2026-08-03- KSR - Hour 2

Summary

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KSR Podcast: August 3, 2026, Hour 2

Host: Matt Jones
Panel: Ryan Lemond, Drew Franklin, Shannon Dawson
Guest: Kenny Minchey (Kentucky Quarterback)

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Episode Overview

This episode is the second hour of KSR’s coverage from Kentucky Football Media Day. The team dives deep into the TBT (The Basketball Tournament) La Familia game, wrangles with Kentucky football expectations for the upcoming season, gives listeners behind-the-scenes stories, and features an in-depth, accessible interview with UK’s new quarterback, Kenny Minchey. Throughout, the conversation blends Kentucky-centric optimism, humor, and practical analysis that keeps KSR a staple for Big Blue Nation fans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Marriage Among Football Players & Team Dynamics

• The crew jokes about the trend of offensive linemen (specifically centers) getting married young, discussing the perceived stability this brings to the field.
  • “If you’re going to be married on the team, I think you want your center to be married. He’s the stability of the team...” – Ryan Lemond (03:44)
• They recall past examples, including stories about helping players find places to live, underlining their ongoing relationships with former Wildcats.

2. TBT: La Familia’s Loss and Atmosphere at Memorial Coliseum

• The group praises the electric pregame environment at Memorial and laments that economics prevent more games from being held there.
• Discussion about the game’s momentum swings and “curse” of being present during runs.
  • “It didn’t feel right from the beginning… They looked like a real team. I felt doomed the moment it started.” – Matt Jones (05:41)
• Fun recap of prize money being handed out in the Davis-Steel locker room, drawing a parallel to KSR’s own barnstorming days.
• Sentimental talk about UK’s big in-game highlight videos triggering nostalgia and emotion.

3. Basketball Nostalgia: Emotional Connections

• Reminiscing about iconic UK basketball plays and how well the Media team captures them for hype videos.
  • “They really do a good job. They hit like every big UK moment. And then they add them as they happen to me always, I’m sure will be on there this year.” – Ryan Lemond (09:08)
• The segment closes on the consensus: TBT was a win for the fans, even if not on the scoreboard.

4. Evaluation of Kentucky Football Hopes

• The team assesses the mood: not sky-high hype, but real optimism for improvement under the new staff—especially in terms of offensive line improvements, staff upgrades, and likelihood of knocking off a major opponent.
  • “They’re going to beat somebody. Alabama, LSU, A&M, Oklahoma… someone’s going down.” – Matt Jones (16:05)
• They place extra value on beating traditional rivals (e.g., Louisville), but note that victories over SEC powerhouses are the real “program changers.”

5. Will Stein & Staff Culture

• Praise for Head Coach Will Stein’s authenticity and relatability; he “gets it,” and feels like one of the fans.
  • “...the world has changed to where people want authenticity... Will is very comfortable in his own skin.” – Ryan Lemond (12:18)
• Observations about the inner competition and healthy rivalry with Louisville’s staff, joking about potential subtweeting between GMs.

6. Matt’s ESPN Radio Show & Home Studio

• Excitement mounts for Matt’s new show with Myron Medcalf on ESPN Radio. Discussion of the new home studio’s Kentucky-themed wall, featuring sentimental items (e.g., his grandfather’s Wildcat photo), and playful notes on “background curation” for camera shots.
  • “That brown Wildcat thing… My grandfather had that picture in his gas station when he was working… It’s a nod to my grandfather who made me a Kentucky fan, makes it special.” – Matt Jones (25:31)

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Feature Interview: Kenny Minchey (Starts ~[29:15])

Kenny Minchey, Kentucky’s new quarterback, joins the show for a revealing, conversational chat.

Background & Expectations

• Minchey dispels the “unknown” tag: he’s far from a freshman, having played meaningful football at Notre Dame.
• Cites Kentucky’s staff (“Stein and Sloan have a really good thing going on here”), their intelligence, and returning players as prime reasons for choosing UK.

Style of Play & Strengths

• Best Attribute: “My accuracy. Whether… in the pocket or… throws with tight coverage, just being able to put the ball where I want…” – Kenny Minchey (31:44)
• On being a “dual threat”: Confirms he can make plays on the ground when needed but emphasizes the passing game.

Mentality & Locker Room Vibe

• Excitement about playing against the SEC’s best: “Just a really great opportunity to play against the best, cause that’s all I really want to do.”
• Transitioning from Notre Dame’s historic structure to building something new at Kentucky: Calls it a chance to help establish the new standard.

Personality & Life Off the Field

• Favorites List:
  • Musician: Zach Bryan (“Starved” is his favorite song; was at the Louisville concert recently)
  • Movie: The Sandlot (“Classic… kept watching.”)
  • TV: SpongeBob (a staple before school as a kid)
  • Video games: Not much, but enjoys playing as himself in new NCAA games with his sister
• Biggest personality in the locker room: Calls out Willie Rodriguez and Harley Gilmore for energy and humor.

Expectations & Pressure

• On fans expecting a win over Louisville: “I think that’s expected. I don’t know if those words have been… I think it’s pretty understood.” – Kenny Minchey (38:07)
• Sums up his outlook to fans:
  • “I’m a normal guy who loves football, loves playing quarterback, and I love the guys around me in the facility... I think we can be really special this year.” – Kenny Minchey (38:39)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On locker room cash payout nostalgia:
  “Rael couldn’t have kept that cash more than 30 minutes. He would just walk around tipping people… He just wanted to carry it and hand it to people.” – Ryan Lemond (07:02)

• On program culture shift:
  “Class… has upgraded. Facilities, nicer… the status of everything. Has upgraded facilities, nicer... food is better... it suggests a group that's concerned about upgrading the look… symbolic of the whole thing as a whole.” – Matt Jones/Ryan Lemond (46:49)

• On what’s different now versus the Stoops/Cal/Barnhart eras:
  “It got a little stagnant… Towards the end of the Stoops era, the football program was stagnant. Towards the end of the Barnhart era, a lot of the athletic department stuff was stagnant... It feels like that sort of injecting the boost is needed.” – Ryan Lemond (48:38)

• Fun/surprising personal info from Minchey:
  “Growing up, SpongeBob, that was the only thing that was on the TV, really, before school...” – Kenny Minchey (36:07)

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Important Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 03:11 – Show returns, crew weighs in on early football marriages
• 04:49 – TBT La Familia loss and Memorial buzz discussion
• 13:36 – Insights into staff rivalries and coach personalities
• 15:15 – Kentucky football schedule hopes and SEC expectations
• 25:31 – Behind-the-scenes: Matt’s ESPN studio setup and sentimental items
• 29:15 – [Interview] Kenny Minchey sits down, introduces himself to fans
• 31:44 – Minchey highlights his strengths as a QB
• 35:03 – Minchey shares favorite music, movie, and TV show
• 38:39 – Minchey’s message to BBN and optimism for the season
• 46:49 – Reflection on program culture and the feeling of improvement post-media day

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Tone & Takeaways

The tone, as always, is casual, Kentucky-proud, witty, and welcoming. Inside jokes blend with earnest reporting. The hosts consciously bridge fan and player, old and new, focusing on building excitement—and in this episode, hope—for a revitalized, detail-focused Kentucky football program. The Kenny Minchey interview is personal and candid, setting the table for a season where Kentucky fans can both hope and know more about their new quarterback.

