These Anonymous SEC Coaches Don't Know Diddly Poo About Kentucky Football
It’s that time of the year. We’re talking about full on preview SZN for college football. We’re getting closer and closer to actual football but in the mean time we have to listen to camp stories and read all different reports. Now we have the anonymous coaches speaking about each SEC team, but really the only SEC team that matters – Kentucky.
Preseason magazines are also the spot where anonymous coaches come out to play. The only people who like gossiping more than high schoolers are college football coaches. Each separate magazine seems to have a “what coaches say” section. It’s a college football tradition.
Let’s take a look at what coaches think of Kentucky, the team that was 10-2 last year, a top-10 team and won the Citrus Bowl – suck it Penn State.
“They lose a ton on defense. You don’t replace a Josh Allen at Alabama, and you sure as hell don’t at Kentucky. He was the best edge rusher in the game.”
Josh Allen is a freak. An absolute freak. He was arguably the best player in college football last year. So I don’t necessarily disagree that you don’t replace him at an Alabama. But, what you can do is scheme different ways to help build time to find the next Josh Allen. That’s what Kentucky is doing this year. They get back Josh Paschal who beat cancer last year that is going to see time in the same spot as Allen. Xavier Peters is waiting to find out if he’s eligible after transferring from Florida State. Not the worst take, but it sets the stage for what coaches think. I’m guessing Kirby Smart said this one.
“I’d worry more about the offense — the needs are obvious. Losing Benny Snell is a huge blow, he’s their all-time yards guy, but they’ve got a stable behind Snell of faster, more dynamic guys, not grinders.”
Oh, you’re worried more about the offense? Excuse me? Kentucky returning an All-American type guy on the line, gets back a 5-star that missed last year with a torn ACL. The line is going to be solid. Then you have this guy Lynn Bowden. Ever hear of him? Pretty good.
Yes, Benny Snell was amazing. Yes, he was a catalyst for what Kentucky did. But, they have two guys in particular – AJ Rose and Kavosiey Smoke that give Kentucky a different look. Snell was a tough runner. He was going to run guys over and get plenty of YAC. Rose and Smoke are quicker and Rose is a guy that can easily run for 1,000 yards this year. Remember, he actually had better yards per carry than Snell.
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“Eddie Gran will have to go back to that Cincinnati stuff, spreading the ball around, going faster, but they have to get more efficient quarterback play. Terry Wilson can run, but he’s got to improve throwing the ball on third down. They need better execution passing and receiving. They won’t have the defense to bail out short drives.”
Get back to Cincinnati stuff? Yes, please. Let’s spread the game out. That’s fine. Terry Wilson is going to be just fine. He was actually 3rd in the SEC last year in turnovers per play. He takes care of the ball more than people think. He has the weapons – see above. Get the quick plays and big plays. Sounds like a plus to me.
“They’re going to fall back some this year because of how good the league is, but I think Mark Stoops has done a great job. Even if they end up .500 this season, they’re still going in the right direction. They’re just not a reload team. They’re going to need more than one year to build. But Stoops has them in a really nice spot.”
This sounds like an ex-girlfriend here. You try to say something nice at the end, ‘she was really fun’ to save face. Fuck that fall back noise. Kentucky has improved every year under Mark Stoops. They have plenty of talent across both sides of the ball again. Sure, the league is good, but Kentucky is different these days. Ask South Carolina – who hasn’t beaten Kentucky in 5 years. Ask Missouri – who has lost 4 in a row to Kentucky.
So these coaches can say whatever they want. They don’t know diddly poo. Official not anonymous prediction: 9-3