What You Need to Know from Kentucky's Trip to SEC Media Days

Hello friends. Good to see you again. It was one heck of a day at SEC Media Days. Hopefully you’ve been locked onto KSR, following along on KSBoard and watching interviews on the KSR YouTube Channel. I’m well aware that not everyone can continually hit refresh and get every single update about the Kentucky football team. Let this catch you up on all of the high points from Kentucky’s conversations with members of the media in the Music City.

Kentucky is still Blue Collar

Chris Rodriguez and Benny Snell aren’t walking through that door. Ray Davis is a fine running back, one that Mark Stoops said fits in perfectly with the Cats’ culture, but the strength of this offense is not in the running game. Even though Devin Leary and the deep group of UK pass-catchers will certainly be the focal point of Liam Coen’s attack, Mark Stoops isn’t straying away from the blueprint. In fact, he’s doubling down.

“I hope they think of us as a team that — I said it day one — very blue collar. Very tough and fundamentally sound and put our players in position to win. We know that there’s areas where you fall short on that and there’s times when you do it well, but overall, our program has solid foundation and solid structure and at the core that’s what I want to be,” Stoops said. “I want to be tough, I want to be physical, I want to be well coached. And then we want to be cute and score points.

“I do feel a sense of pride in that when people walk around and they know the style of play that we play. We’re far from perfect but I think that we’ve earned people’s respect over the last 10-plus years.”

How does Mark Stoops define that blue collar mentality? By playing physical football and never flinching when adversity strikes, something the Cats strayed away from in 2022.

Kentucky Invests in Special Teams

When the Kentucky head coach went to the podium, he knew most people in the main media room wanted to hear about Liam Coen. Before talking offense, he praise Brad White‘s performance as the leader of the Kentucky defense. He also discussed the need to invest in special teams by hiring Jay Boulware to coach the unit.

“The routine needs to be routine, and that didn’t always happen a year ago,” he said.

In addition to hiring a coach, he gave Boulware scholarship capital. The Cats added a couple of kickers, a new freshman punter and long-snapper. Last year’s special teams performance was unacceptable and he’s giving Boulware the tools to make drastic changes.

KSR went One-on-One with Mark Stoops

I wasn’t sure if the Kentucky head coach was going to have enough time to sit down with KSR at the On3 table on Radio Row. I was sure that if I got him for a few minutes that I was going to ask him if it’s time to come home. It went better than expected. See for yourself.

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A Rough Ride to Nashville

Thunderstorms in Nashville canceled Tuesday night’s live edition of SEC Nation on Broadway that was supposed to serve as the warm-up for a concert by Midland. The storms cleared, but rain returned Wednesday morning. On the way to Nashville in a small, chartered jet, they flew through so much turbulence that SID Susan Lax admitted she screamed during more than one scary moment. Fortunately, it was smooth sailing back to Lexington.

Quite possibly the scariest flight of my life, but we made it to Nashville! 😳🤢⚡️⛈️ 🙌🏽 we have 3️⃣ KY boys representing our team today. I can't wait to see them shine. 😎💙🏈 @SEC @UKFootball @UKCoachStoops @jjtimeee @elicox59 @octaviousoxend1 #SECMD23 #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/ctiQvrPYTA

— Slax (@slax0) July 19, 2023

The SEC learned about JJ Weaver’s 6 Fingers

That wasn’t nearly as interesting for those of us who know him well. I was more intrigued about the 25 pounds he gained this offseason. J.J. Weaver now weighs 255 and is prepared to prove he’s built to succeed in the NFL. The EDGE has a goal of 10+ sacks for a top five Kentucky defense.

J.J. Weaver is making an impact on and off the field 👏 @UKFootball pic.twitter.com/euAXtmMlPf

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 19, 2023

Three Words to Describe Devin Leary

Ball placement, command and touch. Technically those are four words, but you get the picture. While some folks on Radio Row want to say Devin Leary is a better college quarterback than Will Levis, this is a much more accurate way to differentiate Kentucky’s quarterbacks.

Consistency is Key for Experienced Cats

I did not have a clicker handy to count every time a Kentucky Wildcat said “consistency,” but I needed one. These Cats know they were capable of much more a year ago, but too many let downs got in the way of their big-picture goals. The most enlightening conversation I had was about the offensive line with Eli Cox. In addition to upgrading the talent, Kentucky is simplifying the scheme upfront to create more continuity and consistency with the big uglies.

Alabama Doesn’t Know Anything about Kentucky

The Crimson Tide are coming to Lexington this fall for the first time since 2013. “I don’t know anything about Kentucky but KFC,” said linebacker Dallas Turner. He knows as much about the Cats as this bar host knows about the Georgia Bulldogs.

Guy wearing an @aaronmurray11 jersey: “What’s your name, boss?”

Aaron Murray: “You’re wearing my jersey.” pic.twitter.com/DKQuu6aCaY

— Rivers Hughey (@RivsHughey) July 19, 2023

It’s been one heck of a week in Nashville, one that included plenty of shenanigans from the KSR crew. We’ll get into a little more trouble and share more stories about the Cats and the rest of the league tomorrow as SEC Media Days comes to a close.