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For listeners who missed it:
This episode is a perfect primer for the 2026 Kentucky football season—a state-of-the-program check-in mixed with lighthearted storytelling and a substantive introduction to the team’s new face under center.

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Transcript

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[Kenny Minchey]

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[Ryan Lemond]

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[Shannon Dawson]

this is Kentucky sports radio, presented by Stockton mortgage and the Kentucky office of highway safety. Safe summer driving tour. Now here's Matt Jones.

[Ryan Lemond]

Welcome back techie sports radio here at media day hour number two. How great was Colton Price there, by the way?

[Matt Jones]

Awesome. A lot of fun. I like Tim, an artist.

[Ryan Lemond]

I, I don't. I will say, I don't know, Shannon. Why do people get married at 21?

[Shannon Dawson]

I mean, during the season, too. That's kind of crazy.

[Drew Franklin]

That's what's crazy. During his season, during the bye week.

[Shannon Dawson]

Not in a bow week.

[Ryan Lemond]

But I mean, but 21.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah. What are you doing?

[Matt Jones]

Means he's focused on.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, I'm still like hesitant on whether my age is the right age.

[Shannon Dawson]

You're like 51.

[Drew Franklin]

I don't know about 51.

[Ryan Lemond]

We like that from ourselves, not 51. Thank you. No, that's true. Yeah. If you're. If you're gonna be. That's true. If you're going to be married on the team, I think you want your center to be married. He's the stability of the team. Right. They were like, I don't want. I don't want my, my star defensive back to be married. He's got. He's got oats to sell.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, there was a year, but I want.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'm the center.

[Drew Franklin]

Maybe I think it was 95 when like there were like 10 dudes on the team that were married.

[Ryan Lemond]

I feel like our offensive line is often married. Am I right?

[Drew Franklin]

Didn't like young got married before this senior year.

[Ryan Lemond]

Exactly.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I saw. I tell you, I saw him in the New York airport.

[T-Mobile Representative]

Yeah.

[Kenny Minchey]

Did you?

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes, he was. I saw him in the New York airport and we talked about. He's in the jets camp. He was talking to me about. I was helping him find a place to live.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I was telling him the different neighborhoods of New York and New Jersey and yeah, I saw him in the airport. He is. That is a big dude.

[Drew Franklin]

That's a monster. Of a guy.

[Ryan Lemond]

That dude had the biggest thighs I've ever seen in my life.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, this is maybe the best big blue wall we've had since that Landon Young big blue.

[Ryan Lemond]

Oh, I think that's probably correct.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah. Don't you?

[Drew Franklin]

I think so.

[Ryan Lemond]

Okay. Kenny Minchi is on his way. So before he gets there, let's do one somewhat negative thing. TBT loss. La familia. What an environment. Though I do have to say I got there. I came just to feel the pre game and what an environment.

[Drew Franklin]

Pregame was awesome. Was it? You could feel the electricity in the air. There was a buzz.

[Ryan Lemond]

I just wish we could play a game in Memorial. I know we can't financially, but like there's that. The energy in that building is so good.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. If you could get that crowd, those people that don't get to go to Rupp as much and give them a real game, I mean, they are just giving it to the TBT reps who probably like guys, it's the tbt and

[Ryan Lemond]

well, then one of them was the high step. Yeah. He was like. We had the high stepper.

[Drew Franklin]

We. They got down 12 to 2 and just like that, the crowd and the buzz was gone.

[Ryan Lemond]

By the way, I'm going to take responsibility. I was there at the beginning during the 12, 10, 2 and I left.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

After that. I had no role in it.

[Matt Jones]

It didn't feel right from the beginning. Davis still's credit. They were playing hard. They like move the ball really well. It can get a little one on one. Ish and tbt. They looked like a real team. And I. I felt doomed the moment it started. Really.

[Ryan Lemond]

And then of course, I will tell you though, I haven't bought any Davis steel since then. No steel. I asked everything in my. On my. In my studio to be wood.

[Matt Jones]

I threw out my stainless steel pots and pans. You threw all of them out in the yard. Go pick them up if you want them.

[Ryan Lemond]

What do we do?

[Drew Franklin]

I mean, they're right down the road in Russell Springs. They listen to ksr.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, they were so happy.

[Drew Franklin]

And they were.

[Matt Jones]

Ryan.

[Ryan Lemond]

They cried.

[Matt Jones]

They were crying. Yeah. Then I saw a video of them handing out cash in the locker room.

[Ryan Lemond]

They paid him in cash in the locker room.

[Matt Jones]

A little spending money.

[Shannon Dawson]

I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

I don't think the 2 million hit the account yet. But yeah, they're passing cash.

[Shannon Dawson]

I would have tax exempt. No, it's all.

[Ryan Lemond]

I would have liked it. That reminds me of when we did the barnstorming tour and we would pay Romel And Joe in cash.

[Drew Franklin]

And then they'd throw the catch at each other.

[Ryan Lemond]

Didn't know they would take. There were like 10 stops. And so like we would do stop one. We got paid. We did. We didn't take credit cards. I mean, this wasn't before credit cards, but we were like, we're not dealing with credit cards. So you had to pay in cash. So we would take the cash home that night and like divvy it up. By the way. All reported.

[Matt Jones]

All my taxes reported.

[Ryan Lemond]

All of them reported. And then the next game, I would hand Joe and Rael their cash, their stack of cash. And they would be like children when they got it. They would hit each other over their heads with it. Rael couldn't have kept that cash more than 30 minutes. Cuz he would just walk around tipping people. He would just like. He would just be like. He just wanted to carry it and just hand it to people.

[Drew Franklin]

I remember you telling those stories. Like, yeah, they would just throw their

[Ryan Lemond]

money at each other and he would. They, Ral and Joe, they would get that. And you know, sometimes it would be like two grand, $2,500 in cash. I'll just hand it to them. And they would just start smacking each other over. Maybe more than that. Sometimes one of the guys leave their

[Drew Franklin]

stack of cash at a restaurant.

[Ryan Lemond]

No, we went to Skyline in Cincinnati in not a great part of town. And they ordered their Skyline and then just set like $3,000 on the table. I was like, what are you doing? You're gonna get us. You can get us robbed new to them.

