Head Coach Guy Morriss
“We are getting started with spring practice on Monday, March 26, and we are using the same schedule as in the past, which is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. The first Saturday we will have a longer team practice, similar to a scrimmage. The next two weeks will be the same, with a bona fide scrimmage on Saturday. The final Saturday will be the Blue/White game in Georgetown.”
“We are going to get some new schemes taught, especially defensively, since we have a new system. We will be looking at some different people so that Coach Goodner and his staff can get familiar with the people operating in their system. Offensively, we will be doing the same type thing, because we haven’t really changed that much. We have kept our language close to the same. We have a pretty good feel for what we have offensively.”
“We are going to bang a little bit. We need to run the football a little bit better and tackle better, and I don’t know how you do those things if you don’t have some collisions. We are going to try to walk a fine line. We don’t want half the team hurt because we were doing something silly or stupid, but we will be doing some drill work.”
“We will continue to have a wide-open style. That is always fun from a fan’s point of view. We want to make it fun. I think people will really enjoy watching our defense play.”
“I have been very pleased with (quarterback) Jared (Lorenzen). The weight is coming down and he came back from spring break in good shape. So I know he worked over the break. His work ethic is very good. He and Shane (Boyd) are very excited about the spring and the competition for the position. Shane is going to give up baseball spring practice.”
“We haven’t lost anyone to the off-season program. Actually, (wide receiver) Jermaine White asked to come back out. Not losing anyone surprised me. I knew we had some good kids that wanted to work hard but usually somewhere along the way, when you turn up the tempo like we have, some guys say that is not what they want. All of which makes me extremely happy and excited. It looks to me like they are all excited about going through spring training. They are typical, 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old football players-they just want a chance to win. I think they feel like this coaching staff can give them that opportunity.”
“Matt Brown, with his shoulder surgery, will be able to do some drills but the surgery is too young yet to put him out there and risk losing him for next fall. That opens it up for Matt Huff, who has had a good off-season and lets us find out a little bit more about him. He is the type of kid that last year’s starters need to look out for because we probably need to get him on the field. I hope Matt can push those guys. With Kip (Sixbery), this is probably the best off-season he has had. He is maturing, so I think it would be hard for someone to dislodge him.”
“We moved Nick (Seitze) over because he asked me if he could try it out on the offensive line. He has asked if he could give it a shot at center, so we will line him up at one of those inside three positions.”
“It hasn’t been too much of an adjustment for me, moving into the head coach position. The biggest transition for me has not been the X’s and O’s and the football part of it, it has been the administrative part of it. It has really settled down in the last week or two there.”
“We want to get our best people on special teams. We have some starting linebackers that are going to cover punts. You have to have the best people on the field.”
“I think that most of our defensive kids understand and appreciate Coach Goodner and his style of coaching. I think they are extremely excited about playing for John and will play hard for him. I am anxious to see what the defense looks like. I don’t think we have seen their best football by any means.”
“This is a lifelong dream for me. I am excited about it, especially about putting my stamp on something and seeing how it will work. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to work with all the players and coaches.”
“I expect a very positive spring training and fall season. I think teams make or break themselves in the spring. It will set the tone for the fall.”
UK Player Quotes
Patrick Wiggins, SS
On Defensive Coordinator John Goodner…
“From the moment we met him, we really liked him. Things have been positive from the beginning of conditioning. We’re really working hard on knowing the defense, and he can take us where we want to go. I’m more excited about my place than ever before. We really like the combination man-coverage. There’s a lot of new stuff, including some new blitz combinations.”
“What I like more than anything about Coach Morriss is the great coaching staff that he’s put together. They are all high-energy guys. Things have been more physical in workouts, and we’re doing things we haven’t done before. They are helping to take this team to a new physical level.”
“Coach Morriss’ work ethic comes from his experiences in the NFL. His excitement is driving all of us. He knows how important it is to push us. The philosophy behind the team right now is ‘Free your mind.’ Things are more intense. As soon as you finish a workout, you can tell the difference. Everyone is doing a great job of rallying around the new concepts.”
Kip Sixbery, OG
“A lot of people in this program are a lot happier to be playing for Coach Morriss. It’s a lot harder as far as workouts are concerned, but we like it. I know we need to go out and bust our butt in order to get better. We just have to trust in it.”
“I think Coach Morriss is straightforward and will tell you exactly what you need to hear. I hope he doesn’t change at all from the way he was before he became head coach. He’s the reason I came to Kentucky, and he’s the reason I’m still here.”
“I know we’re going to be ready to play some ball this fall. It would be hard not to be considering the conditioning we’re going through right now.”
Ryan Murphy, LB
“It is very refreshing. We all want to please him and he has turned into basically our father figure. We really want to show him how good we can be.”
“You have to get positives out of any change. Over the few months that this has been happening, everything has been positive. Everything the coaches have been saying, everything the players have been saying, it has all been positive.”
“I want to make a big hit, run off the field and have Coach Goodner congratulate me or say ‘good job’ or coach me. I think everyone has the same feeling. We want to show everyone how good we are. We are not a 2-9 team. Things will be changing and we want to prove to the coaches that we are good football players.”
“From what I understand and know right now, and just speaking for the linebackers, we are going to be free to play. We aren’t going to held down by assignments, responsibilities, and keys and reads. It will be, ‘See the ball, go make the play’-very simple. It is very easy and we shouldn’t have a hard time grasping it.”
