LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Jun 3, 2010 4:59 PM
Updated: Jun 3, 2010 5:00 PM

Joker with pride is 'old school.'

The caretaker of UK football believes that in the good old days, the way he was raised was the right way. Or as some say, there is no such thing as a new antique.

"Nothing should change," says UK's coach.

"I think I was raised pretty good by people who were demanding. And the thing is we have changed. I don't think kids have changed."

"The way we are raising kids today has changed and I think nothing should change. Make everything a competition with kids. Make reading a competition also."

Joker went back to Franklin Elementary School and met with his third grade teacher. He returned as a hero. But, hero or not, you have the same fears that everyone else has. Has nothing to do with now being the head football coach at the University of Kentucky. You wonder what you were like. It's like getting a report card decades later.

"I thought I was a bad third grader, but she told me I was pretty good third grader which made me feel good."

Joker was being serious, but he was also smiling.

"One thing I've tried to do is stay humble. And your third grade teacher will humble you in a hurry."

The lessons learned from third grade not only have stayed with Joker today, but it's part of his coaching philosophy.

"She (Rachael Cothern) is really the one who got me excited about reading. She had some big incentives. That incentive was bubble gum. It was hard candy. So, I always really liked her because there was always something at the end if you did something. It's similar to sports. There is a prize at the end if you win. I'm not one to get the second place ribbon. I was never one to care about the second place ribbon. And that is the way she taught me with spelling words and reading."

Joker wants his players to earn everything.

"If in the end you do the right things you will get a piece of bubble gum or a piece of candy."