Published: August 06, 2008 05:30 pm            

Hometown Wildcats

Josh Minton, Tyler Sexton ready to step up for 2008 Kentucky football team

Lexington — For the past two years, Tyler Sexton and Josh Minton have each been members of the University of Kentucky football team, yet, their collegiate football careers have certainly taken different paths.

On the one hand, Sexton has contributed and in a big way for Kentucky, playing on the Cats special teams in both the 2006 and 2007 football seasons; two years that saw UK win back to back bowl games for only the second time in school history.

Minton on the other hand, coming out of Southwestern High School as one of the most sought after recruits in the Bluegrass at the conclusion of the ‘05 high school football season, has yet to play a down in a Kentucky uniform. Instead of making tackles in the backfield and wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks, Minton has basically taken on the role of a cheerleader for UK from the sidelines over the past two years, while watching the Wildcats win back to back Music City Bowls over Clemson and Florida State respectively.

But 2008 is a new year, and both of these ex-high school All-Staters from Pulaski County are bound and determined to take their UK careers to the next level and beyond as the Cats head into fall practice this week.

For Josh Minton, it’s been an incredibly frustrating couple of years in Lexington for the former Southwestern All-State product, who was also voted as an All-American while playing for the Warriors by both SuperPrep and PrepStar Magazines.

Minton was red-shirted for the 2006 season, but during the spring of ‘07, the freshman was turning heads at UK during spring practice.

Then, disaster struck.

Minton blew out the ACL on his left knee during the Cats annual Blue-White spring game last year, but 16 months later, rehab is now behind him, he says his knee is at about 90 percent, and he’s chomping at the bit to get out on the field and make his presence known on UK’s defensive front.

“It’s been very disappointing, but it’s just made me all that more hungry and I’ve just got to look at the positive side of things,” stated Minton, earlier this week at UK’s annual Media Day.

“I’m bigger, I’m faster, I’m stronger, and I’m just ready to contribute this year,” added the former Southwestern standout.

Coach Rich Brooks meanwhile, is excited to have a healthy Josh Minton ready to go in 2008, and the UK coach says his team needs Minton and his high-motor to help out on the defensive line this season, as the Cats get set to battle through the rugged Southeastern Conference.

“I’m very hopeful that Josh can get in there this season,” stated Brooks. “He’s been bothered a little bit this summer with patella tendinitis on his surgical knee, and we hope that will settle down and not be a factor, because we certainly need him in our rotation on the defensive line.”

“I think he’s certainly got the ability to do that, but we’ll have to wait and see if he’s able to push all the way through fall camp without any major setbacks,” added the Kentucky head coach.

Of course one hurdle Minton is going to have to climb before the season gets underway will be from a mental standpoint.

After all, when the Cats take the field against Louisville at Papa John’s Stadium later this month on August 31st in their season opener, it will have been almost three years since Josh Minton will have appeared on the gridiron, let alone trying to make a tackle or taking a hit by shedding off a block.

So Josh, how big of an obstacle is getting back out on the field going to be from a mental standpoint?

“It’s always a concern when you’ve been out that long, and I think my mental state is probably a little weaker than my physical state right now,” stated Minton very candidly.

“It’s hard to get out there and have the mindset that I’m going to be 100 percent,” he added. “That’s something that I worked on during spring, and that’s what I’m going to work on during fall camp in getting ready for the season.”

Meanwhile, Minton’s fellow teammate and a former star of the Pulaski County Maroons, Tyler Sexton, has made an impact at UK, albeit on special teams over the course of the past two seasons.

Sexton, a red-shirt junior, is headed into fall camp with only one goal in mind — not only contributing on special teams, but the ex-Maroon says he’s ready and also chomping at the bit to get in on some of the fun in UK’s highly explosive offense for the upcoming season.

“We’ve got a lot of tight ends this year — I believe we’ve got seven in all, and we’ve got some talented freshmen coming in, but I think I’ve got some unique abilities,” stated Sexton. “I think I’m bigger and a little bit stronger than some of the other guys, and I can work in some situations where they can’t, like some goalline and short-yardage situations.”

“There will definitely be some packages where I’ll be in there, and I’m really going to work hard to get some offensive playing time this year,” added the UK tight end.

Coach Brooks meanwhile, says he’s loves Sexton’s work ethic, and notes the tight end has been a key contributor on special teams over the past two seasons at Kentucky.

As for playing time on offense in 2008, the UK coach says Sexton will have to battle his way into UK’s offensive huddle, but at the same time, he believes Sexton is very capable.

“Tyler’s done a lot of good things for us,” said coach Brooks. “We have added to that position (tight end) since he has been in school, and he’s up against some stiff competition for playing time there with T.C. Drake, Ross Bogue, and now Maurice Grinter.”

“However, I still expect Tyler to play a vital role for us this year and make continued contributions to the success of our football team,” Brooks added.

Of course earlier this week, the UK players learned that one of the quarterbacks in the two-horse race for the starting job as Andre Woodson’s replacement, Curtis Pulley, had been dismissed from UK for violation of team rules.

As an offensive unit, Sexton says they hate to lose a teammate, especially with the athletic ability that Pulley brought to the table, but as a team, they have to move forward.

“You always hate it when you lose a player on your team, especially a player of the caliber of Curtis Pulley,” said Sexton. “He had unlimited potential on the football field, but I don’t think we lose as far as the quarterback situation. I think (Mike) Hartline is a great quarterback, and I think he’ll be more than able to fill those shoes.”

On a final note, despite back to back bowl wins over the past two years that has began to put Kentucky football back on the national map somewhat, UK hasn’t gotten much love from the national media or the preseason publications over the summer headed into the ‘08 campaign.

Kentucky, in most of those preseason publications, has been picked to finish fifth in the SEC East, finishing ahead of only lowly Vanderbilt.

For coach Brooks, that respect, or more appropriately a lack thereof, is just fine with the UK boss.

“I understand some of it to a certain extent, because they (the media) look at it historically at the successful programs in our league, and they have a hard time rating them down for a team that has just made a showing in the past two years like we have,” noted the UK coach.

“We need to do it more consistently and that’s why, to me, this year is very critical to the respect of Kentucky football,” Brooks added.

If Josh Minton and Tyler Sexton have anything to do with it, the UK football program will get its respect and then some.

        

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