Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
?Here we go again ? back for another one. Just a couple of housekeeping items on the 105 players that are reporting and in camp. Michael Strickland will not be on our football team this year. Sefo Blaylock is ineligible and will not be practicing. Marckus Boswell is here and will be practicing. I?m excited about getting going. We?ve got, I think, a very good football team returning and I think we?ve added some newcomers who will definitely be in the mix for playing time. They are not only adding depth, but possibly pushing for some serious playing time. I think one or two of our freshmen offensive linemen will be in the mix. I think that there?s a possibility that two or three of the skill people also will be in the mix. I?m interested in looking at our young punter/kicker and seeing how he?s going to respond to the returning competition. (Offensive lineman) Jess Beets is completely healthy. He?s had a great summer. He had his knee scoped after about the third day of (spring) practice. He looks to be in great shape right now. He?s about 293 pounds and is very strong and active. I think he?ll be a major factor in the offensive line as well. At this point, other than Wesley?s [Woodyard] fracture that was repaired, everybody goes in in good shape health-wise. All of our players that missed the spring because of the off-season surgeries are healthy and ready to go. I?m looking forward to that. We obviously return some skill people that are in pretty good shape in the Kentucky record books right now with a season to play. When you look at Andre? Woodson, Jacob Tamme, Keenan Burton, Dicky Lyons and Rafael Little just to name a few on the offensive side ? and there?s some others that I think are going to help us a great deal as well ? I think we?re in better shape than we?ve been. Although we need to find a starting corner, we?re in better shape to do that. When you look at E.J. Adams and Paul Warford, that gives two really viable guys along with [Ahmad] Grigsby, who redshirted last year out of junior college, to go along with Trevard Lindley, I think that the competition and talent at corner is the best it?s been since I?ve been here, so that?s a positive.?
On the difference in the atmosphere surrounding Kentucky football this season?
?I think that it?s a different attitude, obviously, amongst our fan base. It?s a different attitude on our football team. I don?t think there?s a great deal of satisfaction at this point. Hopefully we put that [last season?s success] behind us as a football team because we?ve got a lot of work to do against a very difficult schedule to achieve the things that we want to achieve this year. I don?t think there?s a problem with the attitude. I think there?s a better confident feeling on this football team in a very positive way rather than being overconfident if you will.?
On the 2007 group being the best football team that he has coached in his career?
?I look back at the 1994 season. Obviously, that?s 13 years ago and a [Oregon] team that ended up winning the Pac 10 championship and going to the Rose Bowl. It had a lot of talent on it. I do think that this team has more talent on it. I do think that this team probably has more talent and more playmakers than that team possessed ? more experienced playmakers. But it?s also 13 years later in a totally different decade and in a different league.?
On the status of wide receiver Marckus Boswell ?
?We feel that starting the practice that he is going to be cleared, but he is not yet cleared by the [NCAA] Clearinghouse. He still has some things that are under review. We have, I think, 45 days to have that reviewed and completed. I think it will completed probably in the next day or two. He is a big-time receiver ? small in stature, big in heart, great hands, great competitor ? who is extremely quick and explosive.?
On the back-up quarterback situation?
?The back-up situation is going to be a battle. I would throw Matt Lentz ? our new freshman ? into that mix. We?ll find out something in the next two weeks whether that is wishful thinking or a true statement. We think he?s a strong-armed guy, tough guy with very good leadership, very smart. He?ll battle Mike Hartline and Will Fidler. Going in right now, I?d say Hartline has a slight edge based on how he played in the Blue-White Game vs. Will Fidler?s numbers in that same contest.?
On the team?s competition being much improved this season?
?I think that probably most everybody is improved, but there also are some new changes on some of their rosters. You look at our defending national champion [Florida] in this league and they have to replace nine starters on defense. That?s a lot. I expect that they?re being replaced by really, really good players, but they still have to go out on the field and prove that. Arkansas, for example, I think lost four starting offensive linemen and that line was really good last year. Everybody has some question marks going into this season. I?m assuming they?re all going to be better as well. Other teams have as many or more questions going into fall camp than we do. I?m talking about replacing prominent players in their lineup. We?ll just have to see how that all shakes out.?
