Kentucky Football
Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Mark Stoops
Commonwealth Stadium — Lexington, Ky.
Jan. 4, 2015
Opening statement …
“I’ll let you ask any questions, wrap that up and then we’ll get on to introducing the new coaches. Sound like a plan? Fire away.”
On quarterbacks on the roster …
“As you know, we have one coming in a midterm, we have one on scholarship and we are looking to add another one, possibly. We’d like to.”
On what he is most disappointed with from 2015 …
“The results. The bottom line is the results. We didn’t get the results we were looking for. As I’ve said before, our margin for error is very small at this point in time. We need to continue to get better in a lot of areas to increase that margin. When you lose a game or two that you shouldn’t, or have some opportunities that you let slip away, it is very frustrating. It is frustrating on a lot of people. We need to get those things corrected. We need to continue to get better in all areas and be able to overcome the bad things that happen to you throughout the season and in certain games.”
On how his mind changed about the direction of the staff from the Louisville game to today …
“The bottom line was that I wasn’t prepared (to talk about it after the Louisville game). That is not who I am to after a game, after a tough loss, to put that on somebody else. That is on me, I’ll take it. And I told you that I needed to go and evaluate a lot of things in our program. And I have. I just don’t think that’s appropriate. That is not my style to have someone take the bullet. I’ll take the bullet.”
On how he felt about the offense …
“I was disappointed in the outcome. I felt like, again, I don’t like talking negatively about people. I just wasn’t comfortable with the overall direction and leadership on that side (offense). Xs and Os were good. But our players need to play better. That starts obviously with me to get the assistant coaches to perform at a higher level. We’ve got to put them in a position to be successful in all areas. I really stressed, halfway through the season, critical situations and being able to execute in critical situations. I just don’t feel we made the growth in certain situations. As I looked at the state of the program, in all areas, I just felt like there was change needed at that position.”
On the need for an ‘Assistant Head Coach of the Offense’ title …
“It is basically the same title that you see across the country, assistant head coach. Just with a slash for the offense because he is the offensive coordinator. In all honesty it is not that much different for the offensive players or the defensive players because if they have a problem they are going to come see me and if I am not available then they are going to go to the defensive coordinator. It’s the same thing on offense. Eddie will assist me with assistant head coach duties. Because he has that kind of experience and expertise and it will be good to have him. He is a seasoned veteran.”
On transfers who sat out 2015 impacting 2016 …
“From what I’ve seen I envision a great deal of help from those guys. Starting with Courtney Love. Just the leadership that he brings. Also with De’Niro. De’Niro was an explosive player on scout team. De’Niro Laster, the transfer from Minnesota, originally from Cleveland, is an explosive guy. He is going to be a welcome addition.”
On if he was going to make any other announcements on the staff …
“I am. I was going to announce that at some point as I got into it. But I am going to promote Derrick Ansley to co-defensive coordinator. That will not, and I emphasize, it will not in any way shape or form a demotion for D.J. Eliot. He is the defensive coordinator and he will make the calls. Derrick has a lot of responsibility, he has done a great job. Just like you see someone on offense maybe named passing game coordinator, he handles a lot of that on our side of the ball. Also, it was important because Derrick was a guy that was heavily pursued every year I’ve been here. I don’t want to get into specifics and I appreciate not everyone just throwing darts, making accusations and assumptions. We won a battle keeping him here, let’s put it that way. I had SEC coaches calling me. I had SEC coaches flying in and going to his house. And we got him to stay. I appreciate that.”
On if he was on the same page as the offensive coordinator at times in 2015 …
“Again, I don’t want to get into all of that. I am into getting first downs and scoring points, by any means necessary. Each coordinator that I’ve hired has full autonomy to do whatever they have to do to move the ball – 100-percent. I don’t interfere. If there is a game management issue, if things are getting slid one way or another, I’ll talk about it then. Outside of that, they have full control. I’ve said it since I’ve been here, I think it is very important that I fix the things I know I can fix. That is defense, special teams, attitude, there is a lot of things. But fixing offensive problems, I cannot do. That is on the offensive coordinator, 100 percent, and it will be as we move forward.”
