David Gusta (60) is one of the new defensive linemen that has UK assistant coach Anwar Stewart excited about this season. (UK Athletics Photo)
Looking for a reason to be optimistic about the upcoming Kentucky football season? Well, let defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, a former UK player, provide the inspiration.
He was a guest on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk with former UK teammates Anthony White and Van Hiles.
He told them the “biggest thing” about his unit is that everyone is healthy compared to a year ago when he lost two players to injuries he was counting on to be key players before the season even started.
“I have right now15 really healthy bodies,” said Stewart, a 13-year Canadian Football League veteran starting his sixth season as UK’s defensive line coach. “Probably an eight-man (playing) rotation right now that I feel really good about with no drop off.”
Stewart says UK’s three transfer defensive linemen “fit in perfectly” with teammates and the defensive philosophy.
“We’re not gonna have that huge, big front we’ve had in the past, but we’re all gonna be strong, gonna be quick, explosive guys,” Stewart said. “Guys that could get on edges fast and be disruptive. Coach (Brad) White’s gonna put those guys in situations to be very successful. We’re excited about where we are.”
Kentucky is being picked to finish near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference standings and even UK fans have not been overly enthused about the upcoming season.
“We’re not worried about what the media and what the fans think,” Stewart said. “It’s all about us in that building and all the hard work that these young men have put in, the hours that we’ve put in. Man, we’re ready to go.
“We’ve had two weeks of really good preparation. We got two more weeks to really continue to take it to the next level. I think one of the big things is we don’t listen to the outside voices. It ain’t about what they think. It’s about what we go out and do. We had a very competitive team.”
Stewart knows championship teams have a “dominant” defensive line with depth.
‘We didn’t have the depth because of the injuries that we had in the spring last year,” and so and then going into the season with Dion and Keisha and so uh, you know, having that depth, having guys that two things are not looking to get out of work, but trying to find work and trying to be great is what you want. And that’s what I feel like I have right now.”
He says working transfers into the UK defensive scheme is not hard because coach Mark Stoops does a “really good job” integrating new players into the team with various activities but the staff also did a good job evaluating players.
“Myself, coach White, the defensive staff, we’re not like closing our eyes and then picking a number or name out of a hat,” Stewart said. “We’re gonna evaluate several hundred guys and then we’re gonna eliminate, eliminate, eliminate, and then what guys fit what we do, who can help us? Then we go after those guys and that’s what I did. That’s what we did as a staff.
“We’re gonna make sure that those guys fit what we do. Then when they come in, I treat them just like a freshman. I build them from the ground up.”
There has been speculation that Kentucky might be a multiple defensive front team this season. White and Hiles asked Stewart if that was true. Stewart would not commit to that because the team does a “lot of stuff that’s hard” for teams to prepare for.
“We are very athletic from the D-line to the secondary. We’re gonna play fast and you’re gonna see us continue to move and do some things,” Stewart said.
So if Stewart had one statement for Bib Blue Nation — and the media — about the upcoming season, what would it be?
“I would just tell them to trust the process. One year doesn’t change. The guys are hungry and working their butt off,” Stewart said. “They have paid the price and now it’s time to go.
4 Responses
Same thing I've been saying. This defense isn't as big and slow as it usually is, this defense has guys that can move around and make plays. Us developing our secondary the last couple of years. We could have 2 guys drafted out of the secondary. Lovett and Hardaway will be draft picks at the end of the year. I also believe Gusta, Saunders, and Hayes could also be drafted. Then at the linebacker position. Afari could be drafted. We have the talent and speed to be great on defense. From what I've heard our offense can move the ball on the defense. That wasnt the case last year. We struggled doing anything on offense but if you remember everyone was saying we would have a top 5 defense last year and that never panned out. Players on defense looked slow and tired all the time. That is because they couldn't get off the field on 3rd down and the offense would go 3 and out not giving yhe the defense any kind of break and as the season went on and injuries piled up it was all but over. This year we have depth, speed, experience,and length. On offense we have a QB with experience. Finally a solid line that can block much better on passing and rushing. We have a great running back room and a underrated wide receiver room. I'm not even going to comment on the tight ends until I seen them used more. I think 6-6 is realistic and is probably the floor for this team. With 8-4 or possibly 9-3 being the ceiling. I would love to run the table and prove everyone wrong this year. A playoff Berth would rejuvenate the fan base. A 6-6 season or worse everyone will be calling for Stoops head. The thing is we will b better in 2026. When our 2024 class is in there third year and the 2025 class is in there second year which we will have a good team in 2026. 2027 should be the best year we have if we can keep our recruits we can be very dangerous. I think what Stoops is trying to do is just get back to a bowl game this year. Then build off that each year. This could be his final year if we lose more than we win. I want to win the South Carolina game just about more than any other game. It's time for Stoops to put up or shut up.
The D has typically was a big part of UK FB when the offense was getting the rare 10 wins seasons.
Last year, the D was surely hampered by the season long back injury if Deone Walker. He was a monster on D the year before, but had a lower back injury ALL of the 2024 season! The Dr’s said that only rest woul help him heal. I reqd some articles recently about the pain he suffered every game. He was not the same player as the year before. The staff should have insisted on a year of rest & now he would be one of the top DL in the nation. It was very ooorly handled – and no one gained a thing. He went pro & was able to rest some & skip some of the workouts for pros & is now questionable for the 2025 pro season to be his first,
One of my favorites & I wanted to know why he was not nearly the player he was in 2023. This is a major error that should have been avoided, even if he still wanted to play. The coaches are older & experienced and need to take control when it is a no-brainer. If the whining kid complains about these comments, he should be barred from VV for personal insults and nasty comments he has made to many on here.
Your views usually align with mine and a lot of Barry’s do too. A lot of good posts and multiple great articles by Larry V. It’s the insulting kid that has kept me from reading& or posting most days.
It's an old axiom but true: Offense sells tickets, defense wins football games. There was a recent study ( truthfully I can't lay my hands on it but it was on the internet so it must be true….) that statistically speaking, regardless of your offensive capability you have greater than a 40% chance of winning if your defense can keep the opposing offense out of the end zone and less than a 10% chance if it cannot.
It sounds as if a mathematically inclined person with too much time on his hands postulated this and of course you can infer anything using statical methods. But it sounds good! 🙂 Go Cats
Interesting.
Numbers don’t lie, but those who twist them or even change them are problem.
The final number on the scoreboard at the end of the game tells a lot, but even then, some of those were the result of robbery, biased refs, paid off refs – so many possibilities to distort numbers before and after they are “final”.
Integrity is the primary missing ingredient when numbers “lie”