On making the team aware that there is now a target on its back?
?That?s the message that I have been delivering since the locker room after the game in the Music City Bowl. We will have a little bit more attention from our opponents this year than we did a year ago. I don?t think there?s any question about that. When the coaches in this league along the media voted some of our players where they did in the pre-season, you?ve got to feel like they are going to have a little different attitude than they did in playing the old Kentucky.?
On the opportunity the defense has to improve this season?
?Well, it has to if we want to do what we?re capable of doing. We have to make significant strides, major strides on the defensive side of the ball. The one thing this defense did an outstanding job of a year ago was taking the ball away ? causing fumbles, fumble recoveries and interceptions. That is something that everybody stresses. Every once in a while, you have a year like we did where it all came into focus for us. Thank goodness it did because we didn?t get off the field on third down enough last year, we gave up way too many yards and we gave up too many points to be a factor in the SEC race. If we improve 40 or 50 percent then all of a sudden, we?re an extremely improved football team. If we improve more than that, look out because it takes great defense to win in this league. It takes great defense to win at the top level of college football. I think we finally have talent in place ? speed and strength ? and I think, although we are going to be relatively young on defense, we?re going to be much more experienced than we were a year ago. I mentioned [E.J.] Adams and [Trevard] Lindley and then [Ahmad] Grigsby, who will get his first taste of Division I at corner. You go in with a guy who is already solidified as basically a guy that we can call ? I don?t like the term, but everybody else uses it ? a shut-down corner in Trevard Lindley. We?ve returned both starting safeties. We had two young guys who backed them up last year. We?ve got [Chris] Drayton in school now. He?s going to be a factor at the safety position, so our depth at the safety position is better. You?ve got Corey Peters, who came off of an outstanding freshman year, ready to emerge, I think, as a big-time player. We redshirted a guy by the name of Ricky Lumpkin, who we couldn?t block in practice, so hopefully our opponents will have a hard time blocking. Jeremy Jarmon had a huge end to the season against Tennessee and against Clemson. I can?t help but think he?s going to be a major force for us at defensive end. I see a healthy Braxton Kelley being pushed by a leaner, more active, healthy Micah Johnson. We?ve got experience basically returning at every position, being replaced by younger players who played a lot last year, probably before they were ready to play, but I just see our defense having a chance to be vastly improved. And it has to be if we?re going to accomplish the things we?d all like to accomplish.?
On the team?s goals for 2007 following last season?s success?
?The goals are to be in postseason on a regular basis. Certainly this year it would be a major disappointment if we weren?t in postseason play. I will be extremely disappointed if we don?t make some noise in this league and have a chance to compete in the SEC race. We finished tied for third in the East last year with Georgia. That meant there were five teams below us in the total SEC and Georgia was tied with us in conference records. Yet, we are picked fifth (East) and ninth (overall) [this season]. I can understand the reasons because you look who we?re playing and you look at how many times Kentucky has beaten them or not beaten them and you can argue either way. Obviously, the people that are doing that projection are doing it with the glass half empty rather than the glass half full.?
On the progress of offensive tackle Zipp Duncan ?
?Zipp is going to be a major facture. I think he will clearly be in the rotation and is clearly at this point pressing for a starting spot. We haven?t decided exactly what spot that?s going to be right now. That?s what?s good about having a little time to sort those positions out. Zipp had a very, very good spring as an undersized guy in the offensive line. He?s now 280, 285 and getting stronger as we speak. He?s made major strides in the weight room. He?s very athletic for the offensive line and he?s going to be extremely smart as well. He is going to be a major factor for us in what I think will be a pretty solid, good offensive line by the time we get started.?
On his expectations for quarterback Andre? Woodson this season?
