Upon further review with Todd Greenwell: Closer look at Drew Barker

Cats Illustrated goes in-depth with football coach Todd Greenwell as he explores a variety of topics relating to the Wildcats.

Greenwell has coached football for 15 years ranging from youth leagues to junior high and high school. He's currently the freshman defensive backs coach at Trinity High School in Louisville and the last couple of years he coached at Holy Cross, also in Louisville, as well as a youth team.

Greenwell got quite a following on Twitter and many of the nation's coaches at different levels follow and interact with him. You can follow him @GreenwellTodd.

Our first topic is on the quarterback and Drew Barker in particular. Going into Mark Stoops' fourth season there's no more important player for the UK program, and the success the Cats have this year will largely hinge on the progress Barker makes from his redshirt freshman year through the fall campaign.

We'll ask our question and then hang up and listen, so to speak.

Todd Greenwell: Unfortunately (Barker) never got to play in what I would call good weather. It's hard to throw a football in the cold when you're bundled up. You never really get comfortable. You look at throwing percentages and they're always down in the winter and they go down as the year goes along. He never really got a good shot to be out there sweating his tail off, running around and getting the juices flowing.

Overall he threw for 50-percent and that's not acceptable in any league. High schools are not going to really want that. That's got to get better, plain and simple. I think one of the writers in the Herald-Leader might have mentioned that about a month ago in a really good article. That's got to get better.

I've gone back and watched all four of the games that he's played or three that I think he started. His anticipation was I think a little slower than I think it needs to be. I think he knows what he wanted to do but (he was) a step slow in letting it go. You get your read and you've gotta move your eyes and you've gotta move your feet. That transaction was going a little slow for him.

When I watched the spring game over and over again, it looked like that comfort level is starting to rise, and the worst snap he had was closer to the best snap that I was able to find last year. That part of the anticipation has got me somewhat excited because he really was able to get off of the first mark and onto the second one before his feet were moving and that's what you have to do otherwise you're going to be late on your throw. ...

I'm really excited. I think that Gran and Hinshaw -- I've never met them, never talked to them -- but it looks like they've got a pretty good working relationship between themselves and they've also given the quarterback the framework where he can diagnose what they're doing wrong and then be able to self-correct it themselves. You can't be out on the field all the time. You've got to be able to give him the tools to be able to say, 'This is what's happening. This is when it's wrong. You've got to be able to self-correct and all of that at the snap."