For three seasons, center Matt Smith and guard Larry Warford lined up next to one another on the Kentucky offensive line.

With the two exhausting their collegiate eligibility in November, those times were at end. Smith and Warford went to different collegiate all-star games in pursuit of NFL careers and they couldn't help but miss one another's presence.

"He said he was a little timid on reaching too far with things because he didn't know if that guy was going to be right behind him like he knew that I would," Smith said of his teammate.

On Thursday at UK's annual Pro Day, Smith and Warford were working together again.

Twenty-seven scouts representing 25 NFL teams and one from the CFL were in attendance at the Nutter Field House to watch 15 former Wildcats be measured and go through athletic and positional testing drills. They saw running back CoShik Williams bench press 225 pounds an impressive 20 times. They saw Morgan Newton both throw passes as a quarterback and catch them as a tight end.

But with the reunion of the interior of UK's offensive line going on during positional drills, many eyes were on Smith and Warford.

"It's just like we never stopped," Smith said. "Spending three years with him, you get to know each other and know everything about each other."

After so many games together, Smith and Warford can't help but think about playing together again at the next level.

"It would be awesome if we could end up on the same team together again and play again, but you never know what'll happen," Smith said.

Warford was the most highly touted of the Cats participating. The decorated guard has heard draft projections from anywhere between the second and fourth rounds and was UK's lone attendee at last month's NFL Combine. Having already done the 40-yard dash, bench press and other events at the combine, he opted to participate only in positional drills.

It was there that Warford and Smith did work at both guard and center. Warford played exclusively at right guard at UK, but has shown the versatility to play both guard spots and center, an attribute he has found to be quite valuable in the draft process.

"You only get seven active linemen in any NFL game, so you have to be able to play different positions," Warford said.

Though Smith hasn't gotten the same attention as Warford, he's drawing interest after demonstrating the ability to play guard. Smith also didn't hurt his cause by registering 28 reps on the bench press in spite of missing nearly three weeks of time in the weight room due a chest injury he sustained in the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Game.

Since returning from their respective all-star games, Smith and Warford have worked out together as often as possible in Lexington, often with Rock Oliver at the Joe Craft Center. Because both Smith and Warford are still around Lexington, they are well aware of the enthusiasm surrounding the football program since the arrival of Mark Stoops.

"I'm really excited for it," Smith said. "I wish I had another year to play here again just to see what Coach Stoops is all about."

Of course they wish they could have played in front of a spring game crowd that figures to exceed 40,000. But more than anything else, they are excited for their former teammates and the program they've come to love so much.

"I'm so happy for them," Warford said. "I want to see them get the recognition and I want this to turn into a football school."

Video interviews

Warford



Smith

The UK Sports Video department has been putting out some great behind-the-scenes content through winter conditioning and now into spring practice. Today, we bring you a pair of videos that give you an inside look at what practice is like for a Kentucky football player.

Mic'd up with offensive coordinator Neal Brown


Mic'd up with senior running back Raymond Sanders

On day one of Kentucky football's spring practice, redshirt sophomore Maxwell Smith got 50 percent of the snaps at quarterback. True sophomores Patrick Towles and Jalen Whitlow split the remaining half.

On Wednesday, the carousel turned. At the second practice, it was Towles who took half the reps with Whitlow and Smith getting a quarter each.

On Friday, it will be Whitlow's turn to show what he can do in a primary role.

Considering all the intrigue surrounding the quarterback position this spring, there's any number of ways all this could be interpreted. Does Smith have the inside track on the three-man battle since he got the bulk of the reps on day one? Or did Whitlow outplay his two counterparts and earn his way into half the Friday snaps?

Forget all that.

Smith, Towles and Whitlow will rotate at quarterback over 15 practices this spring just like the first week. And the reason Smith got the first crack: His last name is first in the alphabet.

In fact, fans and media can probably save their tea-leaves reading for fall camp.

"I'll be surprised if we know a whole lot by the end of spring just 'cause everything's so new," offensive coordinator Neal Brown said.

For now, Brown and head coach Mark Stoops are a lot more concerned about implementing the offense that figuring out who's going to be running it when the Wildcats open the 2013 season in a little more than five months.

True to his word from his introductory press conference, Brown said he expects installation to be complete by the end of Friday's practice. The quarterbacks and everyone else on the offensive side of the ball have had a great deal thrown at them in a very short amount of time. Even so, there's one thing about the new system that sticks out above all else no matter who you ask.

"It's fast," Smith said succinctly. "That's the best way to describe it. It's really fast."