On if he wants the offense to be balanced …
“Balanced, or the threat of the run game. You’ve heard me talk about it, and anybody will tell you that. If anyone is one sided, you hear pro, college, everybody, if you think you are just one sided, predictable run or predictable pass, you are going to have a hard time. You need balance and the threat of it. With these guys that we hired, it is not perfect 50-50 or I would have hired somebody else. They threw the heck out of the ball, they were fourth in the country throwing the ball but still rushed for 180 yards a game. That is a big enough threat, and good enough balance to move the football. Overall, statistically, they’ve been in the top of the country just about every year and certainly in the past two.”
On why Gran took the job in 2016 as opposed to previous years …
“Eddie and I did talk a year ago. We talked when I first got the job. We were both at Florida State, colleagues and neighbors. So I knew Eddie and his family very well. I know what Eddie is all about. I remember very vividly being at Florida State, going on some of our first recruiting trips and going down in Florida. And I know Florida very well, been through there a whole bunch. There was not a place that I walked into that they didn’t welcome him with open arms. He’s been down in South Florida for a long time, has a great reputation and is a great worker. He has been on my radar from day one. Then he went to Cincinnati, became the offensive coordinator and did very well for two years. Eddie wasn’t quite ready to come a year ago, he had been there two years at Cincinnati with Tommy (Tuberville) and wanted to stick it out. This year when I made the change I pursed him and wasn’t going to let him tell me now.”
On how the staff changes the approach to special teams …
“With these hires it won’t change at all how we work on special teams. Other than Eddie, obviously has great experience in that as well. That is where I worked with him at Florida State. I believe he was the associate head coach and special teams coordinator. That is where I saw him in front of the whole team. Special teams coordinator, or as we do it here whoever is in charge of that phase, is up there in front of the whole team, you see how he interacts with the whole team. The command he has of the whole team. Eddie is a true professional.”
On the move of Chad Scott to wide receivers coach from running backs Coach …
“It was a normal progression for Chad. Chad is a very good football coach. He already had a lot to do with the Xs and Os part of wide receivers and having input with the guys and working with them. He is just a quality football coach. I did not want to lose Chad. I wanted him on this staff. He brings great value. I’m looking forward to him working with receivers.”
On if it is fair to say Chad was hired to coach WRs originally …
“It is fair to say. We talked about it. Neal and I talked about it as we were putting together the staff. Neal was completely comfortable with Chad coaching wide receivers at that point in time, it just didn’t shake out that way.”
On if there are going to be any more staff changes …
“We’ll work on that. I am still working through a few things. I am sure somebody will ask me about other staff changes. I am not planning on making any other staff changes but people are still pursing our coaches. We want to keep them. I am very confident and comfortable in this staff. We had another defensive coach turn down a Power 5 defensive coordinator job. Coach Eliot, I’ve had people call and ask me permission to speak to Coach Eliot for Division I football head coaching jobs. I have been very fortunate to keep the rest of the guys intact to this point.”
On his assessment of the defensive development …
”We worked our way through our identity. I know that gets thrown around a lot by you guys. A lot of it is justifiable. We made the transition from 4-3 to 3-4. You are always trying to fit the best personnel you have and you can recruit to put your players in a position to be successful. As you get better and better, the more talent you have, you can line up and do a lot of things, and do a lot of things well. We are trying to get to that point. I think we went through a transition. I feel very comfortable with who we are and what we are doing defensively. I am very comfortable with that. We played three true freshmen in the secondary towards the end of the year, I am very pleased with those guys. You have to be better in the front. I always talk about the front and it starting up there and you have to be good in the back end. To be good and win games we want to win, you have to be good at all three levels. I didn’t do the research, I meant to before I came in here, but what did we win eight bowl games? The teams we are playing are darn good. How many teams did we lose to that won their bowl games? Probably quite a few, and Louisville. There are very good teams we are playing. We have to be good at all levels. I think we are getting better. I am comfortable with the staff. I am comfortable with our identity. As we get better and better we’ll statistically jump up and be able to make those stops when we need to. We are getting better.”
