Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) – Hour 2

Episode Date: November 13, 2025
Hosts: Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond, Drew Franklin, Shannon
Topic: Latest in University of Kentucky (UK) sports and wider sports culture, with tangents into college athletics trends, coaching, housing/economics, and “what ifs” in UK history.

Episode Overview

Hour 2 of KSR continues the lively, loosely-structured blend of UK sports talk, college athletics analysis, lighthearted banter, and audience interaction. The hosts dissect major shifts in college football and basketball recruiting (especially around NIL money), discuss pressures and evolving roles for coaches, debate the merits and effects of 50-year mortgages, and crowd-source "what if" scenarios from UK’s sporting past.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Changing College Football Recruiting & Coaching (01:42–07:00)

• Stockpiling Talent in College Sports

  • Insight: Powerhouse programs like Alabama and Georgia can no longer hoard talent as easily due to NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and transfer rules.
  • As a result, good players are more spread out, and jobs at less “blueblood” schools may become more appealing because expectations are lower, but resources are catching up.

• Comparing Coaching Expectations

  • Drew Franklin (03:42): “If I were [Lane] Kiffin, I would really consider staying [at Ole Miss] because... you’re in the playoff conversation every year. Their expectations aren’t nearly what they would be at other places.”

• The New Skillset for Coaches

  • The job of selling a program has turned into “how much can you pay?” rather than charisma or personal connection (05:12–05:48).
  • Shannon (05:12): “That’s what it’s come to… it’s not a recruiting pitch from your coaches… your accountant, your checkbook, how much money are you going to give me?”

• Old-School Recruiting Tactics

  • Anecdote: Barry Switzer (Oklahoma) used to have staff check recruits’ trash to find out what beer the dad liked, to help break the ice (06:06–07:08).
  • Ryan (06:51): “And that. That made him have a connection. That’s kind of brilliant, isn’t it?”

2. Fans and Program Money Pressure (11:03–14:33)

• "The $22 Million" Narrative at UK Basketball

  • Callers and hosts discuss recurring fan/media references to Kentucky’s rumored $22 million basketball payroll and external/internal pressure this creates.
  • Shannon (11:56): “The game had just hit zero and it’s the first tweet I got. Was that about 22 million? It’s gonna be all season.”
  • Team spending on NIL deals is largely opaque; some programs (e.g., St. John’s, Michigan) may have spent even more than UK.

• Evaluating Success Amid Big Budgets

  • Drew Franklin (12:22): “If you’re still a good team and just don’t win the title… Now if you go like 500 and finish seventh in the SEC, then absolutely it should be talked about.”

3. Housing & Economic Commentary: 50-Year Mortgages (16:08–18:42)

• Debate Over 50-Year Mortgages

  • The hosts riff on the recent idea floated for 50-year home mortgages.

  • General consensus: while it makes monthly payments easier, you repay vastly more than the home is worth and risk never truly owning the home.

  • Shannon (16:51): “It might help some more people get into a house. [But] ... you’re going to be spending three times more than [the house is] worth… looks like a good idea, but when you get in the weeds, horrible idea.”

  • Drew Franklin (17:31): “If you’re 25… you just basically signed up to rent from that bank.”

• Broader Housing Access Issues

  • Shortage of homes is the root problem, not mortgage terms (17:41).

4. Generational Inequality & Politics (19:04–26:29)

• Age of First-Time Homebuyers

  • It’s now in the early 40s, due to economics, housing scarcity, and cost inflation (19:04–20:21).
  • Ryan Lemond (19:13): “...I feel bad for like this generation… You all have been, like, screwed by the boomers… The unemployment is high for people that age. The… job market with AI is going to be worse. Housing is [becoming] impossible to own.”

• Boomers’ Hold on Wealth & Power

  • Hosts vent about older generations enacting policies favoring themselves, staying in office for decades, and the difficulty for young people entering the middle class.

• Term Limits and Institutional Stagnation

  • Term limits are necessary for both politics and sports.

