Sidelines

Pulley could still be on field -- at receiver

Update: Phillips says "Still a long way to go" in quarterback race.

The news this morning from our own Chip Cosby that the wiry Mike Hartline has assumed a slight -- emphasis on slight -- lead over Curtis Pulley in the UK quarterback race, according to offensive coordinator Joker Phillips, isn’t all that astonishing.

After all, Pulley has already shown that summer isn’t his favorite season. He was the QB leader coming out of spring practice a couple of years ago, only to fumble away the job in the summer. The rest was history. Andre Woodson’s history.

And there was nothing in the story to say that Pulley still won't wind up being the starter behind center when UK opens the season at Louisville.

BUT, if Pulley can’t close the gap before fall practice starts next month, or in the early part of training camp, here’s a prediction: Pulley will still be on the field. He'll be catching passes instead of throwing them.

The former Hopkinsville star is too good an athlete not to be among UK's first 22 or so. He played some effective wide out as a freshman two years ago. He has decent hands and terrific speed. He’s entirely capable of turning that 5-yard screen pass into a home run.

That doesn’t mean that Pulley couldn’t still see time at quarterback, even if Hartline wins the starting job. But if Will Fidler shows a strong and healthy arm in training camp, moving Pulley outside to receiver makes even more sense.

Kentucky to Papajohns.com Bowl?

Always an early starter, ESPN's Mark Schlabach takes a deep, early look into his college football crystal ball and offers beat-the-pack bowl projections for 2008.

Good news, Kentucky.

Mark sees Rick Brooks' team in its third consecutive bowl game. This time, the Papajohns.com Bowl in Mobile Birmingham would be the destination where the Cats would play Rutgers.

Not to worry, Louisville. After a one-year absence, the Cardinals will be back in the bowl mix, says Schlabach. He has Steve Kragthorpe's club playing Miami of Ohio in the International Bowl.

Schlabach has Georgia playing Ohio State in the national title game.

Curry to earn $350,000-plus at Georgia State

 Ex-UK football coach Bill Curry will earn $350,000 a year, plus bonuses, in his new job as the first head coach at Georgia State, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting.

Curry will also receive a $500 a month car allowance, and could take home a $50,000 bonus if he meets certain athletic and academic benchmarks. He will have a $450,000 pool from which to hire assistant coaches and staff.

The school will also allow Curry time to promote his upcoming book, "Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle: Lessons from a Football Life."

Curry has worked for ESPN as a college football analyst since being fired at Kentucky midway through the 1996 season. His record at Kentucky was 26-52, with one bowl appearance. He begins his new job July 1.

Bill Curry returning to coaching

Ex-Kentucky football coach Bill Curry is going to be a head coach again.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Curry has agreed to be the first head coach at Georgia State, the Atlanta school that is starting up a football program.

The 65-year-old Curry has not coached since he was fired at UK in the middle of the 1996 season. He finished out the year and ended up with a 26-52 record in seven seasons at Kentucky. Before that, Curry won an SEC title in three years at Alabama. He was the ACC Coach of the Year in 1985 at Georgia Tech.

The former Green Bay Packer and Baltimore Colt center has been working for ESPN since he left the coaching ranks. He is also currently the leadership director at the Baylor School in Chattanooga.

Georgia State is scheduled to hold a spring practice in 2009 and will play a full schedule in 2010. The school will be a part of the Championship Subdivision, which was known as I-AA.

Which coach is Mitch Barnhart's best hire?

I was on the radio with WLXG's Chris Cross and Mike Cameron earlier this week, when the two admitted they often take their daily question right out of something that was in the newspaper that day. So I'm going to return the favor.

The two mentioned that one of their recent questions had been "Which coach has been Mitch Barnhart's best hire?" Good question. The query was sparked by John Cohen taking the UK baseball team to a second NCAA Tournament in the past three years. But there are other Barnhart hires that deserve consideration, as well.

So this morning I'm tossing the same question to you.

Here are some candidates:

• Rich Brooks: The Kentucky football coach has led program to back-to-back Music City Bowl wins, and Kentucky upset No. 1 ranked LSU this past season at Commonwealth Stadium.

