April 21, 1998
With less than four days until the kick off of the Blue/White Spring Football Game, University of Kentucky head football coach Hal Mumme sat in the confines of the E.J. Nutter Field House to talk about the expectations and accomplishments of his program Tuesday. Noting the two main goals of this spring,s practices as improving needed depth and fine tuning both the offensive and defensive systems, Mumme said he is pleased with his team,s overall improvement. “Last spring we were so busy implementing the whole package that we had to be patient,” Mumme said. “But this time we expected a lot more because most of our guys are back.”
Spring practice was used to further develop the systems used by the Wildcat coaches.
“We’ve been able to develop our offensive system more deeply this spring,” Mumme said. “We,ve improved in throwing the ball deeper and getting some play-action pass in there.”
On the defensive squad, the improvements have been outstanding according to the second-year head coach.
“We’ve had a good spring on the offensive side of the ball,” Mumme said. “But we haven,t dominated like last year. That,s a good thing. Quite frankly, I think I am the only one really upset about that because I coach the offense. But, I am also the head coach and I like the fact that we are having such competitive practices with the defense.” The additions of speedier players and another year of experience within the UK system have benefited the Wildcat defense says Mumme. “We,re able to put more pressure on [the offense] because we have a lot more speed at the corners and linebacker positions,” Mumme said. “We,re a lot quicker this year ^ even the guys on the interior defensive line look quicker. I think the past two years in our running program has really been a benefit.”
When asked about individual improvements, the UK coach points out the added depth the team has gained with the progress of players such as wide receiver Garry Davis and strong safety Jeff Zurcher. “Zurcher is penciled in as a starter,” Mumme said. “He,s a senior and I,m especially pleased with his performance. But one of the biggest improvements has come from Davis. He,s a big guy, and we,ve moved him around a lot in the past two years. But once we zeroed him in one spot, he has really taken off. He,s a good deep receiver and will give us another option.”
Another player expected to make a bigger contribution this fall is Kenneth Grant.
“At the start of the spring we moved Grant to defense and strong safety,” Mumme said. “But we switched him again to corner. Now that gives us four strong corners with Jeremy Bowie, Marvin Love and Eric Kelly who all have great speed and cover ability.”
But those looking to still see the razzle-dazzle trick plays Wildcat fans became accustomed too last fall, Mumme assures fans they will still be around. “We are going to have Matthew Mumme in the up-back position on punts like Dusty Bonner last year,” Mumme said. “If they come after us, we,ll just fake it. Then we don,t have to worry about Jimmy [Carter] punting it.” Fans can catch “Air Raid Reload” twice more this spring with the final practice Wednesday at 2 p.m. and the Blue/White Game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
