WATCH: Mark Stoops, Rich Scangarello on Fundamentals & Wan'Dale Robinson's Lasting Impact

The Kentucky football team is putting in some work on the practice field prior to next week’s spring practice. They kicked off the first of 15 spring football practices Tuesday morning with Mark Stoops harping on fundamentals to his players.

“I really look at spring as a fundamental time,” Stoops said. “Certainly with Rich (Scangarello) coming in here and in just getting a feel for things and the way he calls things, the way he sets it up and just some minor differences in terminology and plays and things of that nature; there’ll be a little bit of a learning curve. I’m not really worried about that. I’m still really worried about fundamentals and just getting better, getting better individually. I think big picture things, they’ll all come together with the system and things of that nature.

“I really want to just challenge each player to take it to another level and really get better. I think you could see that with Will (Levis). He’s at a point where he really is comfortable back there and just really working on the little things to become a better player each and every day. We really need all all the guys to take that approach.”

Kentucky practiced at Nutter Field House, which is set to undergo a $5 million renovation. Plans to transform the facility that was built in 1992 are in progress, but there’s no timetable for ground-breaking on the project.

When I asked Stoops what it felt like to start his final spring at Nutter, he replied, “I hope this is the last time. I didn’t see any cranes in there yet.”

How Scangarello is Helping Levis

While implementing a few new tweaks in terminology on Kentucky’s offense, Rich Scangarello is also recalibrating Will Levis‘ footwork and timing.

“Everything is tied to the timing of the feet. If you’re going to run this style of offensive, a pro-style offense, you want to bring out the best in the quarterback. The timing elements are everything,” said Scangarello.

“I just feel like it empowers them to be in position to throw. Things flash, you generate more explosives, you’re more accurate. There’s a lot of things — catch and run is important — and it all starts with the quarterback’s feet. Will has made a switch. He likes it. I think it’ll just get better and better the more he does it and I liked the way it looked today.”

Morale Boost in the Wide Receivers’ Room

In addition to the coaches, we also heard from Levis, Eli Cox and Clevan Thomas. The latter spent the 2021 season as a player-coach. The veteran wide receiver made strides last spring in the new system, until an ACL injury sidelined him for the season. Initially discouraged, Thomas thanked Stoops for keeping him engaged with football.

“It’s one thing to learn the offense as a player, but it’s another thing to learn it as a coach,” Thomas said. “Looking at a different defensive schemes and then looking at our full playbook and understanding why we call certain plays that week based off their coverage, basically it just helped me last year to stay in the game and help me this year going forward as a player again.”

Thomas enjoyed his time so much, it changed his plans for life after football. Instead of pursuing a career in law enforcement, he will now join the coaching ranks in some capacity. That year helped him notice the little things he did not always see as a player, particularly the intangibles. Wan’Dale Robinson not only produced like no other UK pass-catcher before him, he gave his peers much needed confidence.

“It definitely boosts the receiver room, like our mentality, because over the years I’ve been here, the receiver room was always frowned upon. By Wan’Dale and Josh (Ali) doing what they did last year, now we see that we’re capable. We just got to make the plays,” said Thomas. “Now guys are thirsting for what he did… we’re trying to do what he did.”

Since Mark Stoops arrived on campus, every offseason the BBN has asked, “Are the wide receivers finally going to be good this year?” Like the close losses the Cats’ suffered early in his tenure, the wide receivers had to learn how to win. Robinson lifted the pass-catchers up by showing them how to be successful.