Ted Lasso prepares young Kentucky wide receivers for Kroger Field debut

Some lessons learned from television are applicable in real life. Ted Lasso‘s inspirational message has made its way into the Kentucky football locker room, particularly the young wide receivers’ room.

When the Wildcats open the season Saturday night against Miami (OH), two freshmen will be in the starting lineup at wide receiver, Barion Brown and Dane Key. Even though they were each four-star, top 300 recruits, neither of them have played in front of 60,000 fans before. Nothing can prepare them for the bright lights, but a little Ted Lasso might help.

“The biggest thing is you’re going to have some adversity early. I hope you can handle it the right way. You’re going to drop a pass, you’re going to line up incorrectly, you’re going to not do the right assignment,” said wide receivers coach Scott Woodward. “How can you combat that, come back and play the next play?”

“I don’t know if any of you guys are Ted Lasso fans in here, but I’m a big Ted Lasso fan. I played them a clip a couple weeks ago about being a goldfish. Have a short memory, be the happiest animal on the planet. We talk about it all the time in the room: just be a goldfish.”

FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING

The message is coming from someone who could be a stunt double in the Emmy award-winning Apple TV+ sitcom. Scott Woodward shares an uncanny resemblance with Brendan Hunt, who portrays Lasso’s righthand man, Coach Beard. Liam Coen pokes fun at Woodward quite a bit for being Kentucky’s Coach Beard.

That’s not the only Ted Lasso reference you’ll find in the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. UK recently produced a skit with Steve Zahn impersonating Rich Scangarello. Inside the quarterbacks’ meeting room is a “Believe” sign, a replica of the one used in the series.

Everything Changes Under the Bright Lights

Dane Key and Barion Brown earned their starting roles by their play on the practice field. They’ve each shown an ability to play fast, a testament not only to their God-given speed, but also their football IQ. That speed on the practice field is incomparable to what they will see on Saturdays.

“All you can do is take them through the walk-throughs, take them through practice, but until the lights come on — even with rookies in the NFL, it doesn’t matter — you really don’t know,” said offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

“My gut feeling is some of these guys have played in big games in high school. They’re mature. That’s why they’ve earned the opportunities to play because they have really good football sense. So you hope it sinks in quickly and they ease into it without too many nerves or anything that might come with that. For everyone it’s different and you never know how guys are going to react, so we have to adjust accordingly and be ready to settle ’em down when you need to on game day.”

This adjustment also applies in the trenches, where things appear to move slower to the common eye. That’s not exactly the case. Eli Cox emerged into a starting role last year and fondly recalls the nerves that come with the territory. Now the center is a leader on the Big Blue Wall, pledging to remain steady whenever things get rocky in the trenches for a pair of redshirt freshman first-time starters, OG Jager Burton and LT David Wohlabaugh.

“I think it just starts with being calm around them because everyone’s going to be nervous the first game, especially the first start. It’s a little bit different. You have 60,000 fans versus just a practice, so everything’s elevated. I think it just starts with the presence and making sure I have everyone on the right page and helping them be confident in what we’re doing.”

Regardless of circumstances, Kentucky’s talented young stars must remain confident, just like a forgetful goldfish.