• John Cohen: High-energy baseball coach won the SEC in 2006, and now has UK back in the NCAA Tournament for second time in three years.

• Mickie DeMoss: Led UK women to NCAA Tournament bid and win over perennial power Tennessee before abruptly resigning after 2006-07 season.

• Billy Gillispie: Went 18-12 in first year as UK's head coach, but fashioned a 12-4 record in the SEC. Has created considerable buzz in recruiting circles.

• Craig Skinner: Former Nebraska assistant has taken UK volleyball team to NCAA Tournament each of the past three years.

Tell me what you think.

Woodson to Daily News: Draft was tough to swallow

The New York Daily News has a story this morning on ex-UK quarterback Andre Woodson, who just completed a rookie mini-camp with the New York Giants.

Woodson talked about his free fall in the NFL draft, saying he still doesn't know what exactly happened.

Excerpts:

• "I think a lot of people still to this day don't really know why I dropped as much as I did," said Woodson.

• "It was kind of tough to swallow as the draft was going on," the 6-4, 227-pounder said. "As it went past the third round, fourth round, I still couldn't believe I hadn't been taken off the board yet. You know, those types of things happen. Unfortunately it happened to me. But I'm just going to be very positive about it and try to be a better quarterback so maybe possibly down the road I'll get an opportunity to get back on the field."

• On pro scouts nit-picking his "slow" release: "Some of the things I did in the SEC, you have to be pretty good to do that. But unfortunately that's something I have to try to clean up and work with (quarterbacks coach Chris) Palmer to see what I can do to make that better."

• If the name Chris Palmer sounds familiar, it should. Palmer was head coach of Cleveland when the Browns made another ex-UK quarterback, Tim Couch, the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft.

• You can read the entire story here.

Catching up

Been on the backside of Churchill Downs the past couple of days. preparing for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Will be back there tomorrow morning, as well as at the Kentucky Oaks in the afternoon.

So let's catch up on what's gone on this week:

• Kentucky nabbed a needed basketball commitment from Josh Harrellson. Skepticism being my nature, I admit to being a bit dubious concerning the possible difference-making talents of a junior college guy player who signed so late in the process. But I do admit to having never seen Harrellson play. Neither have most of the experts who are touting Harrellson's talents. What the 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward does provide the Cats is another body down low to go with Patrick Patterson and Perry Stevenson. Still, to me anyway, the key to next year's class is DeAndre Liggins' test scores. Billy Gillispie needs an eligible Liggins to help make up for the losses of Joe Crawford, Ramel Bradley and (so it seems) Derrick Jasper. If Liggins doesn't qualify, this is a pretty thin UK signee crop.

• Kentucky also reportedly has a commitment from Dominique Ferguson, a 6-8 junior-to-be from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. Rivals ranks Ferguson as a top 10 pick. If that's accurate, then Ferguson is more of what Kentucky fans were looking for when Billy Gillispie arrived on scene with the reputation of being a formidable recruiter.

• USA Today's cover story Wednesday morning was on ex-UK guard and current Boston Celtics' star Rajon Rondo. Have to admit, the Louisville native has progressed in the pros even faster than I expected.

• Have sympathy for those disappoined UK fans who claim the NFL didn't do its homework on Andre Woodson, otherwise the ex-Cats quarterback would not have been a lowly sixth-round pick last Sunday. I too think Woodson is better than that. But the NFL spends millions of dollars and invests countless hours into scouting and evaluating players. Does it make mistakes? You bet it does. It's not an exact science. And Woodson will hopefully prove the league wrong. He has the body and the arm. But it's a bit of sour grapes to say the league doesn't do its homework.

Andre Woodson's free fall

One glorious Saturday afternoon you are the acclaimed quarterback directing an upset victory over the No. 1-ranked college football team in the country, not to mention eventual national champs. Your name is among Heisman Trophy probables. Your NFL draft status screams first-round.

Six months later, it's a sad and lonely Sunday. You're watching the draft rounds click by -- three, four, five, six -- as your phone refuses to ring.

It had to be a hard fall for Andre Woodson, Kentucky's record-setting quarterback who saw 10 other signal-callers chosen before his name finally appeared as the 198th pick, a sixth-round selection by the New York Giants.

