By LARRY VAUGHT

He knew he hit the kickoff about as well as he could and was hoping it would carry into the end zone.
When Kentucky Lones Seiber saw the ball did make the end zone and was not returned by Louisville in last week’s game, he thought coach Rich Brooks would be happy. However, he had no idea how happy.
“ I looked over and saw coach Brooks start running and tapping his chest. I was like, ‘Wait. Does he really want a chest bump right now?’” said Seiber.
Brooks indeed did want a chest bump and he elevated into the air to bump chests with his senior kicker.
“I didn’t see it, but it didn’t surprise me at all. He is really a very, very emotional coach. He is just old school, hard nose who is tough. He likes that physical stuff and he puts his heart and soul into it. What he does is always from the heart. That is why the players love him so much,” UK linebacker coach Chuck Smith said.
Future UK head coach Joker Phillips had a perfect view of the chest bump from the pressbox. He watched Brooks go on the field and vault into the air.
“I just wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt Lones. He looked good doing it. Rich is a tough guy. We were hoping he didn’t hurt him when he hit Lones because Lones is a little guy,” Phillips said “I’m too fragile to ever do that myself, but Rich is tough. It’s really no surprise he did it.”
Karen Brooks, the coach’s wife, was delighted that Advocate-Messenger photographer Clay Jackson got the only photo of what she calls “belly-bumping” by her husband.
“Up in my box, the coaches’ wives were hysterical. We thought it was such a kick. For an old guy, he still has a little vertical (jump). I think he thought he had more vertical than it shows in the photo,” Karen Brooks said.
Seiber says Brooks’ chest bump “was one of the best feelings I’ve had in college” and is something he won’t ever forget.
“Everyone has been joking about how high in the air he got. He still has some life in those legs,” Seiber said. “I wouldn’t say he knocked me back, but he surprised me with the force he had in that thrust. He didn’t say much, but I knew he was excited.”
Seiber is about as unlikely to do a chest bump as Brooks. It was the kicker’s first one of the year — and he admits it might actually have been his first one.
“It was just one of those things in the moment and I am glad he did it with me,” Seiber said. “But that’s the thing I love about coach Brooks. He sees your potential and how you can be and anything less is not good enough for him. But when you do your best, he’s there to congratulate you. I love that about him.”
But wasn’t it really like chest bumping his grandfather?
“I have been hearing it about every day from the guys. I had never personally seen him do a chest bump and after the game I asked him if that was his first one. He said he did one last year but they are rare. That made me feel pretty special,” Seiber said.
Smith says Brooks’ actions have a similar impact on all the players.
“They see his passion and emotion and it’s contagious,” Smith said. “Not every coach could do something like that. But for Rich, it’s genuine and the players know that and love that.”

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