[Matt Jones]

I didn't have an IL back then, so that was a big.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, that's how I knew. That's how I knew we weren't ch at that point.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, because they were.

[Ryan Lemond]

If we were cheating, they were too happy to have the money. They. They wouldn't have. They wouldn't have like. Like these guys now. They wouldn't do that. They'd like put in an IRA or something.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, we didn't get the money last night. They still had their own section with the crowd.

[Ryan Lemond]

Some people. That's right. I think they had to have been employees. That's the only thing I can figure because why would you.

[Drew Franklin]

Why would you be employees? And the kids of the employees.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I'm sorry they lost. It would have been exciting. I think. I think when they played the little like in the. With all the pictures,

[Drew Franklin]

yoga girl teared up.

[Ryan Lemond]

You know what? She's right. I get like that. I didn't get it last night because it was the tbt. But you get a big game, like if Kentucky's about to play Florida at home and they play that. Sometimes I get a little teared up. There's just something like emotional and nice about it.

[Drew Franklin]

Show those great moments. You know, the James Lee dunk at the end of the 78 tournament. You know, Tayshawn hitting one from the logo. And they put all those together.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, it's all the. They really do a good job. They hit like every big UK moment. And then they add them as they happen to me always, I'm sure will be on there this year. His shot against Santa Clara.

[Matt Jones]

Even as a season goes on, they try to get some of the current team at the very back end. It's. It's one of the best things they do. They've done it a while. I mean, everything from like Ed Daventer's dunk to Anthony Davis in the final four. They include it all.

[Ryan Lemond]

Ed Davinger. You mean Dirk Minnesota.

[Matt Jones]

Excuse me. Ed Davenant. Well, Davenor probably had some good dunks, but Dirk Middle's big dunk.

[Ryan Lemond]

I don't know if Ed Daven or could dunk in peace.

[Matt Jones]

It's. It's AI. They worked him in. I don't know why I got those guys.

[Ryan Lemond]

Oh, you want to have. You want to have all our players. Carson Price. Price is dunk. Carson Stone. Carson Stone's dunk. So anyway, all in all, TBT experience. Positive, don't you think?

[Drew Franklin]

Very positive. I think we, you know, everybody went. Had a great time. Just the outcome. I think we had a couple guys pick a really bad time to have a really bad game, and it didn't help.

[Matt Jones]

We've been a problem the whole tournament.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, we. But I don't know what you do about TBT free throws.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, it's.

[Ryan Lemond]

What are you gonna do?

[Matt Jones]

I love him, but Archie's never been a free throw guy.

[Ryan Lemond]

Archie's never been a big free throw.

[Drew Franklin]

Andrew was 2 of 8. I think Andrew was 2 of 8.

[Kenny Minchey]

Ye.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, he's pretty money. When he didn't play a good game.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, really the thing that held him back, it's the guys. Willie needed help. The guy. Willie really needed help. The guys that committed big men and didn't help. They just had no size. And it caught up to him.

[Ryan Lemond]

I did enjoy. We gave it all at Billy's bachelor party. We saw Willie Collie Stein out, and that was fun. Got to hang out with Willie Collinstein and talk. He's that dude. If he wants to, he's a guy who could be. We've always talked about, like, who are the former players that could do media here if Willie wants to. And I said this to him. He. He. We had a conversation as serious a conversation as you can have at 1am outside of the vine after a tequila shot.

[Drew Franklin]

After.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I didn't have any, but he did. I said to him, I was like, he, you know, if you want to do this, you could do it. You just have to, like, you know, you're gonna have to put effort, like, effort into it. And he was like, I do want to, but I also want to play golf. And I was like, well, okay, but you're gonna, you know, because he could do it. He's very interesting, and he has good insights on the. On the basketball.

[Drew Franklin]

He's great for what TBT is all about, get the fans involved with it. He loves it. He loves interacting with the fans, but that's why he would do good on media. He gets what it's like to be a fan of this university.

[Ryan Lemond]

Minchi, by the way, will be 11:30. We just got the text. It'll be a little bit later. What'd you think of Will Stein's interview?

[Drew Franklin]

I thought he was fantastic. Well, matter of fact, every time he steps in front of the microphone, I think he's good. He. He gets it, you know, called out

[Ryan Lemond]

T.J. walker, the sports talk.

[Drew Franklin]

He did, he did, yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

But he doesn't. Like, he. I give him credit. Like, he.

[Shannon Dawson]

He's.

[Ryan Lemond]

He says what he thinks, and, you know, I think in today's world, authenticity matters. Like the. I think the. It's the same in politics, for better or worse. I'm not saying this is necessarily good or not, but the world has changed to where people want authenticity. They. When we were a kid, what we thought of the way a coach acts, the way a politician acts. That's not what people want now.

[Drew Franklin]

Right?

[Ryan Lemond]

They want to know who you are, really. And I think Will is very comfortable in his own skin.

[Drew Franklin]

I think you might even be to say he's one of us.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, maybe. Yes. No, he is one of us. I do agree with that.

[Matt Jones]

And it was just like talking to one of the guys. I mean, he's starting his first season as a head coach, and it felt like we were just talking to a fan that pulled up to check out the team with the rest of us. Yeah, thought he handled. You know, he didn't really give us much on the GM question, but you asked him about a GM leaving, and he immediately turned it into Lifting nocta up as opposed to really getting into what happened there.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I mean, it's got to be. It's. It's. I mean, it's not a positive.

[Matt Jones]

He admitted that it was unexpected, and.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I think that was the news part, that it was unexpected that they didn't know that that was coming. But, you know, I think they handled as well they could. And I think Nocta. I mean, Nocta was doing a lot of that work as well. So I think if you're going to have somebody to step in, he's the perfect guy to do it.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

You're not throwing in some rookie. That's what Pete's done, you know, the last 15 years. Even Beacon, Louisville, he was kind of like, acting.

[Ryan Lemond]

According to Will, Pete did the general manager job. Of course, someone else is assigned the general manager job at Louisville. I kept waiting for the text. I didn't get one.

[Matt Jones]

I like that.

[Ryan Lemond]

But he may not know because they may be in practice, but he's going to hear that. And you're gonna hear from him, either or. I could see a tweet coming out.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I could see a tweet, a grown man groa and man tweet coming out. But I like that. I love. You know, I can get. I get the sense because I. I know, obviously, Vince very well. I've gotten to know Will and Pete a little bit. I think they all like each other, but there is a rivalry there. Of course they're not gonna hide it. I mean, it's kind of like. I think they like it. So take when Cal and Rick were at their biggest. They didn't like each other, but they didn't really want to acknowledge that.

[Matt Jones]

They'd play nice.

[Ryan Lemond]

When they had to, they'd play nice, but they didn't feel. I don't think they feel that way now. Right. Like, I don't know that they've ever gotten over that. I think. I do think Vince, Pete, and Will like each other, but I think they're going to acknowledge that there is a healthy. It's a little bit like Shannon and Billy.

