Kentucky Football Remains Focused Following Tumultuous Week
The routine and grind of game week is anything but that ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Akron. Sunday’s postgame film study was interrupted by what was described as a “medical episode” Liam Coen suffered at the Kentucky football practice facility.
Fortunately, Kentucky’s offensive coordinator is on the mend and in good spirits. He was released from the hospital Tuesday and shared this on social media: “I’m doing much better, thankful for the care I received at UK Chandler Hospital, and can’t wait to see you Saturday at Kroger Field.”
It’s great news now, but it was certainly a scary situation over the weekend. Like it did back in 2018 when Mark Stoops learned a player and a coach received a cancer diagnosis, football took a backseat to game prep.
“We are very close,” said defensive coordinator Brad White. “We take it all personal: wins, losses. If somebody on the team, their son’s playing a football game, we want them to win. We take that high school game seriously. We’re all connected in this and it’s something that makes this place special. And it’s the reason that coach (Stoops) has been able to have the continuity he has, because he’s built that. We’ve all been through a lot for my five-plus years now going on. It’s a family.”
Once Coen was in good hands at the UK Chanler Hospital, Stoops and his staff returned to the facility late Sunday night to continue their work to prepare for Akron. Like every Monday, Stoops held a team meeting and the players went back to work. There’s still much to be done after Kentucky left some meat on the bone following a couple of winning performances.
“I think everybody’s focused on what we’ve got to do, and that’s the key is that we stay focused on what we have to do,” said White. “Things that happen on the field, off the field, we always have to put our eyes forward, our minds in the right spot, our hearts in the right spot and we’ll go from there.”
The players are picking up what the coaches are putting down.
“Guys are eager to learn more, learn about the team that we’re about to go against and just learn what they like to do,” said cornerback Maxwell Hairston, “try to figure out the scheme and just continue to be happy and just have a great practice together.”
Kentucky will host Akron at Kroger Field Saturday night 7:30 pm.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard