The Rebirth of Kentucky Football

C O L L E G E 2007

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Football Focused Head Coach Rich Brooks guides a more confident Kentucky program

n the land of thoroughbreds, the University of Kentucky’s football team for much of the past 45 years has resembled another four-legged animal. But head coach Rich Brooks led the Big Blue to an 8-5 record in 2006, the school’s first bowl win in 22 years with 50,000 Wildcat supporters in attendance at the Music City Bowl, and with a more experienced, more confident and more talented cast in Lexington (since 1977?), being beaten like a rented mule on a regular basis might be a thing of the past.

One of those merciless beatings, a 49-0 thrashing at the hands of LSU last October in Baton Rouge, was just the tonic the Wildcats needed to turn around their season and maybe the future fortunes of Kentucky football.

Free safety Marcus McClinton explained. “Just think about the worst moment of your life, it was equal to or worse than that. You’re on national television and you get embarrassed. You can’t get any lower than you already are,” McClinton said.

“After the LSU game, we hit rock bottom. They say it gets worse before it gets better. That was part of the change in mentality. We became more intense and more passionate about playing,” McClinton said. “It was like a destiny and we ended up winning five out of the last six games and beating a pretty good team in the Music City Bowl.”

If not for the normally reserved Andre Woodson speaking from the heart that day in Baton Rouge, the status quo at Kentucky might have been preserved.

“He’s (Woodson) not one of those guys that talks a lot, but he stood up and expressed his feelings to everybody that we need to get back on track,” said All-SEC linebacker Wesley Woodyard about his quarterback.

“He (Woodson) called them up in the locker room for the very first time really, and talked to his team like a leader should,” said Brooks.

At that juncture, Kentucky was 3-4 with three SEC games next on the slate. After a week off, the Wildcats went to Starkville and pulled out a three-point win against Miss. State, their second SEC road win in 15 tries.

Then, the unthinkable occurred, as the Wildcats beat Georgia for the first time since 1996 and only the 11th time in 61 meetings between the schools. After a win against Vanderbilt, suddenly Kentucky went from also-rans to bowl eligible. The Music City Bowl was Kentucky’s 11th bowl game in its history.

The cause for optimism

“It’s always nice to turn the corner, obviously, and win a bowl game since it hasn’t happened around here very often,” Brooks said. “The turnout we had by our fans was phenomenal down there (Nashville) and we return most everybody from last year’s team. I think the enthusiasm probably hasn’t been as good as right now in a long, long time at Kentucky. And, it’s well-founded enthusiasm, rather than hopeful.”

Hope might spring eternal inside Rupp Arena, but there aren’t many banners flying at Commonwealth Stadium. The Cats last won the SEC in 1976. UK has had just two back-to-back winning seasons (76-77 and 83-84) since 1957. The Wildcats play Florida, Georgia and Tennessee every year. They haven’t beaten the Gators since

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By Carl Danbury

UK coach Rich Brooks turned a floundering program at Oregon around too. He led the Ducks to their first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years.

1986, nor have they knocked off the Volunteers since 1984.

The Cats’ winning percentage against that SEC East triumvirate is only .274. They’re also 0-8 lately against South Carolina, another SEC East Team.

Brooks understands the skepticism his team faces.

“I don’t think it’s based on my record (8-24 in SEC games), but it’s based on Kentucky’s record over time, and how long it has been since we beat Tennessee and since we beat Florida. Historically, Kentucky has not done well against those schools,” Brooks offered.

Even so, there are expectations of success.

“People saw what we did last year and they see the players that are returning. You have established players who

have proven that they can compete in this league,” Brooks stated. “The problem is that we’ve got to beat a few teams that we haven’t beaten in a long time. That’s going to be the problem every year, but we’ve got a better chance to do it [end the streaks] this year than we have had in recent years.”

Brooks knows last year will be long forgotten without more success this season.

“We just have to follow up this year to validate last year in my mind. I have told the team that we can’t have an aberration.