?It?s hard to expect more than what he did last year. He had a phenomenal year. I expect because of all the experience we have coming in around him that he will perform better than he did last year. He?ll continue to improve on making decisions quicker. The one area that I?d like to see him improve more is getting rid of that ball. We gave up way too many sacks last year. Some of that was his fault that he just held the ball, held the ball, held the ball. We?re still looking for that completion rather than just unloading it. There?s two reasons I?d like to see him not have less sacks: injury would be one ? to avoid being hit as many times as he was last year ? and two is because we don?t want to give up the negative plays that we have to overcome. It?s a lot better to get back to the line of scrimmage after an incompletion than it is to not only lose the down, but to lose eight or nine yards on the sack. That?ll be an area of emphasis for Woodson this year. We just hope that he can continue and that he can continue to have the success and the touchdown-interception ratio. He goes in with the record of consecutive passes attempted without an interception. Let?s just hope that continues because he?s had a phenomenal record of touchdowns to interceptions. One thing that he hasn?t done is throw the ball to the other guys very often. If that continues, he will be in competition at his position nationally as well. For him to be up there as well as we?d like, we obviously have to win some games because that?s how a lot of quarterbacks get judged, obviously, and rightfully so, is how their team does.?
On the effect quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders has had on Andre? Woodson?s progress?
?I don?t think you can understate it. I think his experience, having dealt with obviously [Tennessee?s] Peyton Manning, and having been a coordinator and a quarterback himself, has made Andre? think that he should start listening to him because he knows what he?s talking about. Obviously, he got through to Andre? and helped him develop the enormous talent that he?s always had.?
On any improvements he wants to see in the special teams?
?I think that another area along with the defense is our punting and place-kicking. We return both of those guys [Tim Masthay ? punter, Lones Seiber ? place kicker]. They?re more experienced and hopefully we can get more consistency from both of those entities. The other side of it (kick returns), I think we?re as good at it as anybody in the country.?
Kentucky Offensive Players
#19 Keenan Burton, WR
On his feelings of some media?s predictions heading into the 2007 season after last year?s finish?
?I?m not disappointed at all. I feel like you can?t get respect until you earn it. The teams that they have in front of us are good teams. We just have to go out and show that we can play with those guys, and until we go out there and prove it, we can?t expect to be at the top of the list, or expect to be the number one team in the SEC. But now it?s time to go out and contend with those guys.?
On being predicted to finish behind Georgia, although the team won 24-20 last season?
?Right, and that?s just with tradition. If you build tradition at a school, it automatically shows with the rankings and all of that. We?re a Kentucky team that wasn?t supposed to beat Georgia and I think a lot of people felt that it was a fluke or whatever, so now it?s time to go show that we can contend with the great teams. The Georgias and Floridas, those great teams, we want to go out and contend with those teams and give us a chance in the fourth quarter.?
On competing against such a tough schedule?
?You have to go out and beat the teams on your schedule. To be recognized as a great team means you need to go and beat some teams that you?re not supposed to.?
On how much he?s changed since his freshmen season?
?I?ve changed so much, it?s like night and day. Coming in as a small, skinny freshmen; which I am still skinny, just not a freshman anymore, but coming in and trying to become a man in football and leading and things like that. It?s a great experience and it?s great that I got to play here. I?m just so happy that I chose to play here at Kentucky.?
On mentoring some of the younger receivers?
?I feel like it?s really important that the younger guys know everything that I know, but at a younger age. I feel like when I got here there were guys who helped show me the way and without them I wouldn?t be as successful as I am now. The fact that I get a chance to get those guys early now and get a chance to teach them and tutor them a little bit for the long run, although they may not like it right now because I get hard on them sometimes, they?ll appreciate it later on because they?ll be a better player and a better person once everything is over with.?
On being labeled a playmaker?
?I definitely like it. If I didn?t feel like that than I would be in the wrong sport. I love to compete. I love the fact that if we need a play, coach has enough confidence in me to go and get the job done. He thinks that I can do it, regardless of the down or distance or any other situation there is. I know that if he gives me the opportunity that I won?t let him down.? On the enthusiasm and confidence of the team heading into the season? ?We have a lot of confidence. Now the enthusiasm will show up in practices, which I think is going to be really important. We need to be able to show that we can do the things that we didn?t do last year. Winning the turnover battle or whatever we have to do on offense, just limiting our mistakes and things like that. But I think the enthusiasm will definitely show in practice.?
