Readers of Kentucky Sports Radio are plugged into local coverage of the Cats, but what are people saying outside of Lexington? Cole Cubelic has become one of the most respected voices in the SEC as a sideline analyst for the four-letter network and morning host on JOX-FM in Birmingham. In the middle of Talking Season, he shared a few important insights about where the Kentucky football program stands entering the 2024 campaign.
“I have been high on Kentucky football in the past when some people have not. It’s a program where I just love the way Mark Stoops runs it. I love the mentality. I love the fact that it’s not just a bunch of five-stars that are out there, just rolling the ball out and see who’s more talented,” he said on a recent episode of the Cube Show.
“But also, I love the way he sort of morphed and changed here in the portal era and found success in the NIL era when a lot of people looked at it and said, ‘We don’t think you’re going to be able to survive.’ I also think this can be a very intriguing team this year.”
The Wildcats produced a 9-win campaign at the start of the transfer portal-NIL madness. After treading water for a few years, Cubelic believes the Kentucky football team is primed to get right.
“I don’t feel like anybody’s talking about them. You look back at last year as a bit of a let-down… but there are pieces here for this team to be really good. I don’t think it means they compete for an SEC title, but I also think they could be well passed a six or seven-win football team if some of the parts come together.”
About those parts…
The Goal of the Offense is “Win the Pre-Snap”
You watched the Wildcats in 2023. It doesn’t take a Football Frank to understand that the operation was clunky. There were too many moving parts that operated at a snail’s pace and it created issues. The focus this offseason is to eliminate those issues and the base of Bush Hamdan’s scheme appears to be the ideal remedy.
The previous two Kentucky play-callers cut their teeth in the NFL, then enjoyed a cup of coffee at the collegiate ranks. It’s vice-versa for Hamdan who is well aware of the necessary limitations in verbiage when it comes to calling plays and the need to go fast at the college level. Brock Vandagriff will take snaps primarily out of a no-huddle offense, which should force the gears in his brain to hum.
“Some of what I’ve heard from a Georgia perspective (about Vandgriff) is very similar to what we described with Devin Leary in that the processing is not always there,” said Cubelic. “If you can simplify that when you go no-huddle; you have the ability to look over, you have the ability to survey the defense first — keep in mind, communication is going to be in the helmet this year — and when you need to you can go fast. That always simplifies things for the quarterback.”
It took him some time, but Vandagriff progressed throughout spring practice, showing leadership, awareness, and an eagerness to perform at a high level.
“Vandagriff slowly got better throughout the spring, based on my understanding. This is an offense that’s going to require anticipation. The play-action windows are going to be something that he’s going to have to be good with because if the run game does what it’s supposed to, that’s where they’re going to hurt people the most in the passing game.”
Kentucky will Deploy a Deep Group of Tight Ends
“One thing I really like about Kentucky is the tight end room. It’s been an underrated room there for a while. They’ve had multiple tight ends that haven’t been first or second round NFL guys, but they do a lot of the dirty work. They’re not afraid to get out there and get it done, make big plays when they need to, and I think they have a trio of players that can really help them this fall,” said the ESPN analyst.
Khamari Anderson “probably has the most ability” and will flex out to make plays in open space. Cubelic loves watching Josh Kattus “push people off the football” as more of a traditional in-line tight end. Jordan Dingle provides the best of both worlds, which should allow the Kentucky offense to be versatile in its pre-snap alignments.
“All three of these guys can play. All three of them could be starters on multiple teams in the SEC, depending on the need or the want,” said Cubelic. “I feel good about the room. It’s a quality room that has a lot of depth. I think it’s going to be a strength of the team.”
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Moving Parts in the Secondary
Most of the focus on the defense this offseason has been surrounding the cornerbacks. Jantzen Dunn made strides in the spring and DJ Waller transferred in from Michigan, alleviating some of the BBN’s anxiety. All of this attention has diverted our eyes from a player who could play a significant role on this defense, former Alabama safety Kristian Story.
Cubelic compared Story’s intangibles to former Georgia LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson. “Football IQ, awareness, leadership, maturity, all of that, and over the course of spring, my understanding is that he grew and grew and grew. He got more comfortable and looked like a real player once they got a little later in the spring.”
If Kentucky can rely on Story at safety alongside Zion Childress and Jordan Lovett, it allows for Ty Bryant to move into a more run-supporting role at nickel. That position was previously occupied by Alex Afari, who could spend as much time playing Sam linebacker during his third season on campus.
To this point, you’re kind of splitting hairs on where exactly each player will play at a specific position. The moral of the story is the development of Story ensures this defense has quality depth.
“You have veterans, you have leadership, you have wherewithal, you have know-how at all three levels of this defense and you have pretty good depth at all three spots.”
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