Breakdown of UK Coaching Staff

Here is a great post about the UK coaching staff by one of the followers on this site.

UK Football Coaching Staff Underscoring Joker’s Emphasis on Recruiting - Messenger

On January 6, 2010, Joe “Joker” Phillips was named the 12th Head Football Coach at University of Kentucky since World War II. Phillips was promoted following seven seasons on the staff of former coach Rich Brooks.

Phillips’ grandmother gave him his nickname as a baby, and he has been known to everyone as “Joker” ever since. Joker, a native of Franklin , KY , was an all-state football player at Franklin-Simpson High School . He became an all-SEC performer at UK in 1981-84 under former Wildcat coach Jerry Claiborne. At the time of his graduation, Joker ranked fifth on UK 's list of receivers with 75 career receptions for 935 yards. He played three seasons of professional football with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (1985, 1987) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (1986).

In 1988-89, Joker began his coaching career as a UK graduate assistant. In 1990, he was named UK ’s Assistant Recruiting Coordinator. In 1991-96, he served his first tour of duty as the Wildcats’ wide receivers coach.

In 2003, Joker was hired by Brooks to return to Lexington as UK 's wide receivers coach and Recruiting Coordinator. As Offensive Coordinator in 2006-08 and as “Head Coach of the Offense” in 2009, Joker continued to coach UK 's wide receivers. Having developed star Wildcat receivers Neal Clark, Kio Sanford, Craig Yeast, Derek Abney, Keenan Burton, Steve Johnson, and Dickie Lyons, Jr., Joker is considered the most successful wide receivers coach in UK history. His 2007 offensive unit was the most prolific in UK football history.

Joker has retained the nucleus of Brooks' staff. Associate Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Steve Ortmayer, Offensive Coordinator Randy Sanders, Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown, Recruiting Coordinator/linebackers coach Chuck Smith, defensive backs coach Chris Thurmond, and running backs coach Larry Brinson provide continuity on Joker's staff.

On January 22, Joker named Mike Summers as offensive line coach and David Turner as defensive line coach.

Turner is a native of Goldston , NC . Turner's 24 years of coaching experience include tours of duty at four SEC schools. In 1993-94, Turner served as UK 's defensive ends coach. Turner was defensive line coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Vanderbilt 2002-05. He served as defensive ends coach at the University of Alabama in 2006, and as defensive line coach at Mississippi State University in 2007-09.

Summers, a Lexington native, is married to the former Kathy Hall, daughter of former UK basketball coach Joe B. Hall. As a UK graduate assistant in 1980-81, Summers helped recruit Joker Phillips. The two coaches have remained close. Summers served as Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Oregon State in 1991-95. In 2000 he served as Recruiting Coordinator at Oklahoma State University . In 2003-06 he was offensive line coach at UL. Summers then served as offensive line coach for the NFL Atlanta Falcons in 2007. In 2008-09, he was offensive line coach and Assistant Head Coach at the University of Arkansas . When Joker called, Summers and his wife came home to Lexington .

On February 9, Joker named Tee Martin as UK 's new wide receivers coach. Martin is a native of Mobile , AL . Under Randy Sanders' tutelage, Martin was the starting quarterback for the University of Tennessee 's undefeated 1998 NCAA Championship team. Martin still holds the NCAA record for consecutive pass completions in a game (23, versus South Carolina in 1998). Martin played six professional seasons for the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Oakland Raiders, and CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He has served as a coach and consultant for Elite Eleven Quarterback Camps and Nike Football Training Camps. He founded the Dual Threat Quarterback Camp and Academy. Martin served as the quarterbacks coach for the University of New Mexico in 2009.

During the offseason, Joker hired Ray "Rock" Oliver as UK 's new Director of Strength and Conditioning. Oliver is a Cincinnati native. Oliver has served as strength coach for the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals as well as the NBA New Jersey Nets. He has worked previously at the University of Kansas , University of Pittsburgh , University of South Carolina , and Memphis University . In 1989-92, he served as the strength coach for UK 's basketball team. Oliver is a personal friend of current UK basketball coach John Calipari.

Since being promoted to head coach, Joker has repeatedly emphasized that success in the SEC depends on strong recruiting. The Commonwealth of Kentucky annually produces 10-20 Division-One football prospects. Although this is not enough athletes to support a successful SEC football program, UK ’s coaching staff has been able to compensate in recent years by recruiting out-of-state athletes.

Throughout Brooks’ tenure, UK ’s staff focused on recruiting adjacent states plus Georgia and South Carolina . Looking at the recruiting histories of Joker’s coaching staff, it seems clear that Joker intends to continue his well-established recruiting focus in Georgia and South Carolina, while also ramping up his staff's efforts in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. Each of those states produces many more Division-One football prospects than their home state universities can accommodate. By staying in close touch with high school coaching staffs in those areas and studiously scouting their athletes, UK ’s staff is opening up recruiting “pipelines” to out-of-state schools such as Stephenson, LaGrange, and Alcoa High Schools . In doing so, Joker hopes to overcome the small number of athletes produced by high schools inside the Commonwealth.

Joker's first UK recruiting class, announced on February 3, is already considered one of UK ’s better classes of the modern era. Joker will enter his first season in 2010 as UK 's Head Football Coach with a staff that includes five other current or former NCAA Division-One recruiting coordinators besides himself (Smith, Sanders, Summers, Turner, Thurmond) as well as a former NFL General Manager (Ortmayer).

Having formerly coached for many years at Boyle County High School , Smith is very well-known among high school coaches across the Commonwealth. Since being promoted to Recruiting Coordinator in 2009, Chuck has developed an effective recruiting network in Florida , Indiana , and southern Ohio .

Ortmayer has strong recruiting connections in the California junior college system. Steve has also developed a network among former NFL associates still in the coaching business along the east coast.

Sanders is a strong recruiter in his home state of Tennessee . Since his days as Tennessee ’s Offensive Coordinator, Randy has been developing a recruiting network in southern Ohio . In the last several years, he has begun to recruit in Indiana and North Carolina , as well.

Summers has developed extensive recruiting contacts across the South, especially in Texas , Arkansas , and Florida . Mike also knows many high school football coaches in western and central Kentucky .

Turner is well-known by many successful high school coaches in Mississippi , Alabama , Georgia , North Carolina , South Carolina , and Florida . David also has extensive recruiting contacts in the Mississippi junior college system.

Thurmond is well-connected in central and eastern Texas , Louisiana , and Alabama .

By working on “elite camp” staffs, Martin has developed a network of connections in the mid-east and across the south. Tee is particularly well-known among high school coaches in Tennessee , Georgia and Alabama . Recently he has been traveling in Illinois and on the east coast.

As Joker’s 2011 recruiting class takes shape, it will be interesting to see how his staff expands its geographic recruiting focus during their first full year together in Lexington .