Brooks Hires Impressive Staff
New head coach Rich Brooks put together an impressive staff to assist him in coaching the Wildcats.
Look at the coordinators, for example. Offensive coordinator Ron Hudson has been the director of the high-scoring attack at Kansas State the last several seasons; defensive coordinator Mike Archer spent the last seven years as linebackers coach for one of the National Football League’s best defenses, the Pittsburgh Steelers; special teams coordinator Steve Ortmayer has 17 years of NFL experience in that role, including two Super Bowl championships; and recruiting coordinator Joker Phillips is a former Kentucky player and coach who is well-known and respected in the Commonwealth.
All totaled, the staff has 243 years of professional coaching/playing/administrative and collegiate coaching experience. Eight of the 10 coaches have played and/or coached in the NFL or been a college head coach or coordinator. (See inside the front cover and pages 16-17 for more details on the staff.)
“I’m extremely pleased with the staff we’ve assembled here. Frankly, it even surpassed the expectations I had when I began,” Brooks said. “I mentioned before that this staff would cover a lot of areas in age, region and race. I think this staff certainly typifies that. We have some younger coaches and some older coaches. We have some coaches from this conference, from the midwest and from the west. The most important thing to me is that we have coaches that are not only outstanding teachers, but they’re good people and they care about the young men they’re going to coach. That was the primary concern I had in hiring a staff.”
Base Sets
Offensive coordinator Ron Hudson will install an offense that uses multiple sets while defensive coordinator Mike Archer plans to use a 3-4-4 scheme.
Hudson plans to mold a balanced run-pass system around the available talent. His system showed such flexibility at Kansas State, with quarterbacks who set conference touchdown passing records and other QBs who directed ground-eating rushing attacks.
Archer is an admirer of the 3-4 system that he worked with in Pittsburgh, with four linebackers making it harder for the quarterback to read defenses and anticipate blitzes.
UK to Feature Veteran O-Line
New offensive line coach Paul Dunn will have the luxury of working with five players who have been full-time or part-time starters during their careers.
Left tackle Matt Huff (11 career starts), left guard Jason Rollins (18), center Nick Seitze (18), right guard Sylvester Miller (5), and right tackle Antonio Hall (34) have 86 career starts between them.
And, there’s no guarantee that those five will be the starters. Two other returning lettermen and five redshirts — including former junior college All-American Yancey Reynolds — will provide intense competition during the spring.
Big Shoes to Fill
Every team has to find replacements for departed starters and Kentucky is no different this spring.
Key holes on offense are at running back and tight end. Sophomores Alexis Bwenge and Arliss Beach and redshirt freshman Monquantae Gibson vie to replace Artose Pinner, the SEC’s leading rusher in 2002. Senior Win Gaffron and sophomore Jeremiah Drobney are the top contenders to replace hard-nosed Chase Harp at tight end.
There will be at least seven new starters on defense. The biggest question marks are at linebacker, where no starters return. The top contenders at the inside linebackers are lettermen Justin Haydock, Dustin Williams, Kamaal Ahmad, and Chad Anderson. Converted defensive ends Deion Holts and Raymond Fontaine will get looks at the outside linebackers, along with two true freshmen who entered UK in January, Durrell White and Travis Day.
Injury Report
As of Feb. 27, here is the list of Wildcats who are subject to practice limitations during the spring.
CB Kevin Deatherage (knee) is expected to have limited participation at the start of spring practice, with full participation possible by the end of the spring.
OG Sylvester Miller (shoulder) is expected to have limited participation at the start of spring practice, with full participation possible by the end of the spring.
CB Claude Sagaille (shoulder) will participate in non-contact drills.
LB Durrell White (knee) hopes to have full participation depending on the completion of his rehabilitation.
CB Warren Wilson (knee) will participate in non-contact drills.
2003 Schedule Notes
For the second consecutive year, Kentucky will play a 12-game regular-season schedule, including seven home games and five away contests … Kentucky will open against in-state rival Louisville for the 10th consecutive season. For the second year in a row, this game has been moved to Sunday night to accommodate an espn2 telecast … Kentucky will take on another in-state foe, Murray State, in the second game. It will be the first time in school history that the teams have played. Although Murray State is in Division I-AA, Kentucky can count the game toward the bowl-game minimum if the Wildcats are victorious. Murray State won the Ohio Valley Conference championship last season and played in the I-AA playoffs … UK plays Alabama for the first time since 1997, when Wildcat fans tore down the Commonwealth Stadium goalposts after the 40-34 upset win in overtime … Kentucky will play host to Ohio in the annual Homecoming game. The Wildcats and Bobcats last tangled in 1987 … Six of Kentucky’s first seven opponents will feature new starting quarterbacks in 2003 … Two opponents will have new coaches, Bobby Petrino at Louisville and Mike Price at Alabama.
Robertson Declares Early for NFL Draft
Kentucky will miss the services of defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, who gave up his final season of eligibility to enter the 2003 NFL draft.
Robertson was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection last season by the Mobile Register and second-team All-SEC by The Associated Press and league coaches.
Robertson is the fifth player in school history to declare early for the NFL, following in the footsteps of running back Moe Williams, quarterback Tim Couch, defensive end Dennis Johnson, and tight end Derek Smith, all of whom are still in the NFL.
Key Dates
Sat. March 29
Spring practice begins
Sat. Apr. 26
Blue/White Spring Football Game
July 29-31
SEC Football Media Days;
Kentucky appearance is Tue. July 29
Tues. Aug. 5
Newcomers report
Fri. Aug. 8
Veterans report
Sat. Aug. 9
Kentucky Football Media Day
Sun. Aug. 31
Louisville at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. EDT, televised by espn2
