AndyPopCat
07-31-2007, 06:21 PM
1) Winston Guy made his commitment to Arkansas official, yesterday. The decision surprised no one, particularly readers of this site, who read on my football fix a month ago he was destined to choose the Hawgs. UK nation, in response to the Lexington Catholic standout's pick, is up in arms and is upset with the football staff with recruiting. These were the same fans that complained about UK taking too many 'bad' prospects too early, last season. The end result cost the staff dearly down the stretch when they had no offers to play with in January and February. IMO, I'd rather see the UK coaching staff lose out early and gain late, than see what happened last year occur again. Again, it is a marathon, not a sprint. It's not basketball recruiting where kids commit early and stick. Football recruits are different and that's because of the early signing period in basketball. Since there is only one signing period in February, kids change with the wind. A verbal commitment means that we have a good shot at signing them. These are the words of none other than Joker Phillips. In the words of a poster on Kentucky Sports Report, "Now Kentucky knows who they have to beat out."
2) No one in the media ever says it, so I'll say it for them. Coach Steve Ortmayer has done a fabulous job at Kentucky. Let's not forget when Coach Mark Nelson left Kentucky for Baylor, he left a tremendous amount of fan fare in Lexington. The special teams unit at UK was by far the best unit on its football team. In 2002 with Derek Abney and Glen Pakulak, it literally anchored the Wildcats 7-5 record. Then came Ortmayer, a guy with a resume as long as the Mississippi, but an individual who had coached just once in the previous 9 years, when UK signed him up to be the special teams and tight ends coach in 2003. In his first season, in addition to the individual accomplishments of Abney, the team broke the school record for block kicks. In '05, the program set new school marks in kickoff and punt return averages, swatting six opponent kicks. Last year, after many speculated Ortmayer would leave in the offseason, UK led the nation in punt returns and was the only program in the country to sport a top 10 ranking in both punt and kick returns. The guy may be 3 times the age of his players, but he knows his stuff and he's gotten results every year he's been at UK....
http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=3100
2) No one in the media ever says it, so I'll say it for them. Coach Steve Ortmayer has done a fabulous job at Kentucky. Let's not forget when Coach Mark Nelson left Kentucky for Baylor, he left a tremendous amount of fan fare in Lexington. The special teams unit at UK was by far the best unit on its football team. In 2002 with Derek Abney and Glen Pakulak, it literally anchored the Wildcats 7-5 record. Then came Ortmayer, a guy with a resume as long as the Mississippi, but an individual who had coached just once in the previous 9 years, when UK signed him up to be the special teams and tight ends coach in 2003. In his first season, in addition to the individual accomplishments of Abney, the team broke the school record for block kicks. In '05, the program set new school marks in kickoff and punt return averages, swatting six opponent kicks. Last year, after many speculated Ortmayer would leave in the offseason, UK led the nation in punt returns and was the only program in the country to sport a top 10 ranking in both punt and kick returns. The guy may be 3 times the age of his players, but he knows his stuff and he's gotten results every year he's been at UK....
http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=3100
