UK alum Tom Leach has been the play-by-play “Voice of the Wildcats” for the football Cats for 13 years and 10 years for men’s basketball. He is a four-time winner of the Kentucky Sportscaster of the Year award. Tom offers an entertaining and insightful perspective into UK athletics. Column entries will be posted twice per week through April. Read Tom’s full biography

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Long before Rich Brooks made the proposal to the UK administration that Joker Phillips needed to be named as the successor as head coach, Joker Phillips was planning for his dream job.

In our pregame interview for last Saturday’s game at Louisville, Phillips told us that he has kept a file for several years with notes in preparation for an opportunity like this (things like coaching candidate and the like). And it’s clear from everything Phillips has done through the debut win over the arch rival Cardinals that this is a man who was going to seize the day and not leave any “what ifs” hanging out there.

One had to wonder if Phillips might be hesitant to make bold moves out of deference to Brooks but that hasn’t happened. Phillips has moved to put his stamp on the job — just as he should.

First, he made coaching changes. It wasn’t that the previous staff members were not doing the job, but every hire Phillips has made has been with an eye on improving Kentucky’s recruiting. Brooks and his staff did a marvelous job of identifying underrated prospects and coaching them up, but if the Wildcats are going to make that long-awaited climb up the Southeastern Conference ladder, the key will almost surely be improving the talent pool while continuing to make them better once you get them.

Then, look at last Saturday’s game. Brooks deferred on every coin toss his team won in his tenure at UK, but Phillips signaled his confidence in his role by telling his captain to take the ball. And it’s a signal of how strongly the team supports him that the offense went out and scored in two plays.

And how about that call for Randall Cobb to pass out of the Wildcat formation on Kentucky’s last series when the team needed to run out the clock? It was a risk worth taking given a player with Cobb’s football IQ, knowing that he wouldn’t be reckless with the trust his coaches were showing in him. After the game, Phillips said he wanted to send a message that his team was going to be aggressive and that will certainly be something for opposing defenders ton consider the next time that situation rolls around — and running the ball might be a little easier.

All of these things are examples of a coach who is determined not to miss any tricks. Joker Phillips won’t be perfect but he was definitely game-day ready.