For Rich Brooks, assessing his 2003 Kentucky football team is like trying to buy a new car.They all look good in the showroom, but you really don’t know until you take a test drive.Brooks has seen his team on film and has watched the Wildcats go through strength and agility drills. He likes what he’s seen so far and is eager to begin the test run at the start of spring practice on March 29.

“I’ve been impressed with how the players have handled the transition so far,” Brooks said. “I’m the third head coach that the senior class has had, and that’s a tough thing to go through. I think they’re past the stage of trying to figure out what we’re about. They’ve settled in and decided that they’re going to roll up their sleeves and work hard to get better and move forward.”

Brooks already has begun tinkering under the hood of his football machine, installing a stringent off-season strength and conditioning program and investing time in teaching the x’s and o’s of new offensive and defensive systems.

“We’re trying to get them in shape and introduce what we’re doing offensively and defensively as much as we can,” Brooks said. “You have eight hours a week (in the off-season) of conditioning and/or meeting time.

“In the spring we need to introduce and get implemented as much of the offense and defense as possible in the 15-day practice period. We need to address the losses by graduation as far as who is going to step up and replace them.

“We need to get a good look at everybody and evaluate their talents because, as a new staff, I told them that all the jobs are open. It’s conceivable that someone who started last year won’t start this year if they don’t continue to get better. We have to sort out our starters, our backups, the guys we can count on. Some of those questions won’t be answered until next fall but we’ll get a pretty good idea about many of them this spring.”

Theoretically, the job should be easier on offense, where seven starters return. It’s tougher on defense, with only four returning starters, and in the special teams, a new punter and long snapper must be chosen. All totaled, 61 lettermen return from the team that exceeded expectations in posting a 7-5 record a year ago.

On offense, coordinator Ron Hudson hopes to duplicate the success he enjoyed at Kansas State, where his unit led the nation in scoring in 1998 and was second nationally in 2002. Hudson plans to tailor his system around the talent available.

Senior Jared Lorenzen

Returning at quarterback is fifth-year senior Jared Lorenzen. Lorenzen showed maturity as a field general last season, completing 183 of 327 passes for 2,267 yards, with 24 touchdowns against only five interceptions. He was a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and was chosen second-team All-SEC.

Challenging Lorenzen is junior Shane Boyd, who completed 10 of 19 passes for 99 yards last season and also ran for 124 yards and one touchdown. A fast, bullish runner, Boyd fits the mold of the pass/run quarterbacks Hudson utilized at Kansas State.

Whoever wins the quarterback job should have the benefit of a veteran offensive line. Five returnees have a total of 86 career starts between them – junior left tackle Matt Huff (11 career starts), senior left guard Sylvester Miller (5), senior center Nick Seitze (18), junior right guard Jason Rollins (18), and senior right tackle Antonio Hall (34). Hall was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection last season.

Unlike past years, however, the line isn’t set in stone. For the first time in recent memory, Kentucky appears to have quality depth in the O-Line. Returning lettermen Daniel Burnett and Jared McGowan, along with five redshirts, including former junior college All-American Yancey Reynolds, should engender fierce competition in the spring.

Kentucky has to rebuild its running game in the absence of Artose Pinner, who led the SEC in rushing last season. Immediate contenders include sophomores Alexis Bwenge (81 yards last season) and Arliss Beach (111), along with redshirt freshman Monquantae Gibson.

Another key hole to fill is at tight end, where last year’s reserves, senior Win Gaffron and sophomore Jeremiah Drobney, compete to replace departed Chase Harp.

Four seasoned wide receivers are available, including senior Derek Abney (40 catches for 569 yards and four touchdowns last season), junior Tommy Cook (22-276, two TDs), senior Chris Bernard (14-197, 1 TD), and sophomore Glenn Holt (4-31, 1 TD). The coaches would like to develop additional depth during the spring.

New defensive coordinator Mike Archer plans to install a 3-4-4 defense in the spring. He became an admirer of that scheme while using it during his seven-year term on the staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Junior Ellery Moore

The Wildcats look strong up front with the return of senior Jeremy Caudill and juniors Ellery Moore and Vincent “Sweet Pea” Burns.

Caudill made 39 tackles last season, including four for loss, and harassed the passer with two quarterback sacks, 16 QB hurries, and four pass breakups. A tackle throughout his career, he will receive a trial at end in the new defensive system.

Moore moves into the nose tackle spot. He had 28 tackles last season, including five TFL and three sacks. At defensive end, Burns was a second-team All-SEC pick in 2002. He is the team’s leading returning tackler with 65 stops, including a team-high 14.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. He tied for the team lead in fumbles caused and recovered with two in each category.

Also vying for playing time in the line are promising sophomore end Trey Mielsch (nine tackles, two sacks), junior end Jacob Steuber (two tackles), and senior end Nate VanSickel (three tackles). Redshirt freshman nose tackle Lamar Mills, redshirt freshman end Kareem Reid, and junior nose tackle Bennie Mills, now eligible after his transfer from Florida a year ago, provide more competition.

The big question mark is at linebacker, where no starters return. Four lettermen are available at the inside linebacker posts, including junior Justin Haydock (25 tackles last season), sophomore Dustin Williams (35 tackles, two TFL), junior Kamaal Ahmad (five tackles), and soph Chad Anderson, who made one tackle last season before being sidelined by injury.New outside linebackers must be developed. Getting a trial at those spots will be converted sophomore defensive ends Deion Holts and Raymond Fontaine. Holts made 30 tackles a year ago, including 3.5 for loss, and was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Fontaine made nine tackles and also made significant contributions on the special teams. True freshmen Durrell White and Travis Day, who enrolled in January, also will get strong looks at outside linebacker.

Senior Leonard Burress

Eleven lettermen are back in the secondary. At cornerback, senior Leonard Burress (18 tackles, 10 pass breakups) is back, along with junior Claude Sagaille (39 tackles, one interception), and sophomores Antoine Huffman (16 tackles, nine PBU) and Bo Smith (13 tackles, two PBU). Talented soph Warren Wilson missed last season with a knee injury and will take part in non-contact drills in the spring.

Junior strong safety Mike Williams started every game last season and made 53 tackles, five for loss, had two interceptions, and broke up five passes. Sophomore Muhammad Abdullah (13 tackles) gives the team good depth.

An earnest battle should ensue at free safety with junior Earven Flowers (22 tackles, one interception, four PBU), junior Travis Atwell (21 tackles, one interception), senior Tim Funderburk (two tackles), and junior Eric Ogletree.

In the kicking game, All-America punter Glenn Pakulak, the long snapper, and placekick holder must be replaced. Sophomore Taylor Begley is the returning regular at placekicker. He made 9 of 14 field goals last season and was chosen for the SEC All-Freshman team. Junior Clint Ruth has handled kickoffs for two seasons.

A potential strong suit is the return game, where Derek Abney returned a total of six kicks for touchdowns last season, four punts and two kickoffs, more than any player in one season in the history of college football. Abney was named first-team All-America by several organizations.

As spring practice approaches, the prospects are exciting for Rich Brooks, but he’s had enough of kicking the tires and looking at sales brochures. He’s ready to get behind the wheel.