#66 Jason Leger, OG
On the enthusiasm of the team heading into to training camp?
?During the summer it was good. We?ve got a lot of people coming back, feeling good about themselves. We?re starting off in a good position with the way we ended last year, but last year?s behind us, so we have to make something for this year.?
On the team leadership for the younger guys to get them prepared?
?We?ve got more leadership here now than we did three or four years ago when I first got here. The leadership is not all seniors; it?s the guys who are going to lead the team. You can be a freshman or a senior, but it all comes down to how and who you want to lead.?
On the difficult schedule?
?You never know what?s going to happen until you step out on the football field. There?s not one game on our schedule that we?re given to win. But there?s also not one game on our schedule that we can?t beat. So as far as that goes you just have to go out and prepare each week like it?s your national championship and go out and play the games.?
#3 Andre? Woodson, QB
On fine-tuning the mistakes made from last season?
?The biggest thing, while practicing, is making game-like situations and to always have a time clock in your head. Try to realize that if the protection is closing down to try and get rid of it. Dump it to the running back or try and throw it away. We just need to continue to do a good job of learning that and learning in practice the game-like situations instead of sometimes slacking around and not going full speed.?
On his impressions of his statistics last season?
?It?s pretty great to see those, but the biggest thing is seeing the wins. Obviously we hadn?t had eight wins here in a long time and we hadn?t won a bowl game here in 22 years, so I think that was even more amazing. I think this year we can accomplish a lot of goals, we just need to set our standards real high and go and accomplish those.?
On trying to have back-to-back eight-plus win seasons since 1976 and 1977?
?Yeah we have talked about that, which is another reason why we?re really excited about this upcoming season. We feel like we can have another big year and accomplish more goals. I think the guys have done a wonderful good job this off-season preparing themselves both mentally and physically and just getting ready for this season. I think the guys are very excited to get out there and getting this opening game started.?
On putting himself in the Heisman Trophy race?
?I?m not really worried about all that right now. Like coach says, winning games will take care of itself, and that?s our biggest thing right now. We just have to continue to worry about winning those games. We have a very tough schedule this year and we?re excited about it. We have three BCS home games and six bowl winners coming to play here. We?re very excited about this season and we?re ready to get it under way so we can start proving to people that we belong in this conference. This is a team thing and this is team sport and I?m just excited to play with these guys, because we have some great players. This season?s just going to be very exciting.?
#18 Jacob Tamme, TE
On his health?
?I feel really good. I?m in good shape. Stronger than ever. Faster than ever. I feel like I?m at where I need to be going into my senior season.?
On team goals?
?I think our goals are to compete for the league championship, get to the SEC Championship game, have a chance to win this conference and to bring our best game every weekend. People talk about specific games, and that?s fine because yes I want to beat these teams that we haven?t beaten in awhile as much as anybody, but we can?t take our minds off any of these other games. We found that out last year because we had some close games against teams that we shouldn?t have had close calls against. So if we bring our best game every weekend, if that?s our goal to come out 100% prepared and 100% ready each weekend, then we?ll get to realize that other goal of getting a chance to play in the SEC Championship game, because we have a team capable of winning every single game. If we prepare from the first game to the twelfth game every single day, then we?ll do some good things.?
On why he feels the defense will be better this year?
?We had good leadership on defense last year, but I think it?s the maturity of just the whole defense that?s going to be something that will make them much improved. They?re going to be an aggressive unit that played in some games last year; Georgia, Tennessee and Clemson, where they just came out here and absolutely hit people and didn?t back down from anybody and said ?you know what, we?re as good as you are, so we?re going to play that way.? I think our defense is going to play that way this year and it?s going to be a lot of fun to watch.?
On continuing success in the football program?
