College football insider: Suddenly, they can coach

David Lockwood still wears his hat backward and scoots around the sideline as if he has four cups of coffee in him during games.

He still talks the same, laughs the same, and swears to have the same level of football knowledge. But it's amazing how fast a guy can go from a total lunkhead to a darn good football coach, at least in fan perception.

"That's usually how it works," he said.

Lockwood was the target of intense criticism as the Gophers defensive coordinator throughout in the 2006 season and, in particular, the epic collapse against Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl.

The heat wasn't nearly as bad for Craig Bray, the team's secondary coach, but he too heard grumbling over the porous pass defense.

Today, both coaches stand at the other end of the spectrum. Lockwood is the defensive backs coach at Kentucky, which is 6-1 and ranked No. 8 nationally coming off a thrilling 43-37 triple-overtime victory against top-ranked LSU last week.

Bray accepted the defensive coordinator's job at Arizona State days before the Insight Bowl (thus avoiding being fired with the rest of Glen Mason's staff) and also is loving life. The Sun Devils are 7-0 and ranked No. 12 this week.

"It's 82 and sunny, and we're sitting here 7-0 with a bye week," Bray said this week. "Things are going good."

That would be an understatement for Lockwood, who has had a hand in one of college football's true feel-good stories this season. Kentucky football has been mostly a diversion until basketball season, but not anymore.

The Wildcats defeated Louisville when the Cardinals were ranked in the top 10, won at Arkansas and upset the No. 1 ranked team, which triggered a wild celebration.

"It was as good as it gets," Lockwood said. "The only way it could get better is if we go and beat Florida [on Saturday]."

Lockwood said he didn't envision this scenario when he joined the Kentucky staff this winter. He saw a program on the rise, received favorable reports from Kentucky offensive coordinator Joker Phillips (another former Gophers assistant) and jumped at the chance to coach in the SEC.

Kentucky, which finished 118th nationally in pass defense last season, is ranked 27th this season and has made 10 interceptions.

"It's been a lot of fun," Lockwood said.

A coordinator at Minnesota for two seasons, Lockwood said he hopes to get another opportunity to run a defense some day, but he isn't consumed by it.

"Do I miss it now? No, not really," he said. "I guess maybe I miss parts of it, but I'm not unhappy that I'm not coordinating."

Bray returned to coordinating this season after a five-year absence. He was reunited with ASU coach Dennis Erickson, who had Bray on his staff during stops at Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Miami and Oregon State.

The Sun Devils rank 18th nationally in both total defense and takeaways. But Bray admits his defense has benefitted from a favorable schedule, which has helped a unit that is not blessed with gobs of talent.

"We've really simplified things," he said. "I think as a coach you have to look at what you've got and then determine what you can do. We've done a good job of saying, 'This is who we are.'"

Bray, who spent only one season at Minnesota, paused for a second.

"Hey, I'm smart enough to know I'm not very smart," he said. "I do keep it simple."

Chip Scoggins • ascoggins@startribune.com