Reporters waiting for interviews at the Nutter Field House on Wednesday got a firsthand look at that speed in watching the final few minutes of practice from a distance. The quarterback awaits either a shotgun or pistol snap with a flurry of activity surrounding him. After just a few seconds, the play begins and the ball is out of his hands via throw or handoff in a blink. Once it's over, it's a frenzy as the offense and defense rush to the line as quickly as possible and it begins all over again.

And it's only day two. Stoops and Brown both say the pace will continue to quicken as players build familiarity with the system.


"It's awesome," Towles said. "We're a team that needs to move fast. Teams like Alabama and Florida with these huge guys, they can afford to take their time and run it down your throat. We're gonna have to, with this Air Raid offense, we're gonna have to move as fast as we can."

In addition to keeping up, the quarterbacks have to deal with an abnormally crowded backfield. But don't worry, Brown isn't trying to marry the Air Raid and the Wing T. The backfield is crowded because Brown is mere feet behind his signal callers shouting instruction with quarterbacks not actually participating in the drill shadowing the movements of the man taking the snaps.

"It's the same as being on the first tee and you're playing golf," Brown said. "You got all these people and you've got to execute a good shot or you're going to hurt somebody."

If that brief description of practice makes it sound like organized chaos, that's by design.

"So when they get in the stadium and I'm over on the sidelines, now it's an easier atmosphere," Brown said. "Same with all the offensive guys. We're on them so hard about pace, I want it to where when they get in that stadium, it's almost an easier atmosphere on game day than it is in practice."

With the speed of practice, the newness of the system and pressure the coaches are trying to create, failure is inevitable, particularly when you consider it takes just one player to derail an entire play. What Brown is hoping for, maybe above all else, is that the Cats react well to that failure - especially the quarterbacks.

"They've got to learn how to prepare. You're not just going to go out here and be an SEC winning team," Brown said. "You've got to prepare and you've got to do it a lot of it on your own time because the NCAA limits us on what we can do. If you want to be a great player and create great teams, you've got to do a lot on your own."

The good news is that Smith, Towles and Whitlow all had at least a partial understanding of the offense Brown teaches coming in. Especially early in 2012 before Smith went down with a season-ending ankle injury, UK used a quick-strike passing attack reminiscent of the one the Cats will employ this fall.

"There's similar plays, but it's just faster," said Smith, who calls his surgically repaired ankle "pretty much" 100 percent. "I'd say it's a lot faster."

As for Towles, he ran a similar offense at Highlands High School with great success, winning three straight state titles and passing for 42 touchdowns against just one interception as a senior. Towles said he feels "at home" in Brown's offense, but stopped short of saying his experience gives him any sort of leg up in the competition that's only in its infancy.

"I feel like myself individually, I'm maybe a step ahead of where I would be if it was another person's offense," Towles said. "But as far as a leg up on anybody else, I'm not really sure."

Whitlow is a bit of an X-factor in the quarterback conversation. His athleticism could add a dimension Brown's highly ranked offenses at Texas Tech and Troy have never had at any time during the last four seasons. Whitlow also showed flashes of the kind of arm talent needed to run Brown's offense effectively in seven starts last year.

Talk about the relative strengths of each of the three is best saved for later though. Right now, Smith, Towles and Whitlow - after going through a season during which UK started four different quarterbacks due to injury - are just happy to be on the field. They've all been through a starting battle before - and in Smith's case, three times - so they know how to handle themselves.

"I love it," Smith said. "It's what it's all about."

For Brown, he knows there's a lot of work ahead, both at quarterback and every other offensive position. But right now, he's getting all he can ask for.

"Our guys are trying hard," Brown said. "We've got the pieces I think; now the pieces that we have got to get better. We've got to get better at every spot. But these kids - as long as they keep preparing, as long as they keep giving great effort - we're gonna have a chance."

The Kentucky Wildcats were inside again for the second practice of the Mark Stoops era on Wednesday. After a day of evaluation, the Cats got back to work and Stoops said he "felt a little bit better today" with the nerves of playing for a new staff beginning to wear off.

The favored topic among media in attendance was, as you might expect, the quarterback position. It's far too early to pronounce a leader in the battle, but you can see what Stoops and offensive coordinator Neal Brown had to say about it all in the video interviews below. Stay tuned later this afternoon for a story on the installation of Brown's fast-paced offense.

Stoops



Brown

You've heard Mark Stoops talk about it briefly. You've heard the buzz on Twitter. You've seen the behind-the-scenes videos showcasing Kentucky football's offseason workouts.