We have to have the consistency. In my mind Kentucky should be in the post season almost every year. There isn’t any reason we can’t be as long as we keep working at it,” Brooks said.

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been there, done that

That’s not just lip service from the 66-year-old head coach that led Oregon out of the Pac-10 wilderness to the Ducks’ first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years.

“I think a lot of people had given up hope that Oregon could win the Pac-10 Championship. I think they had gotten to the point where they thought, ‘gee we had a good year’ [by just going to a bowl game. We had gone to three bowl games in the five years before that, and like Kentucky, Oregon hadn’t been to a lot of bowl games at the time. They have been to a bunch since, but it was an exciting time,” Brooks related.

Brooks attended Oregon State, where he played defensive back for Tommy Prothro, but he was passed over for the head-coaching job at his alma mater when the Beavers hired Craig Fertig from USC in 1976.

Brooks, hired the following year at Oregon, had the last laugh going 14-3-1 against Oregon State during his tenure in Eugene.

“They had their chance and I moved on,” Brooks jabbed. Brooks stayed at Oregon through the 1994 season before accepting the St. Louis Rams’ job.

After two years as head coach for the Rams and

“ In my mind, Kentucky

should be in the post season almost every year. There isn’t any reason we can’t be as long as we keep working at it.” rich brooks

four years as defensive coordinator for Dan Reeves in Atlanta, Brooks was back in Oregon, semi-retired, watching the Ducks play and weighing his future options. Why Kentucky?

“I was surprised to find out how good the facilities they (UK) had, and how big a fan base they had. The other job I had in college they didn’t have any of that.

The facilities were awful. The fan base was awful and we were able to get that turned around,” Brooks said.

“I thought that this could be accomplished here, even though you have an uphill climb against the teams you have to play. You have the wherewithal to make it happen, and you certainly have the population that surrounds Lexington (within a 10-hour drive) to find a lot of good football players.”

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Message (and Passes) Received

L

ife as a wide receiver at the University of Kentucky hasn’t been easy on All-American and All-SEC candidate Keenan Burton.

“He was star-crossed during the first few years because of injuries,” coach Rich Brooks said. “He had a broken foot and broke a bone in his wrist. Last year was his first healthy year and I encouraged him to sample the NFL.” What Burton found was that he projected to be a thirdround draft pick.

“It was the best decision [to stay],” Burton said. “It was a hard decision. During the whole process I was leaning towards going [to the NFL] because of all the injuries I had sustained and everything that was happening. But putting everything into perspective, all of the receivers coming out,

building blocks

Beyond recruiting to increase the overall talent level at Kentucky, Brooks and the players were quick to point out the contributions of the Wildcats’ assistant coaches.

“They are vitally important to what has happened,” Brooks said when asked about what quarterbacks’ coach Randy Sanders, defensive coordinator Steve Brown and offensive coordinator Joker Phillips have done for the program.

“One, they had to recruit better players, more of them, and they have done a good job of increasing the talent level of our team year-in and year-out. They have done a great job of coaching on the field communicating with the players, and developing the young men into accountable, responsible football players and people,” Brooks said.

Kentucky’s premier wide receiver Keenan Burton said those contributions go beyond the field.

“He’s (Sanders) the type of guy you can relate to.

He told me to follow my heart,” Burton said about his decision to return to Kentucky this fall. “He said you’ll never get a chance to play college football again, but

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Kentucky’s Keenan Burton:

Brooks and his staff are realistic in their approach to recruiting, a lesson he learned at Oregon.

“We’re being received better on the recruiting trail but, historically, I found it out at Oregon even after we had won bowl games and won the conference championship, if you think you are going to make a living going head-to-head with the SC’s or the UCLA’s of the world, then you’ve got another thing coming in recruiting,” Brooks said. “So, you have to recruit the same way you recruited to get to that level, and that’s by trying to project and analyze players that maybe aren’t rated as high but will be as good or better than some of the quote ‘five-star’ and ‘four-star’ guys.”