[Shannon Dawson]

What do you mean by that?

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I mean, you and Billy, you like each other, but you both want to make sure the other one knows that the other one's better.

[Shannon Dawson]

Well, Billy knows that I'm better.

[Ryan Lemond]

I don't see. Shannon just said, billy knows that I'm better. Billy's sitting over there with a lady, just rolled his eyes like, that's what I'm saying. There's a little bit of that I think that's what you have with the UK Louisville, but also that's what you

[Matt Jones]

want from your rivalries. Like you're supposed to be putting L's down in the. In the other fans face. Your coaches are supposed to have that banter. That's why it's a rivalry. What makes that game so much more fun when it comes around every year because you've had 11 months of firing off tweets or whatever it is. As long as you're having that little back and forth and keeping it somewhat respectful.

[Ryan Lemond]

Do you think? I guess end of the day, all of this excitement. I don't think there's hype in the sense that people think we're going to win nine games, but there is a sense of, okay, this is going to be really good. Do you think? I mean, is the product on the field going to meet that?

[Drew Franklin]

I think so. I think, you know, we're still going to be underdogs. We won't be like huge underdogs because I think we've shortened the gap with some of these top level.

[Ryan Lemond]

So you're expecting to see it when playstyle?

[Drew Franklin]

Absolutely.

[Ryan Lemond]

Like, do you think when we play Alabama, win or lose, is that game going to be competitive?

[Drew Franklin]

I think so. I think. I think we'll be with a lot of these games that are coming up that, like I said, we may not be favored, but we're going to be in the game. Be competitive.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I think they're going to be competitive in a lot of games and they're going to. Whether it's Alabama or Tennessee or Florida, they're going to knock off.

[Ryan Lemond]

See, I'm with you. They're going to beat somebody.

[Matt Jones]

Picture. But they're going to win one of those big games.

[Ryan Lemond]

They're going to beat some. I look at that. Alabama, lsu. Who's the other one? We have A and M. Oklahoma.

[Drew Franklin]

Florida's at home.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, Florida.

[Ryan Lemond]

I think we certainly can be.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, but always got Tennessee.

[Ryan Lemond]

Let's just say Tennessee, Alabama, lsu, Tennessee. You're gonna win. We're gonna win one of those.

[Drew Franklin]

Yes, I think so.

[Ryan Lemond]

They're all at home, right?

[Drew Franklin]

Yes.

[Ryan Lemond]

There's Tennessee.

[Matt Jones]

Tennessee's in Knoxville.

[Ryan Lemond]

Tennessee's in Knoxville. Who are our home games? Alabama, lsu, Vandy, Florida, Florida. See, we're be. Well, we're going to beat Florida.

[Matt Jones]

Do we count Louisville in this conversation?

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I mean, I think we're going to be. I think we can beat Louisville. I don't consider beating Louisville. Well, I think it's punching up a little bit considering the last couple of years. But to me, an Alabama or LSU win is a program changer. Yeah, right. A Louisville win, a Tennessee win is not a program changer, but it's close. A Louisville win is, that would be really great to get. But Louisville, to me, I mean, they're not going to like this, but they can get over it. I look at Louisville like I look at Florida, maybe even like I looked at Mississippi State, which is, that's South Carolina, which is, that's how you measure where your program is. But it's not a changer if you win. Do you agree with that?

[Drew Franklin]

I do agree with that. And I do like when you ask Coach Stein that, I like how he answered the question. He's like, the Louisville win is important to us as any game on the schedule and we are absolutely going to go out and keep that.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, we beat Louisville on the road two years ago and we weren't even good. Right.

[Matt Jones]

So another one to watch. It's not as big of a name or logo, but going at South Carolina, that's a rivalry we've lost. That's when things started going on the decline because you weren't winning that game anymore. That could be a fun road.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's a bit, that's, I think you're right, a big one. Debbie Green, you know who of course told, told me something recently made a lot of sense. She said most businesses don't have a marketing problem. They have a strategy problem.

[Drew Franklin]

Wonder how they can fix that.

[Ryan Lemond]

They have people doing social media, but nobody has stepped back and say, is this working? That's what Debbie's the best at with bringing in the Green. She takes a step back and says, is your marketing working? Rather than just saying, well, I do social media because that's what you're supposed to do. Is anybody looking at those videos when you do these ads? Anybody listening to them when you do the television commercials? Anybody listening, watching them? Because if they're not, what's the point? Right? That's what Debbie does. She's bringinginthegreen.com KSR and she'll give you a free one hour consultation. I've said this many times. Most of the businesses that have had a lot of Success advertising on KSR have worked with Debbie.

[Drew Franklin]

Yep.

[Ryan Lemond]

Bringinginthegreen.com KSR a free hour, one hour consultation not just about advertising on KSR, but all Kentucky and regional media. Bringinginthegreen.com ksr our good friend Debbie Green. If I had a business and didn't know how to market it. That's who I would use. Kenny Minchi will join us also. Today's a big day starting on espn.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that looks good.

[Drew Franklin]

You're a couple hours away.

[Ryan Lemond]

Hours away. Mario's got to get that lighting working.

[Matt Jones]

Who hung that baseball bat up? I know you didn't do it.

[Ryan Lemond]

It's gonna surprise you. I didn't hang any of that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, it was well done.

[Ryan Lemond]

We'll talk about it right after this. This is ksr.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Balls to the wall.

[Drew Franklin]

What's up fools?

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[Ryan Lemond]

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[Ryan Lemond]

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[Ryan Lemond]

Welcome back Turkey Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. By the way, some of you have asked like the last week or so we really haven't taken many calls in part just because of the way the shows have worked out. First one coming back and then we had interviews and we've had this starting tomorrow we will be back getting ready for phone calls etc be back in studio. More of a regular routine starting on, on tomorrow. So hopefully we can, we can hear from you guys because I've kind of missed getting to talk to the, the callers.

[Matt Jones]

Haven't had the callers getting pretty comfortable here at Kroger Fields.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I mean we've been here two of the last three shows. I don't know if they'll have us back for that. I think they're having an open practice for the media Thursday though.

[Drew Franklin]

Let's come back. We got our table.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I think it's before we go on the air so but, but you'll start to get to see these players play a little bit.

[Matt Jones]

Start getting the fall camp interviews they do weekly. The updates will be coming but it

[Drew Franklin]

gets you excited man when you sit down here with the players and Coach Dynam can get you excited for the upcoming season. So we need to do that. A lot of that, a lot more of that.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes. So two quick things. First of all, the Reds trade deadline right today. You. I knew you would like this story. Tyler Stevenson. Yes, the catcher right. In his first at bat six, seven years ago he hit home run with

[Drew Franklin]

the first at bat with the red.

