It Sounds like Kenny Minchey is Playing a Video Game in the Kentucky Offense

Football is such a great game. It can be so much fun, but oftentimes, coaches prefer to focus on just how hard it is to be successful. Yes, it requires plenty of sacrifice, but this isn’t rocket science. Kentucky football is a part of a billion-dollar industry that is a child’s game played on a field with a leather ball.

Will Stein has injected some of that youthful exuberance into the program. While he still maintains some of that old-school, cloak-and-dagger mystery around what exactly the Wildcats are doing, he’s also willing to share how his team operates offensively.

After all that word salad, let me just put it plainly: Will Stein talks about running offense in the same way you hear NFL quarterbacks talk about offense. Here’s how Stein described Kenny Minchey‘s pre-snap operation during the scrimmage:

“It was awesome to see. It was a third down, kind of got-to-have-it situation towards the end of the scrimmage, and the defense was bringing a field pressure. And Kenny flips the protection to the field, gets the back line. Then the defense flips their blitz to the other side. He has poise and calmness, flips the protection back. The clock’s at like two, one goes on a quick count and gets the ball snapped,” Stein said after Saturday’s scrimmage.

“It was an incompletion, but that was great operation, like elite operation, that not a lot of guys can do and have that much poise to see the clock ticking down, no panic, get it snapped and put the ball in a position to make a play. It just was a good PBU (by the defense) on a third down. That’s the growth that I’ve seen from Kenny, and that’s what’s gives me great confidence moving forward.”

If you’ve ever heard an interview with Aaron Rodgers — when he’s not talking about entering the spirit world — this is how he describes specific plays from games. “The defense was showing this, so I had to check to that.” Kenny Minchey not only has the authority and intuitiveness to make changes prior to the snap, but he’s been empowered by the coaching staff to change the call to put the offense in an advantageous situation.

“That’s how we teach from the get-go. We always teach that every play you call is good against certain looks and not good against other looks. Not every play is designed to work versus every defense. There’s some kind of all-encompassing concepts that do, but every play’s got a negative… So how do I get us out of these negative plays and into either just a play we know is going to get three yards, or can turn it into an advantage run or check that can get you an explosive play for a touchdown?”

It may sound overwhelming from afar. Minchey and the Kentucky quarterbacks must identify the defense and prepare to make the correct counter if necessary. This is another reminder that football isn’t rocket science.

“They’ve been playing a lot of ball and shoot; every kid plays Madden now. It’s just like playing Madden back there,” said Stein.

And just like in Madden, once Minchey gets into a groove, points get scored in a hurry.

“He’s really accurate,” said tight end Willie Rodriguez. “When he gets in rhythm, it’s pretty scary.”