How did this happen?

Blame Mike Martz. Scouts were already starting to nitpick Woodson's game -- his unusual throwing motion, his lack of mobility -- when Martz, the controversial former St. Louis Rams head coach and current San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, coached Woodson in the Senior Bowl. Martz tried to tinker with Woodson's delivery while throwing the former North Hardin star a 40-play list. The combination was a disaster. Woodson showed poorly. The scouts noticed. Woodson's star dropped.

ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay wrote, "Martz and Woodson were a disastrous duo. Woodson never got comfortable in Martz's timing-based scheme and he hurried his release so much that his passes were off all week. And as he struggled, Woodson began to press and he became more inaccurate. After that week, Woodson has a mountain to climb to get back into the first round."

Few could have imagined, however, that Woodson would rock-drop below such names as Tennessee's Erik Ainge, San Diego's Josh Johnson and Oregon's Dennis Dixon, who is coming off major knee surgery.

Bottom line: The Senior Bowl cost Woodson a bundle. First-round picks get seven-figure contracts, most with guarantees. Sixth-round receive little more than a minimum salary and the tall task of making a team.

Which brings us to the team that picked Woodson. The New York Giants already have a Super Bowl winning quarterback in Eli Manning, and another ex-UK quarterback in backup Jared Lorenzen. Woodson's job will be to beat out newly-signed free agent David Carr and veteran Anthony Wright for the third qb spot. For all the disappointment of yesterday, that's certainly doable.

And, yes, there will be those Mr. Brightside's who will remind us that Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick by the New England Patriots back in 2000. Brady was the 199th pick, one choice behind where Woodson was selected yesterday.

I doubt, as Andre Woodson waited for that phone to ring Sunday, that was of little consolation.

Quarterback comparison

Here's a pass-by-pass comparison of UK's two quarterbacks from Saturday's spring game:

Key
Situation is Down-To Go-Ball on (55 is opponents 45, etc.)
Descriptions
    om - over the middle
    lf - left flat
    ls - left sideline
    rs - right sideline
    spl - screen pass left         
    spr-screen pass right
    drs- deep right sideline
    dls - deep leftsideline
    dm - deep middle
    wgl - waggle left
    wgr - waggle right
    ez - to end zone
    lh - left hash
    rh - right has
Pass
    A number is number of yards on completion
    X - incomplete
    INT - interception

Mike Hartline passing

Q      Situation    Receiver    Des      Pass   Note                  
1    1-10-32    H-Mosley    om        13            
1    3- G-97    H-Nance    lf             x    drop little behind            
1    1-10-28    H-Henderson ls         x    threw it away            
1    2-10-28    H-Locke    spr           1               
1    3-  9-29    H-Long    om            x    off hands            
1    3-  3-23    H-Bogue    om         14               
1    1-10-37    H-Jones    drs            x    just missed            
1    3-  6-41    H-Smith    spr           5               
1    2-  4-54    H-Henderson   rs       x    broken up Wilson            
1    3-14-44    H-Long    spl             x    drop            
2    1-10-55    H-Lanxter    dm        INT  interception-Lentz   
2    2-  5-55    H-Wraley    rs            x               
2    3-  5-55    H-Henderson   ls        9               
2    1-10-76    H-Henderson wgl        x               
2    2-10-76    H-Mosley    rs             x               
2    3-10-76    H-Wraley    ez            x    had Lanxter open            
2    3-  5-35    H-Long    om             x    drop on target            
3    2-  4-54    H-Mosley    rs            x               
3    1-10-60    H-Bogue    ls             11               
3    3-  6-75    H-Lanxter    ez         25    TOUCHDOWN at 4:03 (16-10)
3    1-10-45    H-Hend    wgl             8               
4    2-  8-76    H-Lanxter    om          x    ez just ot            
4    3-  8-76    H-Smith    spr             x    drop            
4    1-10-57    H-Nance    om             4               
4    2-  6-61    H-Lanxter    rs            4               
4    3-  2-65    H-Lanxter    rs           30    nice throw and catch            
4    2-  9-41    H-Mosley    lh              x    low

