When Kentucky players were talking about “real football” prior to their game versus the Tennessee Vols in 2022, is it anything you remember?
In front of a sold-out crowd at Neyland Stadium, Tennessee’s players and coaches took it personally and made Kentucky pay for their remarks by beating the Wildcats 44-6.
(During the course of the game, the Vols used primarily running plays in a 15-play drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Princeton Fant. On that drive, they defeated Kentucky at their own game.)
Gerald Mincey, an offensive lineman with the Vols, moved to Kentucky last month. And he already seems to be embracing the “real football” philosophy of the Wildcats.
During a recent press conference at Kentucky, Mincey seemed to make some disparaging remarks about the Tennessee offense in which he spent two seasons as a player.
When asked about the distinction between the two infractions, Mincey responded, “I won’t be out of breath because I don’t have to run hurry-up anymore.” “However, I enjoy this insult. I’m preparing for the NFL with it. It’s more of a pro-style offensive, to use NFL lingo. Instead of merely inserting and using a hurry-up or tempo system, as we did at Tennessee, I can truly demonstrate my versatility with outside zone and inside zone.”
For the past few years, opposition coaches and national draft experts have promoted the same myth, namely that Tennessee’s system does not adequately prepare its players for the NFL.
It’s also simply untrue. Anyone should know that, including Mincey. He did, after all, play with Darnell Wright at Tennessee in 2022. Wright had a fantastic debut season with the Chicago Bears after being chosen as the No. 10 overall choice in the 2023 NFL Draft.
This offseason, Mincey’s one-sided verbal sparring with Tennessee has persisted, which has been an unusual occurrence. All he’s doing is giving his old teammates plenty of incentive for the Vols vs. Wildcats game the following season.
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