He calls it “Operation Win.”  

It was the first system Kentucky head football coach Joker Phillips enacted after taking over for the retired Rich Brooks this season.

Its mission, according to Phillips, is very simple. His Wildcats will win in the classroom, the community and on the field. “Operation Win” will be another step toward making Kentucky more than just a basketball school.

Joker Phillips

Despite the familiarity with his team as an alumnus and assistant coach, the transition has not come without mild turbulence.

“Has everybody bought in? No,” Phillips said at SEC Media Days in July. “But the ones that haven’t bought in, they will either be no longer with us or they’ll be the best-conditioned player on our football team. We need those guys to buy in.”

Phillips is looking to build off a four-year bowl streak and win last season over Georgia in Athens for the first time in 30 years. And he is in charge of a squad with the potential to further that success. 

“We have pretty high expectations going into this season,” said junior Randall Cobb, who played both wideout and quarterback last season. “We have a lot of guys at skill positions returning and Coach Phillips has brought in a new mentality and new intensity.”

Whether or not “Operation Win” is in full effect, Kentucky players seem to have noticed, and they feed off their head coach’s commitment and passion.

“‘Big Blue Nation’ will embrace what’s happening in our place,” Cobb said. “That’s what we want. We want the ‘Big Blue Nation’ to embrace what’s happening in Kentucky. And they will only embrace if they feel good about what’s happening at Kentucky.

Cobb said this season should prove to be a good one for the Wildcats.

“Everything is great,” Cobb said. “The intensity is crazy and every day it’s like, ‘Man, we’re getting better and better.’”