If you ask Anwar Stewart about his blocked field goal against Alabama in 1997, he will downplay the significance of what he did. However, he returned that block 68 yards for a touchdown in UK’s overtime win over Alabama that touched off a wild post-game celebration where the goal posts came down.
     Stewart, a linebacker/defensive end at UK, went on to a 13-year professional career in Canada including four Grey Cups.
     Now he’s the defensive line coach at Kentucky and is not prone to talk about his play.
     “I don’t make it about me. I tell guys my time is up. God blessed me with an understanding of the game. My job now is to help them and educate them so they can be successful,” said Stewart, “It ain’t about me but sometimes when you recruit kids they want to know how you can develop them.
     “I played at the next level for a long time. I am not a guy who just read a book or went to a (coaching) convention and is now supposed to be an expert coach. I did that but I also played a long time. Big Dog (UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow) teases me that I want to be the best DL coach in the country. That’s why I work so hard. I want players to get better. I don’t know all the answers but I know where to go to get them.”
     But what about that field goal return and win over Alabama?
     “That was a big part of Kentucky football and history at the time. It was a great time for us and one of the few times we had gone to back to back bowls,” Stewart said. “I am trying to beat Georgia, Florida, Tennessee in the same year and do things we have not accomplished in a long time, or maybe never.
     “We are ready to go. We are trying to build on what we have now and not the past. It is always nice to go back and reminisce. It was a great time. But let’s go beat Alabama now and then I will talk.”
     Stewart said it has been “electric” around the UK football facility getting ready for the upcoming season.
     “Our guys are doing a h*** of a job in the weight room. Guys have stepped up and competed against each other to make us better. We are just sharpening all those tools that we can,” the Florida native said.
     Stewart insists he has “patience” with his players to help develop their talent but has little patience with less than 100 percent effort.
     “If you don’t come with that want-to, that is where I have an issue,” Stewart, who returned to UK for the 2020 season after one year at Appalachian State, said. “I always tell guys if they will give me effort then I will develop them into the

Defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, back right, expects maximum effort from his players and wants to help Kentucky football football create more history. (UK Athletics Photo)

player they want to be. If a guy isn’t doing that, I have to figure out why and how I can help him come with passion and the love for the game it kicks.
     “If you don’t have that, you should not be here. This is the SEC and a grown man’s league. I tell them there are so many guys around the nation who would love to be where you are. I tell my guys you don’t have to do this but you get to do this. Take advantage of the opportunity you have and that’s what I think we have guys ready to do this season.”

     Kentucky’s Isaiah Jackson was one of seven Southeastern Conference players picked in the first round of the NBA draft and the only UK player. He was picked 22nd by the Los Angeles Lakers but ended up with Indiana after two trades that suited him because it put him closer to family in Michigan.
     Jackson said Indiana fans should know he is a hard worker.
     “I bring it all, I’m a defensive anchor, I'm going to be their energy guy that Indiana needs and like I keep saying, I can't wait to get there and get to work and show everybody, prove everybody wrong,” Jackson said.
     Obviously, Jackson feels he should have gone higher than 22nd.
     Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy believes Jackson can develop into an elite defender.
     “He gets off his feet so quickly and reads shooters so well. It seemed unlikely that minutes would be there early in his career in LA, as the Lakers focus on winning another title. Which is why it makes sense they would trade the pick away to the Pacers,” DeCourcy wrote.
     Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo also called Jackson an “elite run-jump athlete” who could provide needed inside defense for the Pacers.
     Jackson will be playing in the NBA Summer League and is eager to show what he has been working on since his UK career ended.
     “I just want to help Indiana win. I know like last year they didn't have the best season but I can't wait to get there and just help them win. That's my whole

     Boyle County all-state kicker Jackson Smith has already verbally committed to Kentucky — the school where his father, Andy, was an all-SEC punter. He has a strong, accurate leg and is also a highly regarded punter.
     This season, though, he also figures to be a full-time position player for Boyle, the defending Class 4A champion.
     “He is more than likely going to start at tight end or outside linebacker,” Boyle coach Justin Haddix said. “He is practicing there right now. He wants to play.
     “He has worked hard in the weight room. He does not want to just be a kicker. He has earned the right to do that. He is practicing like a starter on defense. Right now he probably looks the best for us on defense. He is really strong. He looks more like a linebacker than a kicker. He is really put together now because he’s worked really hard in the weight room.”
     Haddix admits it is hard not to take Smith’s kicking/punting for “granted” because of his past success.
     “He has proven he can do the job. He’s just that good to where you don’t even really worry about him. Probably not fair to him but it also just shows how much confidence we have in him,” Haddix said.

