Live chat with offensive line/running game coach Paul Dunn took place May 25, 2004

Frank Pruitt : What are some of the improvements we can expect to see from this year’s OL as compared to last year? Thanks Coach!
Paul Dunn : Hopefully this year’s offensive line will give you a young flavor of determined young men. General areas that we hope to improve in are protection of the quarterback and run game productivity.

Sid Phillips : I have a nephew Eddie Haupt who lives at Merritt Island Fl. His family visited KY the weekend of the Blue White football game. He has interest in attending KY but the reception wasn’t very good. After attending the Nike’s lineman camp in FL his rating jumped to 24th best in state of FL. Schools that have high interest are Miami, FL, FL State, UNC, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Standford. He ran 5.03 at Nike camp and received high praise. Grades are great and test score in SAT has Duke, Vandy, and Standford clamoring. Coach Phillips was told about Eddie from his grandmother Martha Lackey. Check him out. Eddie represents someone who can handle the academics and excell in athletics.
Paul Dunn : We are unable to comment on individual recruits. However, we are aware of situations in Florida recruiting and we will follow up. Thanks for writing and letting us know.

Dustin Cordell : hey coach, I was wonderin is there is anybody that can fill in for Antonio Hall this year, such as incomeing freshman Jones. thanks alot coach. GO CATS!!!!
Paul Dunn : Currently, Hayden Lane and Eric Klope are playing the right tackle position. Hayden was probably our most improved lineman during the spring practice session. Eric is a young man who will continue to get better with playing experience. As for Micah Jones, we are obviously anxious to get him involved in the program and look forward to big things from him.

nace taylor : hello coach: with your summer camps coming up in a couple of weeks , would you speculate on the campers who have signed up and what you expect from them ?
Paul Dunn : We had a real nice camp last year. Several players that came to camp eventually received scholarship offers. We hope to have a good camp this year.

Eddie : Hey coach,I was wondering how the line stands on fundamentals?Sustaining their blocks,assignments,etc.Thanks coach
Paul Dunn : Obviously fundamentals are very important. We spend a lot of time trying to finetune our fundamentals and techniques. We pride ourselves at UK for being fundamentally sound and we will continue to invest a great deal of time into this aspect of our game.

Catfan1 : Coach Dunn,Iwould like to know what kind of mentallity does the staff instill in the team?I for one would really like to see a more agressive offense and defense.
Paul Dunn : We are constantly preaching to our players an attitude of toughness on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. Obviously to succeed in the SEC, you have to be an aggressive football team. So we are constantly preaching to our team to be on the attack on both sides of the ball.

April : Do you think this years OL will be better run blockers or pass blockers? Also, will the Guard?s be doing very much pulling and trapping in this years running game?
Paul Dunn : It is hard to tell at this point whether we will be better run blockers or pass blockers. A lot of that will be dictated upon game plan on whether we want to run the ball more in a particular game as opposed to throw the ball. We ask our guards, and also tackles and centers, to be athletic guys that can pull and trap and do all the things you need to do to be successful in the run game.

Steven(Ontario, CA) : Coach Dunn, what are some of the things we can expect from the Cats this year in terms of the Running Game?
Paul Dunn : We expect to do a lot of things similar to what we did in the 2003 season. However, we look for improvements in the schemes that we would like to establish.

Sully : Coach what do you specifically teach when trying to get a kid to generate that explosion off the snap?
Paul Dunn : We do a lot of work in the chutes and with boards. We have new machines that our strength coaches use in the weight room, such as the Austin sleds and the Tread sleds, that we feel will help with the explosion part of the game of football.

john lewellen : is our defensive up to the task of playing all four quarters, not failing in the later minutes of the game?
Paul Dunn : I’m really not at liberty to talk about our defense, since I work with the offense. However I have complete confidence with Coach Archer and the defensive staff and I feel you’ll see significant improvement in 2004.

linemen05 : Hey Coach how can I get Recruited
Paul Dunn : The recruitment of young athletes starts with your high school coaches’ recommendations, various scouting services and just general word-of-mouth. I would recommend that you visit with your coaches and gather suggestions from them.

chandler : coach dunn, With a young line and sub par running game. Will the cats be able to win close games. Go CATS
Paul Dunn : I believe we will be better in the run game and obviously this is an important aspect of any football team’s success or failure. We’re trying to constantly make improvements in this area. Our offensive line’s age really has nothing to do with the statistical productivity of the run game.

mike gibson : with as much emphasis as there has been placed on strength in the off-season, are you a physically stronger unit to better bang it out in the running game for 4 quarters?
Paul Dunn : Strength Coach Marc Hill and his staff have done a tremendous job in strength improvement over the spring months. Our numbers have indicated improvement in all areas. We will have to see if this in fact has helped us “bang it out” in the running game for four quarters. We think that it will.

caleb : how does bewengy, beaach, and davis look this year
Paul Dunn : We feel we have, with those three young men that you mentioned, a respectable running attack. Each individual brings a different style to the table. Bwenge is more of a power runner. Davis is more of a slasher. Beach is a combination of the two.

lauren : what is your favorite position in football
Paul Dunn : Quarterback – I’ve always wanted to be one.

roach : can the cats get to a bowl game this year
Paul Dunn : This is certainly a goal of ours going into the 2004 season. From a personal standpoint, I’ve had the great fortune of participating in 12 postseason bowls. I would hope that our young men would have an opportunity to experience this reward.

Lee, From marion : does our running game use more, man blocking schemes, or more stretch/zone blocking schemes???
Paul Dunn : We have a combination of man and zone schemes that we deal with. A lot is dependant upon what the defense gives you on whether we’d run more man schemes vs. more zone schemes.

Ryan A : Broad question here, coach…but I was wondering on how the RBs and the OL are doing. Any new explosive young RBs added to the mix this year, or will Beach take most of the hand offs?
Paul Dunn : We feel like the OL and RBs made improvement from the first day of spring to the last day. However, only time will tell whether this will carry over into the 2004 campaign. As far as Arliss Beach, in particular, we are very high on the improvements that he has made throughout the course of the spring. He is a tremendous young man who we would like to build around. However, he understands, as well as any major college football player, that new competition will present itself in the fall.

Ed : Will you have enough strength in your OL to be competitive?
Paul Dunn : Yes, we will.

Kitty : Coach Brooks has commented that our O Line is one of our weak spots for this season. Can you discuss your approach to improving this area?
Paul Dunn : The typical approach that I’ve taken for the past 22 years has been to pack your lunch pail and go to work every day. Eventually, if you keep sawing wood, you will get better. This is what we are attempting to do – get a little bit better today and each and every day – one day at a time.

Kitty : Left Tackle Matt Huff was out during most of spring practice rehabilitating his leg. Will he be ready for the season?
Paul Dunn : Matt participated in every spring practice session we had. We are hoping that his senior year will be his most productive year. We are extremely happy with his rehab.

Kitty : Jason Rollins will undoubtedly be the most experienced player on the O line this year. What do you expect of him in comparison to others in the conference and nation?
Paul Dunn : Jason is a young man that any football coach would love to coach. He does all the right things, both on and off the field. His senior year should be his most productive year and if it is, than it will be left up to the voters to see how worthy he is of any honors that may be bestowed upon him.

Mike : Dominic Lewis came on late during the spring. At K-State, you guys had success with a wide range of RBs. Can Dominic be a Rock Cartwright type of back?
Paul Dunn : We feel like Dominic can be a productive runner. While at K-State, this tells you how smart we are, every one of our assistant coaches rejected Rock Cartwright. Coach Snyder elected to sign him on very late in the summer and the rest is history. Dominic and Rock have very similar running styles. They’re both powerful runners with great athletic ability.

Mike : Can we expect to see improved production out of the running game this year?
Paul Dunn : We are constantly working on run game productivity. You obviously need to be able to run the ball to be successful. We hope that this aspect of our game will come along.

ukftblfan : Coach Dunn, why do you suppose Nick Seitze wasn’t drafted in the NFL draft?
Paul Dunn : I really don’t know why Nick wasn’t drafted. Many coaches and scouts came through our doors and not only evaluated Nick, but all of our seniors. This is why the NFL people get paid good money – they make decisions based off of their own judgments. I would hope that Nick could continue his playing career. Sometimes guys get to different levels in different ways. Take Kurt Warner for example. He had to take the route through arena ball and eventually was noticed and played an instrumental role in St. Louis’ Super Bowl season. Maybe some of our young men will have to follow similar paths. There are so many opportunities available now – European league, indoor leagues, CFL.

sue : Coach Dunn…I think you and the rest of the assistant coaches are great. How are you and your family adjusting to living in Kentucky?
Paul Dunn : We appreciate your support. My family and I love the Lexington area. My kids are very happy in the school system as Bulldogs at Dunbar. We hope to have much success here at UK and look forward to a very long stay.

ukathletics.com : We thank Coach Dunn for his time. We will be back next week when our guest will be Joker Phillips.
Paul Dunn : I hope that you’ve enjoyed this question and answer period. Our countdown to the ’04 season has already begun. All of us coaches are off of the road from spring recruiting and we look forward to meeting back with you on fan appreciation day. Until then, GO CATS!!