BIRMINGHAM, Ala — Rick Minter came to Kentucky with a reputation as a no-nonsense, get-in-your-face-type coach.In the short time he’s been with the Kentucky football team – nearly three weeks, to be exact –  the Kentucky football players can tell you his reputation has certainly preceded him. “He’s made a huge impact,” head coach Joker Phillips said Wednesday, pointing back to the defense that was still out on the field as the offense walked off, a sight that’s been all too common in Minter’s first few practices. “He coaches every day, every minute. He’s teaching them football, and he’s also helping with the attitude over there. Some guys needed attitude adjustments.”Some guys needed a good kick in the butt after a regular season that saw the unit rank 46th nationally in total defense but 72nd in scoring defense. “All I do is I want an intense atmosphere but I also want a very teacher-pupil relationship,” Minter said in Birmingham, Ala., site of Saturday’s BBVA Compass Bowl. “I’m a cerebral guy and I want to teach their guys a lot about football. I want to try to raise their IQ in football. To do that, you’ve got to be a teacher and a communicator. I’m smart enough to know it doesn’t happen by yelling and screaming all the time or you’ll lose your effectiveness. They’ll tune you out.”But right now, to gain their attention and understand the sense of urgency of an impending bowl game and the need to improve next year, there has been a lot of yelling. There has been extra conditioning. And there has been extra practice.”His impact is well felt throughout this whole defense,” said the Southeastern Conference’s leading tackler and junior linebacker Danny Trevathan. “He really emphasizes turnovers and getting to the ball and playing with enthusiasm and 100 percent. That’s what we need. We thought we were playing 100 percent, but it’s not really happening. He’s really getting us to the next level.”Minter has been placed in a unique situation. As a longtime defensive guru and longtime coach, Minter was brought in by Phillips one month ago as a co-defensive coordinator with longtime UK assistant Steve Brown to inject some intensity and flavor. The only problem is that times time.”Putting in a defense is a process,” Minter said. Minter will have plenty of time in spring practice and the summer to instill a new attitude and make improvements, but in the meantime, he has a bowl game to get his new defense ready for.Pittsburgh has a formidable running duo in Dion Lewis and Ray Graham, who combined for 1,788 yards and 20 touchdowns this year. The Panthers like to line up and run the ball down teams’ throats, a scary thought for a UK defense that has struggled with tackling all season.Minter has had all that to catch up on while he’s still busy learning his own defense. “I still don’t know all the names,” Minter said. “I’m trying. Right now they’re all jersey numbers.”Making it all the more difficult to instill the type of principles Minter is hoping will start to grow at the bowl game. Will it be a well-oiled machine Saturday? Far from it. But to get the players’ attention and start the process, Minter has hit the ground running with his no-nonsense attitude.”We’re trying to make an impact certainly, and we’ve gotten their attention, I can tell you that,” Minter said. “Is it as effective as I want it to be? Naturally, no, because I’ve never been in this circumstance nor have a lot of players around the country.”It isn’t like Brown didn’t get on players or get in their face, but senior defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin said Minter brings a different kind of intensity.”He’s a lot more in your face, getting after you,” Lumpkins said. “He’s non-stop with it. He doesn’t care if you’re mad at him or not, he’s going to coach you hard. That’s what we need because different players need different coaching. He’s one of those guys we need here to get some guys going.”The players say nothing has changed in the way Brown handles things, and Minter continues to emphasize that he looks forward to working alongside Brown, calling him a classy, high-integrity coach who will be essential when Southeastern Conference play rolls around.The defense fans will see at the bowl game will look very familiar to the one they’ve watched all year in terms of schematics. Minter said the short time he’s had with the players is simply too short to change 100 percent of what they do, not to mention they haven’t recruited players yet who fit the 3-4 style.Heading into the future, though, Minter conceded that UK could use more 3-4 bases, a recent staple of his in stops at South Carolina, Notre Dame and Marshall.”Down the road I think it’s a necessity,” Minter said. “There are some good four-down teams and that’s all they do. We’re playing one Saturday, so you can get it done playing four down all the time. But I just think with all of today’s spread offenses and all the multi-groupings and facets of the game you’re getting from the offense, it’s good to have the flexibility within your base defense to jump into a 3-4, whether it’s to drop eight or blitz eight.”In the meantime, though, Minter said the focus is on getting his team ready for a bowl game and sending the seniors out on a positive note.”The deadline is we have a game Saturday at 11 o’clock,” Minter said. “We’re trying to get through this game with what we have. It’s like I’ve said: I’ve married into a family with kids. I’ve got to accept them all. They’re all teenagers. Some are heading out the door after Saturday. So it’s been a unique opportunity for me to come in here and try to have some type of impression and imprint on these kids for one game without wholesale changes.”