. You know, like, hey, I got one on. And look, I got a cool one on too. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3:
[35:18] That actually is a good one.

Speaker 9:
[35:19] Got a little power K on there.

Speaker 3:
[35:21] He was very disappointed. That's his thing. I'm not going to dress like Billy, though.

Speaker 9:
[35:25] Like how Billy's dressed right now, I'm going to dress more like you, Matt, you know?

Speaker 3:
[35:28] Yeah, this is football coach, Gary, even though I've never played one down.

Speaker 9:
[35:31] He got the hat on. I'm a hat guy. Black always gets on me because I'm wearing a hat in interviews. I'm like, I'm a hat guy. I know I got some, my hair's, I still got some flow, but I love a hat.

Speaker 3:
[35:42] I love it. So let me ask you, just for my fascination about, because the recruiting side of this to me is now, I find it very entertaining. You seem sort of energized when we talk about recruiting. I hear a lot of guys in the modern era go, oh, this is so hard. I think you seem like you're like, look, these are the rules and we're going to maximize them. Am I right about that?

Speaker 9:
[36:05] 100%. I mean, the best teams I've ever been a part of had the best players. And that's what I've tell these guys too. When I have great players, I've been a part of 69 wins over the last six seasons. And what does that? Yeah, we had great scheme. We do awesome stuff on offense. We're going to dial up stuff on defense. But when you have better players, you win more games. It's pretty simple. Like look at the last, I don't know how many national championships, champions, maybe besides IU this year. Previous year, we played Ohio State. I think they had like 16 guys drafted. They won it all. Michigan was the year before. They had the most guys drafted. They won it all. Year before that was what? Georgia, most guys drafted. They won it all.

Speaker 3:
[36:46] And even if you look here, the best Kentucky teams in the last 12 years had huge amounts of people get drafted. Yes.

Speaker 9:
[36:52] So like that's why recruiting matters so much. I mean, I love Joe Sloan and Jay Bateman. They're going to be much better coaches. I'm going to be a better head coach when we have better players. And so that's why we recruit this way. That's why we have energy. I mean, I want to stay in Lexington for a really long time. You know, and if I don't go get great players, shoot, you're going to be talking trash about me. Deservingly so.

Speaker 3:
[37:15] No, I'm not going to do that.

Speaker 9:
[37:16] We got to go in and how do you win? Get great players. So that's why I'm enthusiastic about it.

Speaker 3:
[37:20] All right. So let's say there's a player, let's just say his name is Bob in Jamestown, and there's this player out there and you see him and you like him. Are you all setting like a financial value where you say, I can't offer more than this? He's good, but he's this good. He's this dollar amount good, or is it fluctuate? How do you do that to make sure you don't overpay and et cetera for players?

Speaker 9:
[37:48] Yeah, I think that's a great question. It's like, we have to set our standard or our, our market rate compared to maybe other people. What are we willing to pay on this person? And if it goes above, you have to be willing to cut bait. You have to, but it's like I've told Pat and Pete, like, you know, like when you go on a Google review, you know, for a restaurant and they got like the dollar signs.

Speaker 2:
[38:10] Yes. Like, yeah.

Speaker 9:
[38:12] You got the $1 sign versus $5 sign. There's going to be a few players that are $5 signs that we want, but you're also, if you pay a $5 sign player, they better come in here and be an impact player right away. Like that's the type of money. Now, quarterback position is different because like the quarterback market is just higher.

Speaker 3:
[38:30] There aren't that many. And there aren't.

Speaker 9:
[38:32] Right. But if you go, if you get a $5 sign, oh, I'm in, you're basically saying you're coming here to play. But you're also talking about an 18 year old going in the SEC and starting at offensive line for you against giant human beings on the other side of the ball. Or do you reserve that $5 sign and go wait till January and try to go get a $5 sign tackle? You know, we went and got a really good tackle. You know, he's going to be like, Tony's here in Lexington or going to Malone's and buying the best steak that you can. You know, like you better better wear your nice suit and go.

Speaker 3:
[39:06] And where you would screw up, I would think, is if you paid $4 sign prices for a $2 sign player. Am I correct?

