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By: LARRY VAUGHT
LEXINGTON — Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Friday that a visit and talk by Seattle Seahawk defensive back Richard Sherman last week made an impression on the Wildcats.
“It was really good. I thought it was good because that’s a guy that obviously was a great student coming through Stanford and really talked a lot about work ethic and what it takes to be that successful and all the little things and the day-to-day grind, whether it’s getting through school or competing at the highest level like he is now," Stoops said.
"I just thought he had a great message. He was very good with our team. Stayed for a long time. Answered questions, took pictures. So it was good just to be around him.”
Sherman was in town for another reason but new UK linebacker coach Andy Buh coached Sherman at Stanford and helped arrange the visit.
"I had a contact through the same agency as mine," Stoops said.
Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot also was impressed with Sherman and his competitive nature and how he studies football.
"He went over all of the things that he looks for on almost each play. He has certain things that make him a better player, and it’s not that he’s necessarily a great athlete," Eliot said.
"He mentioned that he may not be the fastest guy on the field, but he’s going to get the edge anyway he can to make sure that he can cover every single person he goes against. And he went into details about that. Even though they may have been defensive back details, it was important for the rest of the players to see how important and how detailed he is in his game.”
Evolving: Stoops said Friday he was “comfortable” with where UK’s defense is as he goes through his third spring practice with the Wildcats.
“We transitioned from a 4-3 to a 3-4 (alignment). We really did a transition in the middle of year one. We started dabbling in it, and I just felt like I wanted to get ahead of it at that point. Learn the mistakes, learn the good and the bad from things. That’s why it pays for experience. But I’ve not been afraid to do that,” Stoops said. “I’ve not been afraid to switch things up defensively in the middle of seasons.
“At Florida State, I transitioned very quickly to some different things. We did that and we went through some growing pains as a coaching staff and as a defense. But I feel like we grew a lot. Last year we came together and did some very good things at times. Weren’t as consistent as we need to be. We feel very good about what we’re doing right now and the package and we’ve built on it a little bit this offseason.”
Stoops said football is a “fundamental game” and that never changes.
“You can draw up a million different schemes. They’ve got to be able to execute it, but you have to be able to play fundamental football and tackle people and play with great energy and play very disciplined football,” Stoops said. “I see us being more consistent with that. We’re not arrived, but I think we’re getting better, and we’re very comfortable (with) what we’re doing.”
Recruiting: The last two years Kentucky has used its Blue-White Game to end spring practice as a major recruiting tool. This year because of construction at Commonwealth Stadium there will not be a spring game but Stoops said it won’t hurt recruiting.
“We’ve been getting kids on campus and that’s the biggest thing is getting them down here, around us. We’ve got some kids in town watching practice today,” Stoops said Friday. “We’ll have a lot here tomorrow. Some of our signees are coming in town. It will be a good day.
“The spring game has been very helpful in that area and we’re going to miss that part of it, the excitement of the community and our fans and our recruits, that part of it we will miss.”
Liking Stoops: New offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said one reason he came to UK was to work for a defensive-minded coach like Stoops, the former defensive coordinator at Florida State.
Dawson said he wanted the responsibility for running the offense much like former offensive coordinator Neal Brown had before he left after two years to become head coach at Troy University.
“I’ve worked for defensive head coaches in the past. I think that just sitting and talking to them they bring a different light on how to view things than offensive coaches do,” Dawson said. “So there’s times where coach Stoops will point out things during practice that I typically don’t view that way because I’m looking at it from the other side of the ball.
“I just think that aspect is helpful: having a defensive guy to sit there and tell you, ‘When you do this, this is good but if this guy did this right here it would be really tough on us.’ You know? So that’s probably the biggest thing.”
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