[Ryan Lemond]

First at bat in the majors.

[Drew Franklin]

In the majors.

[Kenny Minchey]

Okay.

[Ryan Lemond]

Hit a home run then. Today is at 6 o' clock trade deadline. There's a decent chance he might get traded. His contract expires at the end of the year. They're probably not going to resign. Him last at bat last night. He hits a home run.

[Drew Franklin]

Hit another home run.

[Ryan Lemond]

Shannon said earlier, I've said this many times. What's your most important days on the job, Shannon?

[Shannon Dawson]

First day in your last day, first

[Ryan Lemond]

at bat, Home run, last at bat homer. Pretty nice, isn't it?

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

I think the Reds fans will now remember him finally because of that little fact you just put out there.

[Ryan Lemond]

And they asked him after the game to comment on. He started crying which like you want, you want. I mean we all want our players on the team to care so much that they cried, Drew. So that was kind of nice.

[Matt Jones]

Especially at a place like Cincinnati that's been rebuilding for two decades now. Yeah, I mean but honestly doesn't have a lot of team success there other than making the playoffs here and there. For him to. To cry. It still shows how much he loves the connection to Cincinnati.

[Ryan Lemond]

So 3 o' clock today on ESPN radio, Matt and Myron debuts. Everybody's asked how you listen. It's very easy. I heart app just put in ESPN Radio, right? That's it. Our dap ESPN radio hit play. It's very easy, very simple. If you want to watch it, it's on the ESPN app like where you watch the games that are on the computer. We will be on there. They finished the construction of my studio at 9:30 last night.

[Drew Franklin]

You posted the picture of the wall though. You had all your things up on the wall.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah. So they put so the guy. First of all, Matt and Dale. Dale's a listener of the show. Thank you guys. I mean they were in my house till late at night, Thursday, Friday and Sunday to get it done. It's. I'm not. There's more stuff that's going to go on that wall. But that's for now. I think it looks great. I put a little bit of everything in in my life. Right. So I'm putting a picture of us up there. We don't have that up there yet. But you know, you've got so the brown wildcat thing behind my head. So people understand because a couple people are like it's not very modern. Shut your face. You don't even know why I have it up there. That brown wildcat thing. My grandfather had that picture in his gas station when he was working and then put it in his house and he gave it to me. See, that's 50 or 40 years old.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

So that's why it's up there. It's a nod to my grandfather who made me a Kentucky Fan makes it special. Yes. And then the UK WWE belt.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yes.

[Ryan Lemond]

There's a Hurricanes puck. There's a Bear's helmet. My Emmy. A Middlesborough High School sticker. A Transylvania Pioneers pennant that looks like it came from the 50s, but I kind of like that. And a KSR baseball bat given to me by Louisville slugger.

[Drew Franklin]

Got a 13th region with Middlesborough. And K. Wood.

[Ryan Lemond]

And a K. Wood Leadford bobblehead.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

The only thing missing is something from the Reds. I've got an Ellie De La Cruz bobblehead, but it's in Louisville. I got to get it and bring it back.

[Drew Franklin]

Then you're all set. You'll have it all up there.

[Ryan Lemond]

Then I'll have it all up there. I'm gonna have a little picture. I'm probably gonna go to the bar and steal one of those pictures of the KSR crew and put there next to my shoulder.

[Drew Franklin]

Now, you always liked it when you see somebody else and they would have a book. Mitch, please. Behind it, you got to put.

[Ryan Lemond]

I don't know if they. I'm trying not to push the envelope yet. I'm not sure if they want. Like, I was. I have that picture of Mitch of the book and the New York Times bestseller list, but I don't know if ESPN wants a picture of Mitch McConnell behind me on the wall. So that's why. Because, you know, that's. No, but what I might do is have a set of books and just have it to where you see. Mitch, please. Because then you would know that's my book.

[Matt Jones]

Jimmy Dyke's on his home set. He has 10 books, and they're all the same book that he wrote. So you could put, like, 10 Mitch.

[Ryan Lemond]

No, he doesn't.

[Matt Jones]

It's like a row.

[Ryan Lemond]

He's got 10 of his own books.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Just lined up behind him.

[Drew Franklin]

We put up 10 Mitch pleases back there.

[Ryan Lemond]

No, I think what I'm gonna do, I am gonna have some books, but I think I'm gonna rotate the books based on what I'm reading. It's sort of like a Matt Jones book club.

[Drew Franklin]

You need to put a little Easter egg.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, you know, Woody Page used to do the thing where he'd have a little sign behind him on around the Horn, and he'. I'm thinking about doing that, like, maybe one day just having. Like, hey, for handsome Jimmy.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Right. One day having. I got two questions.

[Drew Franklin]

Right.

[Ryan Lemond]

Like. Like, no little Easter eggs. Just for the chaos.

[Drew Franklin]

Like today, you could put Carson Stone and.

[Ryan Lemond]

Exactly. That's exactly what I would put up today, Carson Stone. I'm thinking about adding that behind it as well, but we had to get it working. And Mario, by the way, if you get there, if you turn it on today and the lighting's not good, that's because of him. He is in charge of the lighting. They just. But to be fair to him, the lights just came at 8:00 clock last night. So we're excited. Work in progress.

[Drew Franklin]

We're excited for it. It's a big deal, man. You get your own show on espn.

[Ryan Lemond]

It is a big deal.

[Drew Franklin]

Midweek.

[Ryan Lemond]

So people keep asking me if I'm nervous. I'm not nervous about the show. I'm nervous about the technology in my house since it's just gotten put together last night. So I am nervous about that. But also the headphones they have me wearing are from a different generation. I have to get new ones. I looks like Drew in that one picture. We'll take a break. Kenny Minchi right after this.

[TJ Smith]

TJ Smith, personal injury attorney.

[Drew Franklin]

Call tj.

[Ryan Lemond]

He'll make him pay.

[Shannon Dawson]

Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

[Commercial Announcer]

Welcome back.

[Ryan Lemond]

It is Kentucky Sports Radio. Before we get to Kitty mention, tell me about Stockton Mortgage.

[Drew Franklin]

You know, I'm so glad you asked because school shopping isn't the only.

[Ryan Lemond]

So you got the script?

[Drew Franklin]

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[Ryan Lemond]

You can learn from that, Kenny. Like that's you get to be a pitch.

[Drew Franklin]

That's professionalism right there.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's what you do right there. So you can. I don't know what your nil deals are right now, but if you need some help on the commercials, you can just learn from old man Lemon. Kenny Minchi is here. Quarterback for Kentucky. I have to tell you, Kenny, for Kentucky fans, this may be the most mysterious quarterback we've ever had because we don't know a lot about you, but people are excited. So what do we need to know?

[Kenny Minchey]

Like you need to know I was. I've been in college for a while. So I'm not just a freshman.