  • In sports, coaches and leaders often “go stale” after 10 years (26:10–28:07).

  • Drew Franklin (27:08): “…just that new excitement, changing things up, just hitting reset brings everybody in… I think programs need that every [ten years].”

5. UK Sports ‘What If?’ Scenarios (29:37–33:41)

Lightning Round of Hypothetical UK History:

• What if Bill Parcells became UK’s football coach?

• What if Jodie Meeks stayed for the 2010 team?

  • Ryan Lemond (31:00): “…not only do we win a national championship, I think we beat the ever living blank out of every team we play…”

• What if Rick Pitino hadn’t left Kentucky?

• What if Calipari hadn’t “taken the air out of the ball” vs. Wisconsin (2015)?

  • Drew Franklin (33:04): “If we don’t take the air out of the ball and let Carl Towns continue to score at will against Wisconsin, we have the first 40–0 season and another banner.”

• What if the infamous NCAA “envelope” scandal hadn’t happened with Chris Mills/Sean Kemp?

• What if UK recruited/landed players like Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady, or Larry Bird?

• Other fun and rueful sliding-doors moments in program history, contributed by both the hosts and the audience.

6. Additional Memorable Moments & Banter

• Shoe Roasting Segment (07:32–08:22)

  • Extended riff on Shannon’s use of Velcro shoes—“hand-me-downs” from his son.
  • Shannon (07:56): “I don’t care. They’re really comfortable. At my age, I don’t care what looks good.”

• Audience & Callers

  • Callers share personal interactions, vent about rival fan behavior, and participate in “what ifs.”
  • One apologizes for name-calling; another comments on being “showered with beer” at a UK/UofL basketball game.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

| Quote | Speaker | Timestamp | |-------|---------|-----------| | “It’s not a recruiting pitch from your coaches. It’s like Drew said, your accountant, your checkbook… That’s what it’s all about anymore.” | Shannon | 05:12 | | “If I were [Lane] Kiffin, I would really consider staying… their expectations aren’t nearly what they would be at other places.” | Drew Franklin | 03:42 | | “[Switzer] would send one of his staff to go in the back and go through their garbage to see what kind of beer the father drank.” | Ryan Lemond | 06:15 | | “Do you think that [having a huge payroll] puts more pressure on them?... It’s coming all year. We spent $22 million. Why aren’t we better?” | Ryan Lemond / Shannon | 11:56 | | “I feel bad for like this generation… You all have been, like, screwed by the boomers.” | Ryan Lemond | 19:13 | | “Just that new excitement, changing things up, just hitting reset brings everybody in… I think programs need that every [ten years].” | Drew Franklin | 27:08 | | “If we don’t take the air out of the ball… we have the first 40–0 season and another banner.” | Drew Franklin | 33:04 |

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:42–07:00: NIL’s effects on coaching, recruiting philosophies, and job expectations.
• 11:03–14:33: The "22 million" topic and its impact on fans’ and players’ psychology.
• 16:08–18:42: Pros, cons, and social impact of proposed 50-year mortgages.
• 19:04–20:21: Buying a first home: average age and generational inequality.
• 26:10–28:07: Why institutional stasis hurts both politics and sports programs.
• 29:37–33:41: “What if?” hypotheticals—UK sports alternate histories.

Tone

Conversational, sharp, irreverent, yet informed; the hosts move between serious commentary about sports and society and jovial ribbing and personal anecdotes. Listeners new to the show will find a blend of Kentucky loyalty, skeptical takes on change, and high-energy fan engagement.

Conclusion

Episode highlights included a frank discussion of how money is upending college sports recruiting, a reflection on the burnout point for coaches (and politicians), debate over homeownership trends, and a playful nostalgia trip imagining alternate UK sports legacies. The episode is essential listening for UK fans and anyone interested in college sports’ rapid evolution, with plenty of laughter and relatability even for those outside Big Blue Nation.