For all the physical tools Winston Guy possesses, mentally he wasn’t ready when this season started.One of the most scrutinized players in the preseason, the Kentucky football coaching staff wanted more out of Guy. As a two-year player and one-year starter, Guy was being looked to as a leader on a defensive unit that had lost most of its household names and defensive leaders.But Guy wasn’t ready for a role that had been in the making for a while.  “Coming into the season, I was going through a lot family wise and just a lot of stuff that was on me,” Guy said. “I’m a big family guy. I love my parents to death. It was just a lot of stuff that they were going through that affected to me. That’s the only family I have that really takes care of me. … I was just so depressed about stuff that it was affecting me on and off the field.”And it showed in the first few games. After sitting out the first half of the season opener against Louisville due to a violation of team rules, Guy totaled just 12 tackles in the first three games. Guy was singled out early on by the tackles he was missing as opposed to the tackles he was making.”As a defensive back, you’re either a goat or a hero,” defensive coordinator Steve Brown said. “All the great plays that you make, all the tackles that you’ve made, if you don’t cover the guy you’re supposed to and it becomes a big play, all the other 12 tackles you’ve made (don’t matter).”Some soul searching, improvement with some of his family issues, and an emotional, bare-all talk with head coach Joker Phillips and director of strength and conditioning Ray “Rock” Oliver spurned a turnaround.”There were some things that I needed to get off my chest and some things I needed to be more focused on in football,” Guy said. “(Phillips) told me to worry about the family issues off the field because some of that stuff was affecting me during practice.”Said Brown: “We all can use certain things off the field as excuses, but once you’re on the field, this is the time to forget about all the other things you might have going on in your life because now you can just relax and play football. Those things will be there when you get done.”Over the last few games, Guy has really caught on. Although a defensive unit would rather a safety not lead the team in tackles, Guy has over the last two games, totaling a team-high 34 tackles in wins over Charleston Southern and Vanderbilt.What’s impressed the coaching staff the most is Guy’s ability to make plays closer to the line of scrimmage. Against Vanderbilt he recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss.”The thing we’ve asked our safeties is to show up a little faster,” Phillips said before the Vanderbilt game. “What I mean by show up, when they’re running the ball, we are only showing up close to the line of scrimmage. Earlier we thought they were kind of passive in getting downhill in making plays. Now you’ve got to make plays in space the longer you wait. If you go pull the trigger now, it’s not as much space because the ball’s either bounced or inside the tackle box. We need our guys to go pull the trigger quicker.”Phillips, a former UK wide receiver, used to joke that he had as many career interceptions (zero) as Guy. Not anymore.Guy recorded his first career interception against Auburn, a momentum changer that nearly ignited a Kentucky upset, and he followed it the next week with another first-half interception against South Carolina. This time the late pick changed the tide and the Cats upset the 10th-ranked Gamecocks.”The difference between a good defense and an average defense is the safety’s play,” Phillips said.Guy said he’s started to embrace that responsibility. Physically gifted at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, it’s been up to Guy to catch up to the cerebral part of the game.”Sometimes I have little mental lapses, but everybody does,” Guy said. “I try to be a perfectionist about everything I do because safety is one of the most important parts of the defense. If we don’t do something (as a defense), everything is on us. I try to be so perfect and stay on myself about what I need to do.”Clearly, Guy is starting to get it. As the team’s second-leading tackler with 91 stops, Guy has turned his attention to better pass coverage and leadership.”It takes a lot to be a leader,” Guy said. “I wouldn’t mind being a leader, but I’m not much of a vocal person. I lead by my actions on the field. When you step into that leadership role, there is a lot of stuff that goes into it on the field and off the field, what you do in the community, and how people look at you. I don’t want to be that guy to be in that big spotlight and make mistakes. It’s really huge to step into that role. I would hope people look at me as a leader, but I would rather people look at me as a leader by example.”Guy said he has inspirations to play at the next level in the NFL. With a game left, a likely bowl destination down the road and a senior season of eligibility still remaining, it’s up to Guy to embrace a role that physically he’s always been tailored for. “I think I have been playing really good,” Guy said. “I’m just doing my job, studying a lot of film and doing what the coaches expect me to do. I don’t really worry much about tackles during the game. I’m just trying to make plays and trying to get the defense off the field.”