[Ryan Lemond]

You're not just off the street?

[Kenny Minchey]

I'm not. Yeah, well, I'm not off the street, but, yeah. Although I haven't, you know, started games. I played a lot of football and I know what it should look like. So you're getting experienced, quarterback. Although I haven't, you know, been on the field too much.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I mean, that's one of the things people say that are around the Notre Dame program. You nearly won that job. I mean, you were right there and you decided to go in the portal and lots of people wanted you. Why Kentucky?

[Kenny Minchey]

Everything, really, from the coaches to the players who were staying from last year. The coaches, they're bringing. I mean, the players that the coaches were bringing in from the portal, just very enticing. And, you know, Stein and Sloan, they got a really good thing going on here and they're really smart and I want to learn from the best.

[Ryan Lemond]

They are really smart. That's one of the things I hear about you. You're a really smart quarterback. Was that sort of connection in terms of, like, intelligence and just that. Was that part of what drew you to him?

[Kenny Minchey]

For sure, yeah. I think just talking with my family, you know, one of the major, major points for me was playing for a really good coach, a really smart coach who knows what it should look like and who can make me a better player, because that's all I want. And, you know, that's obviously found out in Stein and Sloan and, you know, with the quarterbacks they've coached in the past, you can tell that they've done it before and I know they can do it again.

[Ryan Lemond]

Got a big offensive line. We had Colton Price up here. I mean, his legs are as big as Ryan's head. I don't know how in the world. I mean, you got to be. You got to love that. The protection there, right?

[Kenny Minchey]

No doubt. I feel really good about it. You know, that's one thing as a quarterback, you. You want to be able to lean on probably the most important part of the offense. So having those big guys in front of me is really good and I love those guys. But, yeah, not only protecting, but also just being able to run the football. That's a really, really big part in college football and especially in the sec.

[Ryan Lemond]

What do you think is your best strength as a quarterback? If you were an NFL evaluator and you were saying, Kenny Minchee does this, what do you think that would be?

[Kenny Minchey]

I would say my accuracy. Whether it be just sitting in the pocket or being able to make not, not so much as off platform throws, but throws with maybe a guy in my face or with really tight coverage. Just being able to put the ball where I want to put it.

[Ryan Lemond]

Now, I know you're at Notre Dame, so really good opponents, but I mean, Alabama's on the schedule, LSU's on the schedule, Tennessee's on this. I mean, you got to look at that and go, there's so many great opportunities. Is that exciting for you? I know I don't want you. We're not looking past week one, but you sit there in Alabama's looking at you week two. It can't help but be exciting.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Kenny Minchey]

I mean, looking at, looking at the schedule way back when I got here is definitely, definitely exciting. Just being able to look at all the really good teams starting from week one to week 12 that we're going to be able to play this year. And like you said, I just view it as a really great opportunity to, you know, play against the best, because that's all I really want to do.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, the spotlight alone that, I mean, that second game, it'll be the whole nation watching you. And that's. I would think that would be just an awesome opportunity.

[Kenny Minchey]

Awesome opportunity to, you know, go out and do what we do.

[Drew Franklin]

Hey, Kenny. Ryan Lemon. I'm from Kentucky Sports. You're known as a gunslinger. You throw it around. Yeah. In the spring game, you scrambled and scored a touchdown. Are you a dural threat guy? Are you going to run the ball some?

[Kenny Minchey]

I think I can do both. Obviously, I'm a quarterback. I can, I can throw the ball. I can make any throw on the field. But I think I do have enough athleticism to. To use my legs when I need to.

[Matt Jones]

We mentioned how you come from Notre Dame, that's obviously one of the biggest brands in the game with the history and tradition. Now you're kind of on a ground floor of what will trying to build. So you went from trying to maintain success to now start it. Is there a different feeling going into the games that you're kind of a part of something new and want to build it?

[Kenny Minchey]

I would say the main difference is, like you said, they're already being that sort of standard. And then coming here with a bunch of new coaches, bunch of new players from the state strength staff to even like the position coaches establishing that, the standard that we have for our team, I think that would be the main difference. So just being able to build that up with Coach Stein, I think that would be.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, you don't even know you've Done this, but you've created a little rivalry with me, with us and the show bussin with the boys. Do you know that show?

[Kenny Minchey]

Yes, I do know that show.

[Ryan Lemond]

Will Compton, he thought you were going to go to Nebraska, and then you came here, which led to some trash talking back and forth, which a lot of the listeners don't know has led to some occasional trash talk, texting back and forth. So I don't even know him. I've never even met him. But we argue about you quite a bit, so I'm excited. You've got to prove Will Compton wrong as you go out this year.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah. I don't want to get in between your guys's beef, which it sounds like I already am.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, no, you are. Yes. You are the beef.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah, but, yeah, I haven't seen too much of their show, but, yeah, I'd probably say I like the show a little bit better.

[Ryan Lemond]

Look at that. There we go. I'm completely on your side. All right, let me ask you a couple questions just for fans to get to know you. Give me your favorite musician who you listen to.

[Kenny Minchey]

I listened to Zach Bryan. He's my. He's my number one. Yeah. A lot of. Really a lot of Zach Brian that I did.

[Ryan Lemond]

I didn't see Zach Brian. What's your favorite Zach Brian song? Just saw him in concert in Louisville a couple months ago.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah, I was there.

[Ryan Lemond]

You were there. Okay, well, so was.

[Kenny Minchey]

That went. So it's a good time.

[Ryan Lemond]

What's your favorite song?

[Kenny Minchey]

Starved would probably be my favorite. Probably not a fan favorite, but Starved, We'll.

[Ryan Lemond]

We'll play it on the way back here.

[Kenny Minchey]

All right.

[Matt Jones]

Listen to the live Red Rocks album All my homies Hate to Ticketmaster. It's the best one.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah. Really, really good.

[Ryan Lemond]

You know, you have Willstein, like, Enforce Gump.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

You're a big Zach Brian guy. I think you're.

[Matt Jones]

You're gonna be on the staff.

[Ryan Lemond]

All right. Favorite movie?

[Kenny Minchey]

Sandlot.

[Ryan Lemond]

Sandlot.

[Matt Jones]

Really good.

[Ryan Lemond]

I thought that was. Was that. Was that not before your time?

[Kenny Minchey]

Oh, yeah, way before my time. But, I mean, that's a classic. You got to watch that growing up and then just turn into a movie. I just kept watching.

[Ryan Lemond]

Okay, so saying lot. Zach Brian. All right. What about your favorite television show?

[Kenny Minchey]

I don't watch, like.

[Ryan Lemond]

Or streaming, whatever.

[Kenny Minchey]

Right. Yeah. I mean, but growing up, SpongeBob, that was like SpongeBob, that was the only thing that was on the TV, really, before school. So it was just a lot of spongebob.

