First Down Kentucky: Keyphrases from Final Week of Fall Camp

The time for practice is nearing a conclusion. This is the final week of fall camp. Before Kentucky shifts into game week mode, Bush Hamdan and members of the UK offense spent time with the media and few words really popped for me at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

Personnel in Play-Calling

In some offensive operations, the position coaches are responsible for making substitutions. If a wide receiver just ran a couple of go-routes, it’s the position coach’s job to get him a quick breather. That is not how Bush Hamdan operates.

When I asked the offensive coordinator directly who is in charge of substitutions, it’s all up to him. Each personnel grouping is called out before the play. The plays are designed to get certain people the ball. Allow me to share some examples.

Barion Brown is a versatile weapon for the Wildcats. He can line up in various places over the football field. For him, it doesn’t really matter where he starts. “He’ll get you lined up. Just go make the play.”

Kentucky will be taking a committee approach at running back in the absence of Chip Trayanum. Redshirt freshman Jamarion Wilcox has entered the conversation, specializing in explosive playmaking as an incredibly fast operator. Hamdan spends his week creating a plan to put each athlete into a situation where they can succeed.

“Sometimes you’re giving it to a guy who’s maybe going to push the pile and get you three to four yards every play. And then there’s got to be the variance of, hey, on this play, we’re willing to take that risk, if you will. We’re willing to get it to a guy that can make a big play and a big run,” said Hamdan.

Kentucky Offense Focused on Operation

“Before we can go win games, you got to figure out how not to lose them.”

I love that quote from Bush Hamdan, and not just because it sounds like Trent Dilfer’s infamous gaffe. What he’s talking about are the little things. This week Kentucky is working through various situations and making sure their operation is clean. That means the play call is getting in, players are getting lined up, and then executing the call.

“Thinking about those week one opportunities with the anxiety up — they haven’t been in front of 70,000 people,” said Hamdan. “It’s the operational stuff, making sure the signals from the snap count to the communication is the most critical thing. That’s it. Win the pre-snap for us, everything we’re trying to get done in the pre-snap, get aligned. We like to do a lot of different things, and then certainly making the routine plays look routine.”

Mental Growth from Kentucky WR Barion Brown

We all know Barion Brown is fast. He’s got that taken care of. To take a step forward in year three, he had to get his mind right. WR coach Daikiel Shorts has seen that growth and Barion is feeling it on the field.

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