UK assistant coach Joker Phillips has been on the road for recruiting. On Friday, Dec. 10, he had his first chance to visit with the media since being named offensive coordinator earlier this week. Joker also is continuing in his role as recruiting coordinator until signing day on Feb. 2.
On recruiting…
?We?re having a great response across the state and the southeastern area.?
On if recruiting is going better than he expected…
?A lot better. I think the way we finished helped a lot. Starting in the fourth quarter of the Vanderbilt and the first three quarters of the Tennessee game, I think those things helped us in getting into homes and getting excitement going.?
On how long it should take to compete for a bowl game…
?I think it can happen next year. We?ve got the things in place, a lot of people returning. What we have to do is add a good class this coming year. I think it can happen next year.?
On what excites him about the future…
?The one thing we wanted to do towards the end of the year was show improvement. The fact that the young players are the ones that they (recruits) see are improving is helping us also.
?We try to sell the fact that you have a chance to come in and play. Obviously we?re playing a lot of young players. We hear it from them (recruits), that we are playing a lot of players and it?s something we?re promising that they see.?
On being UK?s first African-American offensive or defensive coordinator…
?I don?t think that?s important. I think it?s important that we hired somebody at Kentucky that can do the job. I don?t think me being black or white or green or purple ? I don?t think that?s important.?
On his offense …
?Wait and see. That?s all we can say. We?re going to sit down and talk about the personnel we have coming back. With Andre? Woodson at quarterback, we have to do some things that will help him be successful. We have some skill people in positions that we think can make plays for us. We?ll have to figure out how to get them the ball. The way I?ve always approached the job is we?ve got to do what we do best. I?ll find out what we do best.?
On the effect being OC will have on his recruiting…
?We won?t lose anything in recruiting. Hopefully we?ll gain another great recruiter when we make a hire. A recruiting coordinator is nothing more than organizing the recruiting. That?s his place. We?ll get somebody, whether it is somebody on our staff or somebody outside that takes over that area. I?ll still have the same areas that I?ve recruited. Obviously I?ll have give up one of the areas, which will probably in the state of Florida. But I think in Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio, I have strong ties in those areas and I think I need to keep those areas.?
On the biggest need to improve on offense next year…
?Offensive line is the biggest need. We have to get more depth at that position. We have some really good young kids that are coming up through the program. We just need to add more competition and more depth.?
On if he can recruit offensive linemen who can play right away…
?Yes. We?re changing the look of our offensive line. You?ll see more bigger, thicker kids in the offensive line because I think that?s what you have to have up front. If they?re bigger and thicker, it makes them harder to run around. Not only that, but they?re good at moving their feet.?
On who had the biggest influence on his offense…
?Jerry Claiborne (Kentucky head coach from 1982-89) had the biggest influence on me in this profession. I think Jerry Claiborne did it the right way. All of his teams were tough and that?s one thing I will stress to this offense. Whatever we do, one thing we?ll have to be is a tough team to compete in this league.?
On being under different offenses before becoming an OC…
?It?s definitely helped. From the shotgun to the spread to the pro to the split back, I?ve been in every offense known to mankind. I?ll gather from each one I?ve learned.?
On having a tough team…
?No question, that?s how you win in the SEC. When our opponents put the film on, one thing I?d like them to say is this is a tough, hard-nosed football team.?
On staying at Kentucky after turning down other coaching opportunities…
?Number one, I love this university, the state, the people. I came here 20 years ago. I was an immature 18-year old. I feel like this is the place that raised me and turned me into a responsible man.?
On how it will feel to get it done at UK…
?No better feeling for me. I really believe that this is the best job in the country. I believe this is a place you can get it done and we?re going to do it.?
On why he thinks they won?t come up short…
?We?ve got everything in place. We have good facilities, we?ve got great fan support. We can be as good as anyone in the SEC.?
On the style of offense recruits look for…
?What appeals to recruits is an offense that scores points, whether it is a stack-I or a split-back or a wishbone. When you?re scoring points everybody gets excited about it. We have to find a way to get into the endzone.?
On taking things from different offenses and putting them in one…
?Urban (Meyer) has done a good job (of that). I actually followed Urban at Notre Dame. One thing Urban?s football team ? the position he coached, which was receivers, at Notre Dame ? played hard with discipline. That?s the thing that I hope people will see in our offense, just playing hard and being disciplined. I hate five-yard penalties. I think five-yard penalties are what kill football teams. Yet, 15-yard penalties sometimes happen when you?re playing aggressively. But, five-yard penalties are unacceptable on offense.?
On a new recruiting coordinator…
?For the recruiting coordinator that comes in here, I think the plan is in place. We just need to get someone who can be organized and keep the organizational things going that we have in place. That is Coach (Rich) Brooks? call, but there are a lot of people I know out there that do a good job.
?There are guys on our staff that are qualified to do it. They know what we?re doing here. The recruiting coordinator ? I?m not saying title is overrated ? but all it is, is somebody working a plan out that everybody in the staff has put in place. I like to think I was a good recruiter before I took the title recruiting coordinator.?
On if coaching as a receivers coach will cause him to call pass first…
?I?m not sure at this point in time. The last game (Tennessee) I was doing it as pass because that?s what I was calling. Now I have to put the whole thing together. It will be a little easier than calling it the way we did (at Tennessee) because it was really hard to set up things. I had to get a feel for what Coach Dunn (run-game coordinator Paul Dunn) was about to call and try to find a pass to spin off something he was doing. I think this will be a little easier, calling the whole thing.?
On Coach Dunn?s role next year…
?His role will be the same. He?ll be in charge of the running game. I?ll ask him for his advice and he?ll call some plays also, in the running game. He has a lot of experience and knows how to run the football. The thing you have to do in this league is run the football. Whether it be a five-yard pass, catch, and run, or handing it off to the tailback, or the quarterback running game. You have to be able to run the football.?
On why Kentucky got more yards after catch (YAC) against Tennessee than usual…
?We threw the ball a little bit on first down. We tried to go over the top on first down also. We executed well and Shane (Boyd) got the ball there on time. It was one of those days where things just went well in the passing game. We had some plays also that we didn?t make that could have given us even more YAC yards. To win in this league you have to be able to catch and run and run from the line as scrimmage.?
On the 88-yard drive against Tennessee before halftime that was mostly passing …
?It was a two-minute drill. I don?t think you?ll see the two-minute drill unless we?re in a two-minute situation. Shane did a great job executing it. We had some screens, which we have to throw some high-percentage passes on first down, and take some shots on other downs. We threw some screens, threw some delays, threw to the back in the flat, threw some quick passes. The thing we have to do to slow people down is throw screens, throw some draws in there and throw delays.?
On how much input a player has on the offense…
?I asked Shane that before the game because I always like to know what the quarterback likes to throw. Coaches know what we like and the quarterback knows what he likes. He told me some things and we?ll do the same thing with Andre?, or whoever is in that position next year.?
On if Andre Woodson will be the starting quarterback next year…
?I hope Andre? wins the job because he?s got some experience. I talk to Andre? every day when I?m out on the road. He knows how to be a quarterback, but he needs to understand what it takes to be a big-time quarterback ? doing everything right, carrying himself right because it makes it easier to lead. Right now he has to be the leader of this football team.?
