Sept. 10, 2002
by Tony Neely * UK Media Relations
After going toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of the Southeastern Conferencelast season, Coach Guy Morriss is eager to ring the bell for Round Two.
In the final five SEC games of the 2001 season, Morriss’ Wildcats defeatedVanderbilt and were either ahead or tied in the fourth quarter against LSU,Georgia, Mississippi State and Tennessee. League divisional champions LSUand Tennessee defeated UK by a combined total of just seven points.
This time around, Morriss looks to do more than land some damaging punches.In 2002, he hopes his team will deliver some knockout blows.
“We got close to defeating some of the top teams in the country last seasonbut we want to do more than just get close,” Morriss said.What will it take to get the Wildcats over the proverbial hump?
The first advantage, according to Morriss, is familiarity with the systems.Dealing with a totally new defensive system last season, along with arevamped offense, took some adjustment time. But the team got better as theseason progressed.
On offense, for example, the unit began clicking in mid-season. Beginningwith games of Oct. 20, Kentucky led the league in passing offense (376 yardsper game) and ranked third in total offense (456.2 yards per game) whileaveraging 29.8 points per game.
Quarterback Jared Lorenzen threw for 1,880 yards in those final five games,with 17 touchdowns against just six interceptions. Obviously, the offensewould like to pick up where it left off.
The coaching staff and players also are more familiar with each other. Thedeparture of one assistant coach from last season enabled Morriss to realignthe staff, moving assistants Wesley McGriff and Mark Nelson to defense andshifting Chris Lancaster to offense. The moves also enabled Morriss to giveup his day-to-day coaching duties with the offensive line and spend moretime with all areas of the team.
“The staff has been together now for 18 months and they know how we want toteach and operate,” Morriss said. “That’s been a plus. Also, we know ourkids better. We know their strengths and weaknesses. They’re beginning tounderstand what we expect from them. They’re more comfortable in the schemesand the systems now.”
Morriss himself feels more comfortable in his second season as the headcoach.
“It’s been a lot smoother for me personally,” Morriss said. “For awhile, Ihad to figure out who to see when I needed help with certain things, whohandles this and who handles that. It took some time to get on the same pagewith everybody.”
One change Morriss anticipated was the knowledge that “the buck stops here”when one becomes head coach.
“When (I was an assistant coach) a player came to me with a problem that Icouldn’t solve, I could always tell him to ‘See the man down the hall,’meaning the head coach, of course. Now, I’m the guy ‘down the hall’ and allthose problems come to me,” Morriss said with a laugh.
Familiarity with the offensive and defensive systems also helped Morriss makea transition with the organization of preseason practice. In August 2001,the coaches were still trying to teach not only the systems, but theintensity needed for successful practice.
“We’ve taken a different approach this year,” Morriss said. “Last year wewere setting the tone and laying the foundation, so to speak. Two-a-days wasa boot camp for us. We’ve been able to back off a bit this year to try tokeep them healthy. The whole philosophy going into camp was a little bitdifferent.”
Morriss and his staff walked a fine line this August, working to keep thesame intensity and full-speed practice with a moderate amount of hitting andtackling to the ground. The approach appeared to pay off, as the Wildcatshad fewer injuries during this preseason.
The one factor in injuries that can be controlled is strength andconditioning. Since taking over the head coaching role in February 2001,Morriss has placed tremendous emphasis in this area.
“Our overall strength is definitely up and our conditioning was better thanthe previous couple of summers,” Strength and Conditioning Coach Marc Hillsaid. “Coach Morriss has heavily emphasized our workout program and thisgroup of young men understands the importance. They took it upon themselvesto be here every day (during the summer).”
The results have been encouraging, according to Morriss.”The weeks before fall camp are extremely important and the kids put a lot ofenergy into their lifting,” Morriss said.
Thus, when the Wildcats are locked in a fourth-quarter battle this season,they plan to have the stamina to deliver that knockout blow that was missinga year ago.