On improvements the defense needs to make over the offseason …
“Yeah, I think we have worked our way through our identity. I know that gets thrown around a lot by you guys and a lot of that is justifiable. We made the transition from 4-3 to 3-4 and you are always trying to fit the best personnel that you have and that you can get and you can recruit to and put your players in a position where they can be successful. As you get better and better the more talent you have you can line up and do a lot of things and do a lot of things well. We went through a transition and I feel very comfortable about who we are and what we can do defensively. I am very comfortable with that. We played three true freshmen towards the end of the year in the secondary and I am very pleased with those guys. You have to be better in the front. We always say you have to be good up front, it starts up there, and you have to be good in the backend. Really, to be good and win the games you want to win you have to be good at all three levels. I didn’t do the research, I meant to do it before I came in. But what did we win eight bowl games in the SEC? I mean, the teams we are playing are darn good. How many teams did we lose to that won bowl games? Probably quite a few and Louisville. There are good teams that we are playing and we have to be good at all levels. Again, I am comfortable with the staff and comfortable with our identity. I think we have made great progress and as we get better and better we will statistically jump up and be able to make those stops when we need to. So we are getting better.”
On if there was any dissention in the locker room …
“I don’t know of any dissention that went on in the locker room. I don’t think that anybody should be pleased with the outcome of certain games and certain frustrations. Any time of divide or dissension I don’t see or didn’t see at all. And I am a pretty observant guy. I don’t see that and I would call it like it is if there were issues. When you are dealing with 110 kids, and trying to rebuild a program in the SEC, at times, you ought lock yourself up in a room that has steel all the way around it and ram your head into it about 10 times. That’s what it feels like. It is frustrating, it’s hard, it’s tough. Do you think there is going to be great camaraderie every step in an environment like that? No. There isn’t in any major program. But you have to be good enough to overcome things and put it behind you and move on. You are dealing with 110 personalities and guys with strong minds and strong attitudes, which you need and there is going to be some dissention. I am not naive, I don’t think we are perfect and we can’t improve. There are a lot of areas that we need to improve in and camaraderie and cohesiveness within the staff and within the team is important. Any issue? No. Just when you lose again, it’s this (finger pointing). Who are you going to blame? Y’all got a job to do.”
On the possibility of bringing in another quarterback and the importance of that quarterback pushing Drew Barker …
“I think it is very important. You know, competition is the foundation for everything that we do. You have heard me talk about that. You need to bring in guys that can compete on every level at every spot, certainly quarterback. I think that is one thing as I talk about Darin Hinshaw and Eddie Gran. That is what they are big on. I think Darin as a quarterback coach is very big on competition and bringing in guys that compete every year. I think Darin is a great evaluator, a great quarterback coach and I like that when you talk about bringing in guys to open that up every year. I know I was asked at the end of the year if Drew was our quarterback and he is. But that is to take the first snap at quarterback this spring. You have heard me say it a thousand times, every job needs to be earned every day. I am never going away from that. The first day of spring ball, he will take the first reps, unless something happens between now and then that would put him in a negative situation. All positions will be guys that will have to earn their right on the field and earn their spots. That is the same for quarterbacks and that is important.”
On Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw …
“When I started looking for an offensive coordinator, the first think people do is look at the statistics and just get a feel for what you want to do. Then you look at the style and all those things. But the big thing for me was the person. I know exactly what I am getting with Eddie Gran. That was the big thing. We have a history, we go back, we worked together at Florida State. You heard me talk about it earlier when he was the associate head coach and special teams coordinator, he was constantly in front of the whole team and I saw his leadership. He is a great teacher, a great motivator and a true professional. Eddie will work his tail off. He is extremely detailed and most importantly he is a great leader. I could not be more pleased to have Eddie join our staff. I think he will do a great job.”
