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NCAA rules minimize how much time Joker Phillips can spend with his team during the summer. So while the first campaign in Phillip's "Operation Win" plan to take Kentucky up the ladder in the SEC takes place in the weight room, the new coach can only follow along by checking in with his strength coaches.

Ray "Rock" Oliver, the director of strength and conditioning who was lured back to Kentucky by Phillips in the spring, is heading up the Cats off-season workouts.

"Just listening to Rock and his staff, just the attitude of those guys and how they've worked, there hasn't been any complaining. They've showed up every day and he's been in their face and they accept it," Phillips said.

"Operation Win" is the brainchild of Phillips but he knows that it has no chance for success if the players do not entirely buy in to it, too. He thinks that their dedication this summer proves that they already have.

"We've climbed halfway up this ladder, they are the ones that want to take this program to the next level," he said.

The physical transformation as the Cats bulk up in the weight room isn't the only change coming out of the workouts, according to Randall Cobb.

"This summer has been great, especially our leadership role. A lot of guys have really stepped up this summer," he said.

In years past when Cobb challenged a teammate sometimes the response was a shrug of the shoulders or an eye roll. Now Cobb says everyone is on the same page and new leaders are emerging.

"Me, Derrick [Locke] and DeQuin [Evans] have always been guys that have been leaders and are always pushing everybody but it's guys that you wouldn't think of....Mike [Hartline] has been a leader for us in the past, Morgan [Newton] has yelled at a few people. It's a lot of things that are changing and our mentality as a program has changed a lot," Cobb said.

Kentucky reports for fall camp on Aug. 5.