Wildcats making strides in Bluegrass State, but Kentucky is still Kentucky

Luke Robinson

Published Friday, June 26, 2009

Poor, poor Coach Rich Brooks He has accomplished so much, yet is destined to get very little of the credit he deserves. It’s hard enough being the head coach of a Kentucky program that is (at best) seen as a middle-tier program in the SEC, but now that the UK hoops team has hired John Calipari, it’s going to be hard for Brooks to even get arrested in Lexington.

Basketball in Kentucky is what football is here in Alabama. It is the end all, be all. The only thing that comes close to roundball’s popularity is hoops recruiting. For example, when I was researching Kentucky for this preview, there were as many articles on the Rivals.com site regarding basketball in the middle of June as there were for football. I think it is safe to say that no other SEC team had that issue.

In regards to the pigskin, though, Kentucky deserves to be recognized. What was once an annual SEC doormat is now a formidable opponent for any team. UK has attended and won a school-record three straight bowl games. The Cats’ list of victims the last few years includes Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, Georgia and even LSU during the Bengal Tigers’ run to the national title. That’s a salty resume for any school.

Most of the credit needs to go to Brooks. Brooks was a wild success as coach of Oregon many years ago only to be an even wilder failure as coach of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. Luckily for Kentucky, Brooks still had the itch to coach and UK had a vacancy.

Brooks has done a remarkable job assembling talent in Kentucky and has reaped the rewards in the form of more wins than usual for the program. For instance, UK defensive back Trevard Lindley would be a starter for any team in the USA and is projected as a top 15 draft pick next year.

However, Kentucky is still Kentucky. For every Trevard Lindley, there are 10 players who would not start for most of the other SEC teams. Their facilities are behind the league’s upper echelon, too, and their star power is limited to those athletes who play in Rupp Arena. Therefore, it was that much more painful when their mammoth defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon was ruled ineligible for 2009 because he tested positive for a banned substance.

Along the first-team depth charf, UK has the firepower to hang with just about all comers. The problem is that in the black and blue world of this conference, you need a strong second line of defense as well. If UK can win two games from an early stretch that includes Florida, ‘Bama, South Carolina and Auburn then this could be a banner year.

I see Kentucky ending with a 7-5 record, which is pretty stout considering their slate. Though it may not look like it, I think it will be one of the better coaching jobs done in 2009, too.

Luke Robinson is part of the Sportz Blitz. This is the fifth in a 12-part series of SEC football team previews. Each column will appear in Friday’s Outlook.

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