While there’s a lot of excitement around the program right now, there are also a lot of question marks. Will Stein hasn’t coached a game yet. New staff, new schemes, new players. And, perhaps, most importantly, there’s a brand new quarterback.
Notre Dame transfer quarterback Kenny Minchey is set to take the reins with limited experience under his belt. As we’ve seen in the past, this could pay off well or go extremely poorly. Will Levis turned into a star, but Brock Vandagriff was horrific.
There are obviously concerns about how it’ll all work out, but Stein and Joe Sloan have shown enough promise developing quarterbacks that you just have to trust them, despite the former four-star quarterback tallying just 212 yards with no passing touchdowns on just 29 career pass attempts.
To date, Stein has talked up the redshirt junior quarterback, noting his improvement each and every day, but that doesn’t mean he’s been perfect.
“He’s still a guy that hasn’t played and started games, so there’s going to be some growing pains in practice to get him to where he needs to be,” Stein said Saturday after Kentucky’s second scrimmage of fall camp.
That doesn’t mean Minchey won’t be everything the Cats need and more. It just means that he’s learning how to man the position. The most important part about doing that, according to Stein, is to take what’s given to him.
“Even the best players, it’s just about taking the easy money. You don’t have to force plays down the field,” said Stein. “You don’t have to get antsy if you just make the correct play each time. The ball is going to move forward. That’s not just with new players. It’s young and old.
“Playing quarterback, it’s an art and a science. You’ve got to understand the down and distance, you’ve got to understand the situation, and you’ve got to play to that situation and know that you have really good players around you.”
The good news is that Stein believes Minchey is surrounded by more than enough talent to succeed. Kentucky’s head coach didn’t say it, but Minchey’s got the right coaching, too.
So, how has Minchey fared during fall camp? And how’d he do in Kentucky’s most recent scrimmage?
“Kenny’s had an elite camp,” Stein said. “He’s at a really good camp; he’s improved. I thought he had his best week of practice.”
What really stood out to both Stein and Sloan was Minchey’s willingness to pull the down and make a play with his legs.
“We really stressed to him, this week more than ever, ‘We need to see you use your feet. You have good skill with your feet, so run. Push the pocket and run.’ He’s got a black jersey in practice, so he can’t get touched, but he can still learn to push the pocket and go take off. That has to happen for us. The best guys in the country and in the world can use their feet to go get first downs.”
Will Kentucky’s new starting quarterback be ready when it’s time for opening kickoff? We’ll find out soon enough as the season is set to begin in less than two weeks.
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