?I think the goal of every person that comes through the program should be to leave the program in better shape than when they got here. That?s a goal of our senior class and the goals we have for this season kind of represent that. We want this program to be at a place that it hasn?t been before and we want it to be where it never goes back down either. So if you leave the program better off than when you got here, and that continues to happen, then that builds a great program.?
#22 Rafael Little, RB
On the kind of individual numbers he looks to put up in 2007?
?I think I can put up better numbers than my 2005 year. I know that if I can get better than that, then I can go somewhere.?
On the excitement of how many playmakers are back on offense?
?There?s a lot of keys so some teams may not know who to stop this year.?
On defenses being more prepared this year after last year?s performance?
?I think a lot of people underestimated us last year so this year I think people will be after all of us. We just have to keep running and passing and do all the stuff we do best. I think we?ll need to be on our game because people are going to be after us, so we?re just going to need to play our way.?
On the team having a bulls-eye on its back?
?Yeah I think it?s going to make things a little bit tougher. We just have to go out there and play our game and not get sucked into playing the other team?s game.?
On the running game controlling the game to give the defense a rest…
?I think its important because you?ve got receivers and quarterbacks doing their job, but when you add in a strong running game, the other team won?t know what to do.?
Kentucky Defensive Players
#2 Marcus McClinton, FS
On optimism going into camp this season…
?I am very positive about camp this fall. I?m ready to get away and just focus on football. I?m very optimistic about camp. I think this will be one of the better camps we?ve had. We have a lot of depth. It seems like the (last) season was a long time ago, I?m ready to play football again. I expect us to mature as the year goes on and to be much improved compared to last year. I expect us to be playmakers to get the ball back to the offense.?
On the opportunity for the defense to surprise people this year…
?I think the fact our offense is so good (in practice), that our defense will definitely be better this year. If we can dominate those guys in practice, I think we can pretty much dominate anybody. In the spring we did some good things but a lot of bad things too. We will have to step it up a notch.?
On dealing with higher expectations this year?
?I try not to read the papers or listen to what everybody says about us. We just have to play the game and focus on football and everything will fall into place.?
On specific things the defense can do to improve on last year?
?I believe it is being in great shape. Coach (Brooks) said yesterday, the defense has to be in great shape. A lot of times, a team makes a big play on third-and-long because the defense is mentally fatigued. That leads to mental errors like not staying in coverage. We?ve been doing extra running and extra sprints to work on our fitness.?
#16 Wesley Woodyard, LB
On whether the defense can create as many turnovers as last year…
?That?s what we shoot for on defense. Turnovers should be the goal of any defense in college. We have a lot of guys that know how to guard and intercept passes. We?ll have to see how the games go and try to make some turnovers.?
On higher expectations for the team after last year…
?We got a little respect, but didn?t get a lot of respect. We have to continue to go out there and prove it to people. We have to go out there and stay focused and try to play as hard as we can to get those balls going our way. That?s how you build a good tradition. We believe we have a team that can go out and win this year.?
On the injury to his hand this summer?
?The good thing was I had the whole summer to work out, I only missed the last weeks of lifting. I may have to play with a cast for a couple of games, but I?m not going to let that hold me down.?
#98 Myron Pryor, DT
On what to expect from the defensive line this year…
?We have everybody back from last year except two guys. We have a couple of big guys just coming off their redshirt years. I feel like our defensive line is improving.?
On new defensive coordinator Steve Brown?s impact on the team…
?He is a very straight-forward guy. He?s not going always going to tell you what you want to hear. He just tells us to go out there and play the best we can. He has a good attitude and is very knowledgeable about the game.?
On how it feels around campus going into the season?
?I see a lot more Kentucky flags on cars. People stop you on the street and ask how the team is going to be this year. Everybody is excited. I think everybody is ready for the season.?
#32 Trevard Lindley, CB
On mindset of playing corner in the SEC…
?Basically if a team scores a big play on you, don?t worry about it and try to improve and focus on the next play.?
On expectations of this year defensive backfield?
?I think we?ll be pretty good. The competition in practice will make us better. I have confidence in all of the defensive backs. We?ll be better this year.?