[Ryan Lemond]

Can you imagine, Drew, the odds we could have gotten on our quarterback, picking SpongeBob, Zach, Brian, and Sandlot as the three. I would not have gotten.

[Matt Jones]

I didn't have those. But that's why we're here. We're here to learn more about it.

[Ryan Lemond]

See, I'm glad. I'm glad to learn that. Do you. Somebody asked me, do you play video games?

[Kenny Minchey]

I don't play video games. I left my console back home. But whatever.

[Ryan Lemond]

Focus.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah, I got to focus. And I'm just. I'm not a big video game person even growing up. But whenever I do go home, sometimes I'll. I'll get on and play with friends. But NCAA gun, NCAA game is pretty fun. I'll play that with my sister when I can.

[Matt Jones]

You're on it. You gotta like that one.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Ryan Lemond]

Do you play as yourself?

[Kenny Minchey]

Yes.

[Ryan Lemond]

You do?

[Kenny Minchey]

Sometimes. Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Because you want to play as an opponent, so you play as yourself.

[Kenny Minchey]

Right. If. Yeah. If we're picking teams, it's like, you know, if I draw that random team and it's Kentucky, I'll play it myself.

[Ryan Lemond]

Okay.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Now, do you. We don't really know the players here, but you know so many new guys here. So give us a little bit of the Kenny Minchi scouting report on the team as people who. Who are, like, the funniest most. Who's got the biggest personality on the team.

[Kenny Minchey]

Biggest personalities. I would say Willie Rodriguez.

[Ryan Lemond]

Okay.

[Kenny Minchey]

Big person.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's somebody we know.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah. You guys know him. Bo Barnes, Hardly Gilmore.

[Ryan Lemond]

Harley Gilmore will ask you for the ball.

[Kenny Minchey]

He will.

[Ryan Lemond]

He will look at you and say, throw me. Yeah, I'm not. You're acting like I'm not hardly here. Throw me the ball.

[Matt Jones]

He's got that wide receiver energy, indeed.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah. Very, very lively personality, really. In every position group. I feel like we got a really, really funny team. And it's. It's a lot of. A lot of energy floating around the locker.

[Ryan Lemond]

Now, have you been told that you, like, have to beat Louisville? Have you been told that?

[Kenny Minchey]

I think that's expected. I don't know if those words have been.

[Ryan Lemond]

I just wonder if fans had said that to you.

[Kenny Minchey]

I don't. I don't. Honestly, I don't know if someone's actually said that to me, but it's.

[Matt Jones]

It's.

[Kenny Minchey]

I think it's pretty understood.

[Matt Jones]

We're telling you now.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

Walking across campus, you're going to hear it.

[Matt Jones]

You've.

[Ryan Lemond]

You've just learned that. All right, I'll leave. I'll let you go with this. If you've got. This will probably be the biggest platform of Kentucky fans that will hear you talk before the first, the first game of the season. If you were to say to them, this is who Kenny Minchi is and this is what I want you to know about me. What would you say?

[Kenny Minchey]

I would just say I'm a normal guy who loves football, loves playing quarterback and I love the guys around me in the facility. I think very highly of the offensive side of the ball, defense and the coaching staff, strength, staff. And I think we can be really special this year.

[Ryan Lemond]

You've been around a great program. You know what a great program and a great team looks like.

[Kenny Minchey]

Indeed.

[Ryan Lemond]

Where is this one? Where is like, you know, on the scale of how good you need to be to compete at that level.

[Kenny Minchey]

Like you said, I've been around really good teams and this is a really good team. So I love it.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's all I need to hear. Nice to meet you, good luck to you and sandlot. You know what if we be, if we beat Alabama, we'll have a showing of the sand lot. We'll, we'll, we'll get it. You can come and say why you like it so much.

[Kenny Minchey]

Exactly. All right, I'll be there.

[Ryan Lemond]

All right, Kitty Minchi, we will take a break. Come back. Final segment here from Kroger fields ksr.

[Shannon Dawson]

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[Ryan Lemond]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[TJ Smith]

These days it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed. Human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio host's product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your Future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2020-2026 plan today. Call 844-844 iHeart. Again, that's 844-844 iheart.

[Drew Franklin]

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[Ryan Lemond]

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[Ryan Lemond]

So this is the Kenny Minchi song he likes.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Shannon Dawson]

This is Starved by Zach Bryan.

[Ryan Lemond]

Starved, yeah. I hope they don't play this when he runs out.

[Shannon Dawson]

No, we need to pick up the pace a little bit.

[Ryan Lemond]

I think we're gonna need to be

[Matt Jones]

getting him jacked up in the water.

[Ryan Lemond]

I need a little bit more energy when he comes out.

[Matt Jones]

Revival for when he comes out.

[Drew Franklin]

I would have guessed 50 artists before I would have guessed Zach Bryan is who he likes to listen to.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes. Well, you know, and a TV show.

[Drew Franklin]

I would not have guessed SpongeBob Square.

[Ryan Lemond]

You said it made you feel old that he likes Spongebob and he looks like he's 12. He does look like a child.

[Drew Franklin]

He's very, very young.

[Ryan Lemond]

Looking very young.

[Drew Franklin]

And he says, great hair. Watching SpongeBob, I'm like, oh my goodness. I am 100.

[Ryan Lemond]

He's very, he does look very, very young.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, he does.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

And a Nashville native that doesn't like the Titans. I thought we were going to bond over that too.

[Ryan Lemond]

And to me, I think I, you know, knowing nothing else about him besides what we saw there, I think he's, he's a very unique personality. But quarterbacks are like that. Quarterbacks, quarterbacks and kickers, they can be, they can be unique.

[Drew Franklin]

They can be very confident, boastful. And then there's guys.

[Ryan Lemond]

He was actually seemed like pretty humble.

[Drew Franklin]

Remind me like Steven Johnson. Steven Johnson's kind of that way.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's a good, that's a good analogy.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

859-280-2287. Court Physical Therapy. If you need. If you're out, you're working out, you know, you're in the. You're. You're doing the jumping jacks or the cartwheels. Court physical therapy. You might get hurt. Maybe you strain something.

[Matt Jones]

I would definitely get hurt trying to do a cartwheel.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'd like to see you do a cartwheel. Go to krt.com over 70 locations. Most of your insurance will pay for it. As you closer to the end of the year, your deductibles need to be used. Court.com that's k o r-.com go to court physical therapy. I was in the pool this weekend. Did some cartwheels. Finally figured out how to get the bugs out.

[Matt Jones]

You and the bugs just floating around are the ducks.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, apparently there's a thing called a pump.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, those are usually with pools.

[Ryan Lemond]

It might not have been on. Okay.

[Drew Franklin]

Your filter.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, maybe that wasn't on.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Probably should have done that.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Still got a lot to learn about the pool.