To that point, Brooks has successfully recruited 13 four-star and one five-star player since 2003, according to Rivals.com. Conversely, Georgia’s Mark Richt signed 45 four-star players and two five-star players during the same time frame. But Brooks is quick to point out that of the Top 100 players drafted

by NFL teams in April, there were more unrated or lower-ranked players selected than there were fouror five-star players the year those players graduated from high school.

Brooks said such scouting lists are the last things Kentucky uses to evaluate prospects.

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the damage that we could do in the SEC this year, but also being selfish in some ways, I saw it as an opportunity to improve my draft status and hopefully get closer to the first round.”

In order to be viewed as first-round material, Brooks asked Burton to get stronger and try to add 10 pounds to his wiry frame. But Burton took it upon himself to do much more than that.

“I just came out in the spring with a whole different attitude about life, a whole different attitude about everything. It was just a light that clicked on that said it’s time to go to work. That’s what I did in the spring. I made sure that I got better every day that I was on the field,” he said.

Last season Burton snagged 77 passes for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also returned 31 kickoffs averaging 24.7 yards per return and a memorable 100-yarder for a touchdown against Louisville. He also scored on a 73-yard pass play from quarterback Andre Woodson.

Louisville didn’t recruit the local product from Dupont Manual High School where he played quarterback and safety, which is why he ended up at Kentucky.

“I wanted to stay close to home. I wanted my mother, my father and especially my grandmother to be able to see me play a lot of games. I took it as an opportunity to get back to play in Louisville,” Burton said.

Burton feels that he has improved a lot since the 2006 preseason.

“I am 10 to 15 times better than I was at this point last year. Not to say that I was never motivated, but I found that extra little motivation I needed,” Burton said. “I know how to stay in the game better. I know how to run my routes better, I know how to catch it a little bit better because I worked at it so hard and so long that now it’s second nature to me.”

Entering the season, Burton was physically sound and much more positive mentally.

“I am focusing on positive things rather than negative things and I feel like I am better than I have ever been in my life. I am trying to get better so that I can make my team better. I am trying to get better so that Andre knows regardless of when or where he throws the ball I am going to come down with it no matter what the situation is or now matter how many people are on me,” Burton said.

“He needs to know that if he needs a play he can come to me. I want him to have that faith and confidence in me to

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Kentucky that the NFL will always be there.”

Burton was projected as a third-round pick last year, but could move into the first round with another sparkling season.

“Coach Phillips lets the players coach. Instead of coaching the receivers, I coach the receivers and Steve (Johnson) coaches the receivers. He teaches us and instills that in us and shows us the way so that when the younger guys come in we can show them the way.

He’s just a great guy to play for,” Burton offered.

Brown enters his first year as defensive coordinator when Mike Archer left to join Tom O’Brien’s staff at N.C. State. A former defensive back for the Houston Oilers from 1983 to 1990, Brown was on Brooks’ staff in St. Louis before coming to Kentucky.

Woodyard said that the Brown’s defensive philosophy is one that allows players to make plays.

“Coach Brown has made it where you can allow your playmaking abilities to go out, have fun and make things happen within the scheme of the defense. With his experience of playing in the NFL and his knowledge of the game is just amazing,” Woodyard said.

But don’t underestimate Brooks’ ability to lead.

“I never thought for one second that Kentucky wouldn’t start to build something special. Sometimes records don’t show how hard you work and sometimes how close you are to being at the level you wanted to be at,” Burton said.

“No. 1, it would have taken a special guy to come here to deal with the program in the situation it was in,” Burton said, when asked about how important Brooks is to the team. “No. 2, he’s up in age and some-

body who has a great legacy and is a legend in a lot of places to come to a program where his name could be tarnished. That’s rough on a man. Nobody wants to be known as a loser, nobody wants to be known as a guy that couldn’t get the job done.

