Coaches Return to Recruiting: Following last week’s American Football Coaches Association convention, the Wildcats coaches have returned to the recruiting trail. Signing day is Wednesday, Feb. 4.

The Boys are Back: The Wildcats players are returning to Lexington this week as classes begin on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The team will resume strength and conditioning workouts this week.

Kio Sanford

Sanford in the Senior Bowl: Wildcats wide receiver Kio Sanford will play in the Delchamps Senior Bowl on Sat. Jan. 17 in Mobile, Ala. Game time is 2:30 p.m. EST and will be televised on WTBS. This will be Sanford’s second all-star game. He caught two passes in the Kelly Tires Blue-Gray Classic on Christmas Day.

The last Wildcat to play in the Senior Bowl was safety Melvin Johnson following the 1994 season. Johnson had a pair of interceptions and won the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award for his team.

Congratulations to Tim Couch, Kentucky Sportsman of the Year: University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch has been elected the 1997 Kentucky Sportsman of the Year in a statewide poll of sports journalists conducted by the Lexington Herald-Leader. Couch won the honor in recognition of his magnificent performance during the 1997 season, in which he completed 363 of 547 passes for 3,884 yards and 37 touchdowns. Couch broke or tied 17 school records and 10 Southeastern Conference marks and led the nation in passing yardage. He earned honorable mention All-America and second-team All-SEC honors and finished ninth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy. Remarkably, Couch has won the award twice in the last three years. He also won in 1995 as a high school senior, when he broke the national career records for completions (872), yardage (12,104) and touchdowns (133).

Mumme, Leach to Teach at “AFQ University”: Head Coach Hal Mumme and Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Mike Leach have been named to the faculty of the College of Offense of AFQ University, a continuing education program sponsored by American Football Quarterly magazine. AFQ University has been created to assist coaches in the development of their professional skills. The University will have periodic lecture conferences. Coaches attending the conferences may obtain credits toward degrees entitled associate coach, graduate coach, and master coach. The first set of lectures for AFQ University will be held March 20-22 in Fort Worth, Tex. Mumme will speak twice on March 20 on the topic of “Kentucky’s Air-Raid Passing Offense.” Leach will have four presentations from March 20-22 on the subject of “Fundamentals, Drills and Techniques for Dramatically Improved Wide Receiver Play.” The following session of AFQ University will be June 5-7 in New York City.