“I think an important piece to that was bringing in Darin Hinshaw, who coaches the quarterbacks because Eddie’s background of calling the plays and being the coordinator, he has a lot on his plate and he will coach the running backs because that is his expertise. I hope that helps us moving Eddie to running backs with the great talent that we have at that position to get another voice in that room and Eddie’s great experience at running back as well. Then bringing in Darin, who has worked so closely with Eddie coaching the quarterbacks, I thought that was an important piece and extremely important to get both of those guys. We were able to do that. I am very excited. They have great numbers, but more importantly, I know the leadership qualities that they have and I know what kind of people they are. They are unbelievable recruiters and I think it is very important that they had SEC experience. Eddie has been around the SEC quite a bit at two or three different places and Darin with the three years at Tennessee as well. I think that was great experience and he worked with Coach (Jim) Chaney, who I have great respect for. He worked with him for those three years at Tennessee. So two quality guys and quality coaches and we are fortunate to have them.”
“Again, there are so many pieces that you can talk about, but I think the leadership, the coaching, the teaching and also the recruiting piece is going to help us. As you guys know, we have already recruited at a high level, higher than we have seen around here, but I think you guys can also tell we need to recruit better and we need to recruit more. Everything put into this league is about recruiting quality players and then developing them and making them better, then putting them in positions to be successful. I feel very good and am very excited about this staff and about where we are at and where this program is heading. There has been a lot of negativity and rightfully so. We were disappointed and I was disappointed. You look back and look at things. There was a game and game in a half that really frustrate you and put you in a position (to do better things). Certainly there are more than that, I am not saying just those game and game and a half that frustrate you. But we have to find a way to overcome those negative plays and negative games and win them. I feel very, very good about the program and where we are headed. I feel great. Again, no offense, but people in the media and the fans are going to look at the negative side of things and I understand that. We all know it is a bottom line business. It is a result business and we have to win games. I know that and we will. But I feel very good and the coaches feel very good. Like I said, I just mentioned and I am not going to say exactly where, but there are two, three, four guys on our staff that could have easily gone to another job and some of them were darn hard jobs to turn down. Then bringing in Eddie and Darin, who were getting calls every day to go places. So I am very excited about where we are going and what we have in place. There are good things happening. You know, it is a grind. People get tired of hearing about that. I know that. By the time I sat up here for my press conference to now, people have heard me so many times they get tired of it and I get it. I really do. I would be tired of looking at my ugly face too and hearing the same things. But we are going to stay the course and make adjustments and we are always in an environment to make improvements. That is our business. Everybody that works in this athletic department tries to make their job better every day. We are no different. We are going to look at everything in our program from strength and conditioning to offense, to defense, to special teams, to leadership to everything we do we will look to do it better. I feel very good and very optimistic. It was a tough time. You don’t think walking off this field and losing that game and then going recruiting and doing all those things, it was tough? It was tough. We play a great first half, then come out and lay an egg in the second half. That is a tough way to end the season. But after some time off and after these new hires and after being able to retain some of the quality coaches that we have here, I am extremely excited, extremely optimistic as we move forward. I really feel rejuvenated. I walked into the office last night and going to get some work done and I am in my office. Then Coach Eliot was in his office so I went into there and was BS’ing around and next thing you know, I hear guys coming in and it’s Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw. And Eddie has the music playing and that put a big smile on my face. So I am excited and energetic and ready to go. I really feel good about these guys and where we are headed.”