     John Calipari is not the only SEC coach producing first-round NBA draft picks as Moses Moody of Arkansas was picked 14th in last week’s draft. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says while Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has NBA experience, that’s not why he can produce talented players.
     “The NBA experience I think is helpful, but it’s the level of detail that he has as a coach. You’ve seen it up close, the scouting stuff. Those guys are detail oriented,” Bilas said. “I’m a believer that players respond to whatever the coach really believes in.
     “Some people they play music during practice, they do this, they do that. Eric is really detail oriented and really high energy, and I think the players respond, and clearly they responded really well to it at Nevada and Arkansas. I think Moses certainly benefited from being around that level of detail, and you could see his improvement over the course of the year as a result of it.”
     However, Moody was not the first SEC player drafted. That was Josh Primo of Alabama at No. 12. Five more players — Tre Mann of Florida (18), Keon

Johnson of Tennessee (21), Isaiah Jackson of Kentucky (22), Cameron Thomas of LSU (27) and Jaden Springer of Tennessee (28) — all went in the first round. That meant six SEC teams had a first-round draft pick. Five more players were picked in round two, including two from Auburn.
     Auburn’s Bruce Pearl had first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 before JT Thor went 37 and Sharife Cooper 48 this year.
     “I think the quality of players there at Auburn has certainly gone way up since Bruce got there, and that’s not a huge surprise. I mean, Bruce is one of the best coaches in the country,” Bilas said.
     Bilas also said Alabama coach Nate Oats — who had Primo and Herb Jones (35) drafted — is going to continue to build his brand at Alabama.
     “If those guys do well, that’s going to be another selling point for the Alabama program, that you can reach your destination of the NBA through Tuscaloosa,” Bilas said.
     Kentucky will play Alabama twice during the 2021-22 season.

     The proposed College Football Playoff expansion will likely increase playoff teams from four to 12 and count UK senior defensive lineman Josh Paschal as a believer in the change.
     “Unfortunately, I won't be able to experience it. I think it will be a good change just because I think it will bring a lot of competition to the stage because you're going to have an expansion of that so there's going to be more teams to get involved,” Paschal said. “It won't be like, if you're fifth in the country, you're automatically out of it. So I think it will bring a lot of competition.”
     For a team like Kentucky, that’s big because knowing being in the top 12, not the top four, could result in a playoff berth is a more realistic expectation. However, Paschal doesn’t think it would change the way teams he has been on have played.
     “I know that we gave it our all each season. Especially at Kentucky, we've been through a lot, not only in Kentucky football but in our athletic program. We took a lot of losses in our athletic program, especially with coach Schlarman and the football program, and of course with (linebacker) Chris Oats,” Paschal said. “Playing lightly is something that we don't do, so I think we're all good with that.”
     Some have questioned what impact adding more games — probably three — might have on athletes. Paschal understands the concern.
     “That would be a lot of games, but at the same time, if you want to be the champion, you've got to do it. I don't think that would really raise a concern to the people that actually get into the playoff expansion,” Paschal said.

  Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week 1:

     “It is flattering but I am not on social media a ton. When I hear something like that it is encouraging and motivating that people think those things about me but it is maybe those who do not think I can do that are even more motivating,” Kentucky volleyball senior Alli Stumler on being mentioned as a potential national player of the year candidate.

Quote of the Week 2:

     "I'm most definitely going up there to play quarterback first. If that doesn't work, and they don't have that plan for me, I'll just talk to my family about it and talk to God about it and just see how everything would work out,” UK commit Destin Wade of Tennessee when asked by the Tennessean about playing quarterback in college.

Quote of the Week 3:

     “Summer has been fun because of my teams, the travel and the basketball. The extra attention has been fine. But my favorite part is just hanging out with my teammates and getting to play against some really good players,” North Laurel junior Reed Sheppard to the Sentinel-Echo’s Les Dixon evaluation of his summer play/recruitment.