Editor’s note: Today we continue the series of occasional articles by NOB staff members about potential paths forward for Coach Joker Phillips and the Kentucky football team.
This is written by Nation of Blue.com intern Timothy Wyatt.
For longer than most Kentucky sports fans care to remember the football program has been the proverbial doormat for perennial SEC powerhouse teams like Alabama and Florida. The team enjoyed success and national rankings during the late ’40s and early ’50s with legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, but since has only tasted such significance in sporadic bouts that come too few and far between.
Joker Phillips was handed the reins to this slightly broken ball club after the 2009 season when former head coach Rich Brooks decided to bow out. Since then Kentucky has compiled an 11-14 record under Phillips and made one bowl appearance, losing to Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Maybe Joker should take a look at the UK baseball team’s season and use it as a blueprint for moving his team forward.
Just like Joker, many speculated baseball head coach Gary Henderson was on the hot seat going into this season. The team had racked up an 84-81 record since his taking over three years ago. All preseason polls had them non-existent and their strength of schedule hovered somewhere around 250.
Henderson and the Bat Cats responded with a season that would shock the college baseball world, notching one of the best, if not the best, seasons Kentucky baseball has ever seen, not to mention gaining the best record and first number one ranking in team history.
All this gives proof to the underdog theory. Many teams, especially in college sports, overlook “inferior” teams and begin to focus on the next challenge. The element of surprise is still a very useful tactic. This is something that Joker can definitely play into.
Also, a handful of key players are almost essential to such a turnaround. As last year’s season ended so did the collegiate careers of several big names playing in a Kentucky uniform. Recruiting is key. Just a couple stand-outs, like Cousino and Littrell (of the Bat Cats), can make all the difference.
Sometimes it only takes a few good players to make the team better…to make them want to be better.