On if he feels he has to show results this year in order to keep going …
“No, I don’t. I feel like I have to continue to do my job the very best that we can. I have said that I know it is a result business. I get it. We are going to look for better results and more wins. But I know what we are doing and I know the state of the program. I know how hard it is. Again, when I told you many times that I knew exactly what I was getting into, I know exactly. That doesn’t make me feel good all the time, because you anticipate bumps. You anticipate major obstacles. I get it. I have been around. It doesn’t make you feel any better, it is still tough. But believe me, it doesn’t discourage me one bit. We will go forward and get it done. Look around, do you think I am the only one with issues and the only one that has to answer to y’all? It is in our business and we get it. What kills me is when I am around town and you know how I feel about this place. I love this place and the people and I love the passion of the fans. They are angry when we lose and they should be. They are tired of it and have been around this a lot longer than me with some ups and downs. I told you that I want to deliver for them and we will. What kills me is when I am walking around town and they are like, ‘Coach … hang in there man. You alright?’ Heck yeah I am alright. Where do you think I am going? I’m fine, I didn’t die. It is going to take me a lot to get me out of here. We will get it done. Believe me, I am very optimistic and very excited. There are always bumps in the road and we will get it straight and it is not easy but we will get it done. I feel very good about it and not discouraged one bit. That is the only awkwardness that I have had. Is when I am walking around the grocery store and some old folks are looking at me like, ‘Man, Coach … just hang in there buddy.’ And I am like, ‘I am fine, man. I am going to work and let’s get this done.’ So no worries about me or any of these coaches. We are very excited and very optimistic and ready to get this done.”
On clarifying who will make defensive calls …
“So I told you, there is no change to D.J. Eliot. None. D.J. Eliot is defensive coordinator and calling the plays and the whole deal. Derrick Ansley is co-defensive coordinator. Again, that is just to reward him for the work that he has done and to continue to give him more responsibility and to groom him and put him in a position or growth and responsibility. He has earned that. He has done a quality job.”
UK Assistant Head Coach Offense/Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach Eddie Gran
On joining the UK staff after being courted multiple times…
“The big part is timing. I had been with Coach [Tommy] Tuberville for a lot of years and I have a lot of loyalty to him and Cincinnati, and I was in my first and second years of coordinating there. There’s a lot that goes into coordinating, so it just became a timing issue for me. ”
On the decision to leave a rising stock program like Cincinnati for Kentucky…
“It’s the SEC. If you’re a football coach, you want to be at the best conference in the country. Coach [Darin] Hinshaw and I have both been fortunate enough to coach in the SEC. I’ve been in it for 15 of my coaching years and it’s a dream to be in this league and be able to compete. Cincinnati is a great program and it was going up and it was fantastic. But having the chance to get back with Coach Stoops after our three years at Florida State and now knowing him for the last six or seven years, it was just the right move.”
On how he plans to lead UK’s offense to more scoring…
“Well, that remains to be seen. That’s the great part about this and coaching. A lot of people call you. I had a lot of people reach out to me about other opportunities and I had people ask me ‘what took you so long on this Kentucky thing?’ For me, it all had to be right, all the things that Darin just said. We followed their recruiting. They have done an unbelievable job recruiting and we felt them in Cincinnati, felt them everywhere. We couldn’t get a sniff of them if a guy was visiting Kentucky when we were at Cincinnati, so you know, it’s about timing and who you have here. We have a system – one that we feel like is a great system. We’re going to put it in place, we’re going to go 800 miles per hour and they’ve got to buy in. Everyone’s got a new resume at the beginning. We’re not going to make judgement on anybody. To me, that’s the best way you do this. We’re going to come in here, go 800 miles an hour and do what we do. We’re going to make it simple for them, make it fun for them but also make it disciplined because offense is about execution. They’ve got to be disciplined in what they do and we feel like we can get that done. We feel like we have the right pieces and you’ve got to have people be healthy, but from what we see so far, and we’ll do more of that this week, but we know who they’ve recruited and we’re really excited for that. ”
On his working relationship with Darin Hinshaw…
“It’s been awesome. You know, Darin played quarterback and, to me, being a quarterbacks coach and have played the position, it’s different. I mean, I stand back there and watch and try and figure out some of that stuff and those bullets are flying and it’s tough. He’s been there, so that relationship with the quarterbacks has been really good for us. With me it’s the running backs and the protections. We’ve got a good system. Game day is unbelievable with him in the box and me on the field and the way we communicate – it’s just been a really great relationship, and it was really important that he come here and be a part of this.”