Curtis Pulley passes

Q    Situation  Receiver  Des       Pass    Note                     
1    1-10-74    P-Lyons    ls            x    good rush Kelley
1    1-10-23    P-Lyons    rf           11   
1    3-  4-40    P-Adams    rs          x    through hands
2    2-14-31    P-Adams    lh          x    little behind at 45
2    3-14-31    P-Lyons    om        13   
2    2-  7-10    P-kdls    kd             x    knocked down at line
2    1-10-22    P-ta    ta                 x    good rush Peters
2    3-  7-41    P-Lyons    rs            x    off target
2    1-10-17    P-Cecil    lh            14   
2    1-10-42    P-Allen    spr          11   
2    2-13-50    P-Lyons    spl          5    t-McAtee
2    1-10-70    P-Locke    rs          12    stood up to rush
2    1-10-88    P-Lyons    om        12    TOUCHDOWN at 0:11 great catch
3    1-10-35    P-Adams    rs         x     thru hands
3    2-10-35    P-Cecil    ls            x   
3    3-10-35    P-Lyons    om        12   
3    2-  9-48    P-ta    rs                x     threw it away
3    3-  9-48    P-Allen    spr          x   
3    1-10-49    P-Lyons    rs           2   
3    2-  8-51    P-Lyons    rs           x   
3    4-  4-55    P-Lyons    om         6   
3    2-10-61    P-(?)                    INT    interception-Kelley
4    1-10-35    P-Adams    om        x     wide open at 65
4    2-10-35    P-Lyons    om          9   
4    2-  6-53    P-Lyons    om        23    good throw
4    1-10-76    P-Drake    om          x    broken up Cobb near int

UK spring game impressions

Position-by-position impressions from UK's Blue-White Game on Saturday:

• Quarterback: Not going to argue that the Cats will have an easy time replacing Andre Woodson. But both Curtis Pulley and Mike Hartline showed good things on Saturday. Pulley has those fleet feet, and threw the ball better than expected. Hartline earned high marks for his game management, and can run the ball when needed. Don't count out Will Fidler, who despite his sore shoulder threw the ball the best of the three. The question is going to be Pulley's eligibility. And if Hartline wins the job in the fall, would Pulley be moved to wide out, where the Cats need the help.

• Running back: Moncel Allen earned high marks throughout the spring, but didn't show a lot Saturday. Alfonso Smith was the best back on the field, but then he got more carries than Derrick Locke. Tony Dixon did not play. So the Cats have depth here. Spot should be a strength.

• Wide receiver: Plenty of opportunity here for rookie receivers. Kyrus Lanxter, a sophomore, may turn out to be the best of the bunch behind veteran Dicky Lyons. E.J. Adams was coming off a Thursday car wreck that tweaked his neck. But way too many drops by all involved. Newcomers will get a long look in the fall.

• Tight end: Jacob Tamme will be tough to replace, but T.C. Drake and Ross Bogue both showed good hands. May not be the dropoff that was first feared.

• Offensive line: A definite strength. Rich Brooks has more experience and  more bodies since he's been here. Most of the starters were on the Blue team on Saturday, and gave Hartline good protection.

• Defensive line: Jeremy Jarmon may be the best player on the team, but there are other good players here, as well. Corey Peters. Ventrell Jenkins. Shane McCord appeared to play well Saturday. And if Ricky Lumpkin can come back from surgery, the Cats should have decent depth.

• Linebacker: Braxton Kelley led the day in tackles. Micah Johnson was not overly noticeable, but he'll be there come fall. Sam Maxwell stuck his head in there for some stops. Despite Wesley Woodyard's departure, talent remains.

• Secondary: Brooks can't stop talking about how much better the secondary is going to be, what with added talent and depth. David Jones took a couple of snaps at wide receiver. Might see more of that come fall.

• Special teams: Tim Masthay had a great day punting, after Ryan Tydlacka was coming off his best week of punting. Tydlacka made a 42-yard field goal, but missed another. Lones Seiber missed the 46-yarder at game's end that would have given the Blue a victory. There needs to be improvement here. And the return game has to get better.