“He lets his coaches coach. He oversees what goes on. He doesn’t make any decisions on offense and he doesn’t make any decisions on defense, but he takes the blame for every call that’s made and then takes the blunt end of the stick. You can’t ask to play for a better guy and you can’t ask to coach under a better coach either.”

Effective coaching is often more quantifiable in determining the attitude of the players within a certain program. For that alone, Brooks and his staff get exemplary marks. Words like accountability, work ethic, focus and opportunity are commonplace in all discussions.

Tight end Jacob Tamme, who had both shoulder operated on after his sophomore season, grew up a Kentucky fan and understands the importance of a solid season and the possibility of big wins to cement the future foundation of the program.

“Whether or not Kentucky has arrived or not is something that will be determined at the end of the season. I don’t think we have any problem with that.

It’s determined on the field. It’s nice to have people talking about our ability to do great things, or people talking about that we had a nice season last year, but it doesn’t really mean anything. And, it doesn’t mean anything that we have been picked in the bottom of the East still,” Tamme said.

know that he doesn’t have to look for anyone else. In a way that is selfish but at the same time everybody has to feel that way on this team. Rafael (Little) has to feel that way.

Jacob (Tamme) has to feel that way and Steve (Johnson) has to feel that way. Then Andre has so many people to choose from,” Burton related.

Burton said that some people have questioned his ability to make big plays in big games, “So I decided to put a stop to that.”

He caught a combined 18 passes for 224 yards and four touchdowns in the Cats victories over Georgia and Vandy.

Marcus McClinton said Burton is a good teammate.

“He’s a big-time receiver and a leader on the football team. His work ethic is rubbing off on some of the younger guys and even the veteran guys. He’s a perfectionist, and

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“Whether Kentucky football has taken a big step or not will be determined at the end of the year, based on what we do. We have a chance to prove something every time we go out there. Our team goal is to compete for an SEC Championship. If we do that, make it there and win it, then Kentucky will have all the respect that you can get. That’s a lofty goal that every team in this conference is going for. We have a chance just like everyone else,” Tamme said. success breeds confidence

Once, that statement might have been viewed as piein-the-sky thinking, but the players believe it.

“In years past, you might go into a game with the feeling, ‘Gosh, do we really have any chance in this game?’” Burton admitted.

Such feelings are erased with success, such as the win over Georgia last year.

“It (the win) showed that we have the SEC-caliber

players and it showed that we can compete in the SEC and beat the big-name teams that have been pounding us for years,” said safety Marcus McClinton. “It shows we are an SEC-caliber team. It’s not only us just talking about it we have proof.

“There is a different standard this year. We have to do more than what we did last year and it’s not like the coaches have to tell us. We must use last year as a stepping stone,” McClinton said.

Even a game they were supposed to win against Louisiana-Monroe taught players a valuable lesson.

“That was big. It’s one thing to learn how to win, you have to create a culture of winning where guys come in and expect to win,” Tamme said. “If you don’t have that, you have to have the whole team understand what it takes [to win]. We had to come from behind in a few games last year. ULM was as important as any of them, because we were expected to win.”

Brooks said his team was coming off a huge three-

he’s a quality player. People are looking at his success and wanting to learn from him so they can be as successful,” said McClinton, a playmaking safety.

Brooks liked what he saw from Burton too.

“He got better at everything last spring,” Brooks said.

“He just needs to put a good year on top of last year and he’s going to be playing football for a long time.”

Brooks said Burton is a terrific route runner and has great hands.

Burton, who has already graduated, is now totally focused on football.

“I want people to know that I am not going to sit back and let them do my job for me. Regardless of what the job is, I want to do it.”

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do to get to where we were at the time last year. Anytime, you take anybody lightly, you’re in trouble in the game of football. Teams will look at us a little bit differently than they did last year, too. I don’t think there’s any sneaking up [on teams] this year.”

Tamme believes the experiences learned in 2006 will pay dividends this season.