On what players he and Darin are most excited to work with…
“Well, you know we’ve seen some of it. C.J. [Conrad] at the tight end position, everybody talks about how special he is. I know the returning quarterback and some of the running backs as I recruited some of them. I just don’t want to comment too much about them because that wouldn’t be fair. Again, their resume starts now and we’ll get to that. That’s what we’re doing this week and all the way through spring ball, and then we’ll be able to answer more questions about that at a later time.”
On having Mark Stoops as a boss after his extended relationship with him…
“I’ve been fortunate being with Tommy Tuberville for a long time, because when I first started with him, I was his GA (graduate assistant). So once a GA, always a GA. I don’t have any rear end left because it didn’t matter if things were good on defense, offense or special teams, I’m the one that got chewed. I’m ok with it. I’ve got thick skin. I get it. I love his passion, it’s why I’m here. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here and be able to say ‘Go Big Blue.’ This is a dream come true to work here with Mark. I know how he brings it and that excitement and that’s how we’re going to be also.”
On what the new offensive system looks like…
“It’s a multiple pro-style offense. We’re going to have different personnel settings, 10 personnel, 11 personnel, 12 personnel. When we came to Cincinnati, we tried a little more of 11 and 12 personnel, but we didn’t have that, so we had to adapt to their personnel. We’re going to have to do the same thing here, find out what works for our system. That’s what’s great about this system is you can do so many different things conceptually in the pass and run game with these different personnel. So as we gather that information we’ll know more about which way we’re going to go. In terms of the run game, you want to be 50-50, that would be the perfect answer, right? You know, some years you’re 60-40, if you’re running the ball well, run the ball. It’s not rocket science. If you’re passing the ball well pass it. Don’t turn the ball over and frickin’ score points. We want to be balanced. We want to be physical. We want to run the darn ball. We want to get after people and that will be something we’ll talk about from the first day. Physical, toughness, effort, discipline, pride – all those things that you have up on the board. I know it sounds cliché, but that’s what we’re going to be and we have to be especially in this league.
On whether they recruited Drew Barker and thoughts on him as a prospect…
“We did. They got on him so quickly and then as you know he committed. Darin went and he evaluated him and said ‘wow, this kid’s really phenomenal and everything we were looking for.’ We just didn’t get that relationship going with him because they had him sewn up and he was a Wildcat.”
On the most difficult change the players face with the new scheme …
“Terminology. But we’ll do our best with the rest of the coaches that are here – we’re not opposed to whatever the offensive line coach wants for his terminology for how a double-team is phrased or how they’re going to treat a back row stack, whatever that is we’ll learn it if it makes it easier for our guys to get it. The kids take to it, I know they’re really excited about it. I’ve had a chance to talk with them, they’re jacked up about it. They’ll feel our enthusiasm when we get there and it’s brand new so I think the most difficult thing will be terminology and then them just buying in. And they’re not going to have a choice, this is who they have, so we’re going to make it fun for them, but it’s also going to be demanding and I think they’ll be cranked up about that. Coach talked about playing fast and what I’ve learned about playing fast is, yeah it’s fun and we’d love to have 90 plays a game. That would be a great goal. But there’s also a time to know in this league that sometimes you have to slow it down, to run it and try and figure out the defense. I’ve learned a lot of that from Tommy Tuberville, being a defensive guy, and I know with Mark being a defensive guy, you’ve got to get an idea of what’s going on out there. You want to keep them off balance, you want to keep going fast, you want to do all that, but it’s important to know what’s going on out there, too.”
