Eric Wolford (UK Athletics Photo)
It took what new Kentucky offensive line coach Eric Wolford said was a “good ol’ Youngstown meeting” between him and UK coach Mark Stoops that “resolved things” to enable him to be back coaching in Lexington two years after he bolted from Kentucky to join Nick Saban at Alabama.
It wasn’t just that Wolford left for Alabama but the way he did it — leaving after a recruiting trip without telling players farewell — that did not sit well with many at Kentucky.
“We’re in a good place and I appreciate coach Stoops giving me the opportunity,” Wolford said Tuesday.
Stoops brought Wolford back even though he gave offensive line coach Zach Yenser a contract extension after he was in charge of UK’s offensive line in 2022 and 2023. Stoops wants a more physical offensive line and obviously thinks Wolford can deliver, especially with four returning starters.
“There’s no hiding the fact that if you want to win games up front, you have to be physical. You have to practice physical, you have to do fundamental drills physical, you have to make them aware of what’s expected — what good looks like and what doesn’t,” Wolford said after Tuesday’s practice.
“I had to pull out some (San Francisco) 49ers film from when I was back with the 49ers. All of these guys want to play pro football, so I had to show them examples of what practice looks like, even when you don’t have shoulder pads on.
“This day and age, young people, if you think you’re just going to give them lip service and get their attention, you need to show them visually an example of what it’s supposed to look like and I think that helps with the learning process.”
Junior Jäger Burton played for UK when Wolford was here in 2021. He said Tuesday that Stoops preached to the team about the need to be more physical and weight training has changed to help that happen.
“The lifts are a little bit different than they’ve been in the past to get us back to not only being on our assignment but moving guys five, 10 yards down the field, because at the end of the day, that’s what you need to be able to do to win big football games,” Burton said. “The way we lift has changed, the way we practice has changed, the individual drills have changed, all to put an emphasis on that.”
2 Responses
This was a boss move by Stoops. Wolford is night and day better than Yenser. I think he’s better at getting the players attention because hes so detail oriented. You will notice a big jump in how much better our line is this year over the last 2 years. Players and experience will also have to do with some of it but not all of it. There is a reason Alabama wanted him as then Oline coach. He’s a couple notches better than Yenser.
Calipari should have been fired and then made Wolford the basketball coach.