“Our team is mature enough, and those experiences we had last year when we were down in the fourth quarter, show that we have the ability to come back and win. If we get up early, we know that we have to protect that lead. Now we have the experiences of doing both of those things,” the senior tight end said.

“It takes something different when you haven’t beaten somebody in a long time. We beat Georgia last year for the first time in a long time. We haven’t beaten Florida in a long time, we haven’t beaten Louisville in quite awhile and we haven’t beaten Tennessee in a real long time,” Tamme said. “It takes something dif-

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week run and there was an emotional letdown.

“I don’t think you are going to go through a season ever, and not have difficulty beating some teams and some teams maybe that you are supposed to beat.

We had just come off a three-week winning streak that put us in a stratosphere that Kentucky hadn’t been in for a long time,” Brooks related. “We had beaten Georgia. We beat Miss. State on the road and we had beaten Vanderbilt to get to bowl eligibility. I think we had an emotional letdown against ULM. “The good news is that we found a way to win the game. That is what experience will help you do is find ways to win games instead of getting so down on yourself and getting so worried that you start screwing up more,” Brooks said.

“Hopefully, they have learned from that, because lets face it, it has been awhile since we could learn those kinds of lessons after success. We need to make sure we stay focused and understand what we had to

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ferent when you go onto the field. If you continue the status quo, you’re going to get beat again, period.

“Not only has our talent level gotten better, our mindset has gotten a lot better and last year winning games we haven’t won in a long time, like a bowl game and against Georgia a perennial SEC power, we brought the game we had to bring to beat those teams.

We know we have the ability to do it, but having the ability and doing it is a matter of working hard and earning it,” he said. commonwealth cats

Kentucky earned six victories at home in Commonwealth Stadium last year, the lone loss coming to perennial nemesis Steve Spurrier who has never lost to the Wildcats. This season, Kentucky plays eight home games. Season ticket sales are up by nearly 10,000 per game. The Cats entertain rivals Louisville, LSU, Florida, Miss. State and Tennessee in Lexington.

While Commonwealth Stadium isn’t Florida Field, Tiger Stadium or Neyland Stadium, Brooks

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hopes it will develop a personality similar to that of the Music City Bowl, when Kentucky fans provided a huge home field advantage LP Field in Nashville.

“We need it to become that [type of place] because it will help us win and particularly with the team we’ve got coming in this year. If we can pack that stadium, and they can go nuts for us, it will help us win,” Brooks said. “We’ve got the product!”

Woodyard said last year’s home games got pretty loud, but that “We have to win to make it the type of place teams don’t want to come into.”

Brooks said if Kentucky takes care of business in September, October, with its three home games, could be one of the most important months in Kentucky ­history.

“I don’t look at schedules that way,” he said. “I look at the first game (Eastern Kentucky). I look at the second game (Kent State) when it comes and I look at our lack of success against Louisville since I have been here. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to get to the October schedule that could be very meaningful if we are able to take care of business in September.”

Focusing upon one game at a time could help the Wildcats establish a new football tradition for years to come.

“It is exciting to know that, as a senior class, that when we leave here we can leave this program in a better place where it can continue to succeed. We can make a name for Kentucky football by topping what we did last year,” Tamme said.

“We don’t want to let go what happened last season,” McClinton said. “Building a legacy has been on my mind since day one. That is one of the reasons I came to Kentucky. First of all they were personal and showed that they cared about me. They showed us it wasn’t going to be easy and that we have to work hard to achieve our goals. We’re a blue-collar team.

We work for everything that we have. Everybody has been there through the struggle.”

Woodyard said the opportunity of beating the teams they haven’t in awhile will make the struggle worthwhile.

“If we can accomplish those tasks, that in itself is a lot of motivation to go into the season. We believe in ourselves and we’ve got a lot of playmakers in a lot of key positions. We have a lot of guys who can stay focused and want to win,” Woodyard said.

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