Speaker 9:
[39:14] 100 percent right. And what we try to do, too, is like, all right, what is this? The cost benefit when we first got here, like players that were getting a certain amount, we're like, all right, like, like this player, but we can go get two players for what the previous regime was thinking about paying this is like, all right, well, like that's when you see people get in the portal. It's not just because they want to leave. It's like, what are people willing to pay? And what are you willing to do for your roster? And so it's a constant juggling act. And so that's what we're doing right now. It's like, all right, how many guys at this position are we actually going to sign in the high school next year? And then what do we want to reserve for maybe a portal player? Or what do we have to have coming back at this position? So it's all projections. It's a balancing act constantly. And we're always evaluating.

Speaker 3:
[40:05] It's kind of exciting though. I actually think it would be kind of fun to do it like that. You mentioned Feed the Studs. You tell me if I'm wrong, this is just me looking from the outside at the way you built a roster. It felt like to me, you were willing to pay top dollar for a handful of guys I said on this radio show, your studs. And then everybody else, it was like, okay, they're gonna have to fit in to what we need to be able to pay them to do it, but we're going to really invest heavily in this seven, eight, nine guys. Is that correct? Is that, am I looking at that correctly?

Speaker 9:
[40:39] I think yes, somewhat. I think it's just like what the market demands and what we needed. When I got here, there was like no, no high school commits barely at O-Line. I was just use them as an example. There's nothing and like everything was gone. Everything was depleted. It's like nobody signed anybody, you know? Holy crap, man. Like we have to go get this position. And if we do not get this, we will not win. Like it's just, it's a fact. So we went and spent on that position because in order for us to move the football, we got to protect the quarterback and be able to run the ball. So that was something that we had to spend on. So yeah, it's just a position by position basis. So I don't necessarily think it's like, maybe as you put it, but it is, it's yeah, you go get the best players you can. And a lot of this stuff too, like you put price tags on stuff, but kids still want to be in a great environment. They still want to be developed. They still want to see that what you do schematically fits them. And a lot of agents drive up prices too, you know, like it's, they drive it up and then they shop you around. So if you, it's like a balancing act too, if you give them a number too quickly, especially in high school recruiting, you just get shopped around. It drives the price up. Portal recruiting is different. It happens in Mike. It's like, it's like you're on the stock exchange, you're in New York City, like you better make a deal and get it and be aggressive or you're going to lose it, you know? So that's one thing I thought we did an excellent job of, is like, hey, they were there, boom, get it, get it done. Like be aggressive in the portal. High school, you can massage a little bit, but it's more of a slow cook. It's like a barbecue. Like you better make sure it's right. And that's where you can really find out the person, the player, you see projections. Portal recruiting is like, it's wild. It's wild, yeah.

Speaker 3:
[42:25] All right, well, I do want to get one, my only little piece of recruiting, my guy, Max Duffy, former Raid Eye winner, tells me he's got his best Australian he's ever had coming in a year. And he's like, got to get him to Kentucky. So I'm just keeping that, keeping that and throwing that out there on a punter. He said he's been with those pro-kick guys for 15 years. Like the best one we've ever had is coming in about a year. So just a heads up.

Speaker 9:
[42:51] Well, I love it. Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[42:52] Because he wants them here at Kentucky. I love it.

Speaker 9:
[42:55] Well, I do too.

Speaker 3:
[42:57] Well, I'll finish with this. How long do I have, Shannon? Go now, quickly. How excited are you for the fall and what's the experience been so far?

Speaker 9:
[43:10] I mean, I'm so excited. I really am. I'm really excited about, honestly, Matt, like these next couple of months, we have some recruiting opportunities to get kids on campus. We got OVs coming up. We're going to have my camp dates out for everybody here soon. So any parents that are listening, that's going to be out, which is exciting. Yeah. I'm excited to be around my family in Lexington, to keep exploring this unbelievable city. I mean, I'm just excited in general, man. Like it's going to snap too. You know how it's going to be. We're going to snap our fingers. It's going to be here.

Speaker 3:
[43:41] Yep, it is.

Speaker 9:
[43:44] Kroger Field needs to be like it has been a home field event. I want people hating to come to Kroger Field that are away fans, that are away teams. I want it to be freaking lively. You know what I'm saying? It will be. I know it will be.

Speaker 3:
[44:01] Well, thank you very much.

Speaker 9:
[44:02] It's awesome.

Speaker 3:
[44:03] They're making me get out of here. Thank you. We'll see you later. This is Big Kentucky.