[Ryan Lemond]

But then once you did it, it was interesting. Bug going away.

[Matt Jones]

Wow. You're getting it all figured out, you

[Ryan Lemond]

know, slowly but surely. The blinds are now working. Now the only thing I have left is I have a fan, and I can't figure out how to turn it off or turn it on. And so birds are staying at the top of it. I need to turn it on so they'll get away from me.

[Matt Jones]

Hopefully. This is an outdoor fan.

[Ryan Lemond]

It is an outdoor fan. There are not birds in the house. That would be a problem. That would be a problem.

[Matt Jones]

Problem.

[Ryan Lemond]

But. But yeah, I'm starting to learn stuff and, you know, I'm feeling a little bit like a homeowner. One person wrote about the space. Matt, that's a. That's a lot of stuff on a very small part of your wall. Won't that look odd? No, Goober. That's the part the camera sees.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

It's not like it's your kitchen.

[Ryan Lemond]

It doesn't do any good to have stuff in parts that they can't see.

[Commercial Announcer]

I thought.

[Ryan Lemond]

You see what I'm saying.

[Drew Franklin]

I have plenty of room to add more stuff.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

All this stuff, like what you're seeing, that little square.

[TJ Smith]

We.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, Mario was there Friday. We've measured what can actually be seen on camera. If I put stuff to the left or above or to right now, you won't be able to see it anyway. I mean, I might do it eventually just for life. But, like, that was to for the background of what is going to be on camera. And then there's a little hole. But that hole is for me.

[Drew Franklin]

That's right.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's. That's my body. That will be right there.

[Matt Jones]

Sounds like somebody doesn't have a TV show broadcast out of their home.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I mean, like, I get it, but you understand, like I got it. You know, there's gotta be space for me and my big head. That's why there's that little line in the center that's from my head.

[Matt Jones]

All that stuff goes around. We get it.

[Ryan Lemond]

Sounds like he didn't.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, the guy clearly doesn't have a TV show.

[Ryan Lemond]

All right, so do you leave Media Day excited about the. This UK group?

[Drew Franklin]

I do. I mean, all I had to hear was Will Stein talk to us and that got me excited. I mean, I love every. Everything, everything.

[Ryan Lemond]

We've been to a lot of these over the years. I mean we. This is probably our 15th. Go back to when I started the website. Probably my 20th, but 15th, probably doing the show here. The thing, here's the thing that I would take away as my biggest takeaway. Drew, what's up? The class. And I don't mean class like hoity toity, but the status of everything. Has upgraded facilities, nicer, you know, the, the sort of, I guess, what would you call it, you know, arrangement of it, including like time is more precise, food is better. I know these are little things, but it suggests to me a group that's concerned about upgrading the look of something and details, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, it had gotten to the point that sometimes I felt like we were like going to a school cafeteria for stuff. And then it was just kind of like, oh, here we go. Here comes meaty again. There was a lot of thought put into today, you know what I mean? And I think that's kind of symbolic of the whole thing as a whole.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. This is just one day in their year long operation. So if everything is running so smoothly here and so well done today, it tells me that every day, whatever they have going on in their meeting and everything behind the scenes, that all that's in a row. And being very intentional with that too.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah. I mean, you. To me, the big things in life are determined by the little things. Right. So you remember many years ago, Drew, when I would be like, we have a post every hour and it would probably be like 7:05 and. And there wouldn't be a post. And I'd probably call and go, where's the post? And I'm sure people go, it's five minutes. Calm down. But there was a. There was a detail part. Let's get the details right, and then everything else will work. I get the sense that's how these guys are, that they are like, let's get the small stuff right, and then the big stuff will work after that.

[Drew Franklin]

And that's not just Stein. Everybody underneath him seems to be that.

[Ryan Lemond]

I agree. Kurt Signetti. I've been reading about Indiana. That's what he is. Right. Like, he's like, you get the details right. You know, it's the theory we've about the broken windows theory of policing, which some people don't like. It's a conservative theory. I actually agree with it. You're in a neighborhood and you see broken windows or you see graffiti, and you think to yourself, well, nobody cares about anything here.

[Commercial Announcer]

Correct.

[Ryan Lemond]

So I can do whatever I want. You clean up the graffiti, you. You fix the windows. And it looks like this is a place that's nice. This isn't a place for havoc. Right. I think the same thing's true about a football program. You do the details, the uniforms look good, you've put a new coat of paint, you put good food places, etc. And all of a sudden, everybody wants to upgrade to the environment where they're in.

[Drew Franklin]

And I think the. The football program needed that.

[Ryan Lemond]

I agree.

[Matt Jones]

Boost.

[Drew Franklin]

It got. I think they got a little stagnant. Stagnant's a great word.

[Kenny Minchey]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I think the whole thing. Towards the end of the Cal era, the basketball program was staggered, stacked. Towards the end of the Stoops era, the football program was stagnant. Towards the end of the Barnhart area, a lot of the athletic department stuff was stagnant. Yeah, it feels like that sort of injecting the boost I think is needed. And you could kind of feel that Drew today in a way that I think has been interesting to watch.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. To that I said for many years, it felt like they just run on autopilot over there. Like, let's just do it. We did.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes. That's the audience.

[Matt Jones]

And now there's new ideas and just working hard on everything. And also just with the players and the coaches that, well, Stein's got a little bit of arrogance, but there's a quiet confidence. This for many years is, let's go see what we can do. Let's go to work. Well, maybe we'll surprise everyone. This is like, no, we're good. And we're good. We're ready to go. Show it.

[Ryan Lemond]

I like it. Well, Listen, thank you all very much. Thanks to UK for setting us up here at Media Day and thanks to all the folks in Lexington. We've been doing this at this place now two last three days. Let's just keep coming. 3:00pm ESPN Radio would love to have you for the first one. Also follow the new Instagram. Matt and Myron. I don't. I don't like the logo. ESPN did a logo. I don't like it.

[Matt Jones]

You can get that fixed. Also, we need Ryan's journalism to move from this chair to everyone.

[Ryan Lemond]

Do you think you can be what you are here in the studio?

[Drew Franklin]

I'll try, but I'm in my comfort zone here.

[Matt Jones]

Belly button.

[Ryan Lemond]

Keep Tom Leach on your belly button. All right, we'll do that. We'll see you later.

[Matt Jones]

KSR 5 guys 10.

[Drew Franklin]

Ryan Seacrest here.

[Ryan Lemond]

So every great barbecue takes a little patience. And while the food does its thing, you can enjoy a little Chumba Casino. The perfect recipe. Chamba Casino. Always good to have you back.

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[Kenny Minchey]

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[Ryan Lemond]

What do I do?

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[Shannon Dawson]

Like what?

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[Kenny Minchey]

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[Drew Franklin]

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