First Down Kentucky: Preparing for In-Game Mental Warfare

It’s officially game week. After weeks and weeks of practice, the show begins on Saturday for the Kentucky football team. The challenges will be just as mental as they are physical.

Mark Stoops has complimented the demeanor of his new offensive coordinator, Bush Hamdan. He never gets too high or too low. The play-caller is preaching the same thing to his players when they take the field for the first time Saturday night against Southern Miss.

“There’s so many mental battles going on, one of which is that mental toughness battle,” Hamdan said after Tuesday’s practice. “More than anything for us is, can you be at your best regardless of how you’re feeling? That’s what we’re constantly preaching.

“We know that with every guy, do we have the mental discipline to go out there each play, regardless of what the last play was like, and stay focused on their job? I think it’s important that if we’re preaching that to them that we gotta showcase that too. For three hours, in a cell phone world, can you go out there and one play at a time stay focused on your job?”

How Hamdan will Script Plays for Kentucky

Bush Hamdan is a process-oriented play-caller. There’s a very specific method to his madness. While he will not divulge the specific details of his preparation, he acknowledged that there is a bit of superstition behind his opening script of plays.

“There’s never an exact science. Obviously, we know who we’re getting the ball to early and we want to be multiple personnel-wise, formation-wise, get a feel for confirming some things,” he said. “We’re normally on Thursday sitting down as a staff and see who’s got good juju for that first play.”

The opening week presents a unique challenge. There’s no tape out there on Southern Miss. During the first quarter he will throw multiple formations, motions, and concepts at the Golden Eagles to see how the defense reacts and respond accordingly.

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Early Impressions of Willie Rodriguez

The early reviews of Willie Rodriguez are exceptional. Vince Marrow has not pulled punches while praising the freshman tight end from Covington Catholic. Third-year tight end Josh Kattus has been impressed too.

“He’s super talented. He comes from a great high school program and he reminds me a lot of myself when I was a freshman,” said Kattus. “He’s got that dog mentality. He’s going to run through your face. He’s obviously super talented, in the pass game is super athletic kid, extremely hard worker. I’m extremely excited for his future and I want to mentor him as much as I can, just like (Brenden) Bates did when I was a freshman.”

That’s high praise from Kattus, dubbed The Ass Kicker by 11 Personnel. Kattus was a heat-seeking missile in the trenches as soon as he stepped on campus. Rodriguez brings a similar tenacity to the gridiron.

“It shows up on film all the time. He has a great pop. He’s a strong kid and has really developed into a good blocker under Coach Marrow. He likes to bring the contact and that’s something Coach Marrow values pretty heavy at this position,” said Kattus.

How Kentucky Found Fred Farrier

Even though he was not the most heralded transfer portal recruiting win, Fred Farrier has been one of the most talked about players at Kentucky training camp. He began his career at UAB after Kentucky did not recruit the Franklin County Flyer.

“Dale Robinson gave me a lot of crap over it,” said Vince Marrow. “The wide receivers that he recommended, he’s been 4 for 4 and Fred is one of those guys.”

Wan’Dale’s father, who trains athletes in Central Kentucky, has recommended four players to the Kentucky coaching staff: Farrier, Wan’Dale Robinson, Rondale Moore, and Dane Key. “We’re 3 for 1,” Marrow joked.

There’s one other close connection to the Cats. Marrow’s wife has been friends with Farrier’s mother for 20+ years.

“When we started recruiting him, his Mom thought it was a joke,” the Big Dog recalled. “I got on the phone and started talking to her and told her there was an offer for him, she said, ‘Are you for real?'”

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