On meaning of the 10, 11, 12 personnel…
“Four wideouts, three wideouts and a tight end, two tight ends and two wideouts. It’s just bringing in the bigger guys. A 21 personnel would be if you had a fullback-type guy, two receivers and a tailback. That’s the personnel. And like Coach Hinshaw said, being able to mix those up and keep defenses off-balance, when you’ve got a guy like C.J., and I throw that out there just because I know a little bit about him, you can really have some mismatches by personneling some people and doing different formations.
On the feeling of returning to the SEC for football game days …
“It’s the best in the United States of America. It’s the NFL of college football. There’s not a place you can go that you can’t get excited about, the stadiums, the traditions and it’s been great for us, just an hour and 15 minutes down the road to make the transition. If you’ve got anything in you as a football coach, to be able to come back to the SEC this is your dream. Just couldn’t be more excited about it.”
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Darin Hinshaw
On what attracted him to Kentucky …
“When we were looking at this and Eddie (Gran) had called me and said let’s look at Kentucky – I knew his relationship with Mark Stoops was awesome and we also looked at where are they facility-wise, player-wise, coaches, all the different situations that we look at, and we see Kentucky (going up). I know the record hasn’t shown it with bowl games and all that kind of stuff, but I feel like we are coming in at the right time, and again – at Cincinnati, Coach (Tommy) Tuberville was unbelievable to work for. It was a tough decision to leave because of our relationship. He treated us unbelievable and let us be able to go in there and run our system and be able to do the things that we did offensively. It was exciting and I am looking forward to doing that here at Kentucky.”
On what about UK makes him think this will be a successful move …
“When I left Tennessee when I was with Derek Dooley, Jim Chaney was the offensive coordinator at the time and we had done very, very well offensively in that last season. Then when Coach Gran had come to me and said ‘hey, let’s come together to Cincinnati,’ I had other opportunities, but he said that putting together a system that is going to have a lot of success and being able to be in charge of that is huge. Like Eddie said, we work unbelievable together. He’s on the field, I’m in the box. We’ve got our roles. Eddie calls it and I give him all the information. We work together, we game plan together, we’ve done it and we went to Cincinnati, which statistically was not a very good place on offense either. They had not scored a tremendous amount of points, their passing yardage was 90th in the country. The year that we got there changed that and slowly made that go up and up and up in the passing and in the running and turned it around on total offense. I’m sure Coach Stoops talked about the numbers that we put up this year, which we are really proud of. The goal is to do the same thing here. We feel the personnel that we have here is good enough to do that and like Coach Gran said, we’ve got to get the players to buy in and understand what their roles are, that there are no egos in the room and that this is all about Kentucky football.”
On the roots of the offensive system …
“Jim Chaney, again at Tennessee, I was there for three seasons and we took an NFL style offense and got it to a position to where we could go multiple and were able to play extremely fast. So we can do all of the pro-style passing game and run game and still be able to do it in a fast-paced environment. That’s the one thing that you’re going to see with Kentucky, is that we are going to go fast. I ran no-huddle my entire career as an offensive coordinator everywhere I’ve been. As far as run game goes, we pieced it all together to come up with what we have now and being able to keep defenses off-balance, go fast, different personnel – and we’re excited about the personnel that we have here. We feel like we have some tight ends that we are going to be able to use and we feel like the wide receivers have a lot of depth. Again, that’s what I take passion in – is taking quarterbacks and being able to develop them. I’ve played true freshmen before, again with Tyler Bray at Tennessee. We are going to take what the defense gives us. We are going to learn our personnel. What are the exciting things we have to work with? We call them new toys, so to speak, and Coach Stoops has done an unbelievable job with the recruiting class that is coming in. We have gotten to see all of those kids and we will continue to recruit them as we get them in here and be able to put the offense together from that standpoint.”
On the need to add another quarterback to the roster …
“Yes. The minute Coach Stoops hired us, we started working on that and we are in the process of working on that right now.”