For all those morsels of information, fans still didn't know exactly what was going on with the new high-performance program Stoops has instituted in his first months on the job. If you're starved for more, Jen Smith's story in the Lexington Herald-Leader from a few days ago about the revolutionary program going on at UK and the man leading it, Erik Korem, is the place to start.

Here's an excerpt:

In many ways, UK's players could be the guinea pigs for a football training revolution.

"There are quite a few NFL teams that are wanting to come down and take a look at what we're doing," Korem said. "So we here at Kentucky are at the very front and people are going to want to follow us. And it's not just me; it's our group. We're going to be on the leading edge."

Healthier, faster, stronger

On an 8½ -by-11 sheet of white paper, the "high-performance" concept looks as unassuming as Korem's cramped office, which he shares with the strength and conditioning coach.

At its core it takes the standard model for sports preparation in America -- physical, mental, tactical and technical -- and brings them together under one umbrella.

Holding that Big Blue umbrella is Korem.

Over the coming weeks of spring practice and months into the summer and fall camp, you can expect to read much more. And if Stoops gets the kind of results he's hoping for, it won't be long until his competitors are mimicking him.

Link: Erik Korem the face of UK's new 'high-performance' pursuits

Since being hired more than four months ago, Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops has generated local and national headlines. That buzz, however, was about about his work off the field, namely and hiring a coaching staff and putting together the most highly touted recruiting class in recent school history.

With spring practice starting on Monday, we can finally begin to talk about his work on the field.

It will be a while before fans are able to see any tangible progress, but Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com wrote about Stoops beginning the process of turning around the program on Tuesday. Here's an excerpt from the end of the piece:

There was a record crowd around to celebrate with him on national signing day and the athletic department has been very aggressive about upgrading the football facilities. The school plans to spend approximately $110 million on renovations to Commonwealth Stadium and the Nutter Training Center.

Stoops is building from within, while the school builds around him. This won't be a quick fix, but Stoops feels he'll have what he needs to make Kentucky relevant in the SEC again.

"We have everything that we need and with the resources with the things that we're building and the commitment that they have to upgrading our facilities," Stoops said, "we're going to have everything we need to be successful and competitive in this league."

Link: ESPN on Stoops building from ground up

Mark Stoops has had a busy last four months.

He has hired a coaching staff. He has put together 2013 recruiting class and laid the foundation for 2014. He has moved his young family from Tallahassee, Fla., to Lexington. He has met more people than he could possibly count.

Notably absent from that list is doing what Mitch Barnhart brought him to Kentucky to do: coaching football. On Monday, that finally changed.

After months of interviews, handshakes and meetings, Stoops got to do what he loves.

"It felt good to get out there and chew some guys out a little bit," Stoops said with a smile.

In truth, yelling isn't the reason Stoops enjoys coaching as much as he does; it's the process of shaping a group of young men and leading them to perform at levels they didn't know were possible. With a good first spring practice on Monday morning, that process began in earnest.

"I thought the guys had a really good attitude, and what I can tell was that they had a clue on what to do offensively, a clue on what to do defensively," Stoops said.

That doesn't mean it was always pretty. Stoops said execution was at times "very sloppy" and footballs were too often on the ground, but saw only positive signs in terms of focus and effort.

"I felt like day one, their hearts were in the right place," Stoops said. "I felt like they were locked in. I say we had a good sense of urgency, not what we needed to be, but I felt guys were trying to move around and be locked in on both sides of the ball."

Stoops has consistently remarked that his players are committed having seen their habits in UK's new High Performance program. He has taken over a group that still has the disappointment of 2012 fresh in mind, making players eager to turn the page and move on to a new era of Kentucky football.

"With the losses we suffered last year and a few players kind of down about it, of course it's not the result that you want but we're all coming out with new attitudes and we're just attacking it," senior running back Jonathan George said. "We're attacking every day. Whether it's in the film room or whether it's on the field or in the weight room, we're attacking it."

As they seek to improve execution and learn new offensive and defensive systems, the best way the Wildcats can "attack" practice is by embracing the faster pace with which the new coaching staff is asking them to play.

"It was a little more up-tempo today and with it being the first practice the coaches had high expectations with us," George said. "They expect us to come out and play fast and fly around the field. And that's what we did today."

Stoops agreed, saying UK's pace was "very good" for a first practice.

What he didn't see were leaders emerging on either side of the ball, not that that's any problem. In fact, Stoops liked the fact that no one was trying to force his way into a leadership role when it wasn't yet appropriate.

"Everybody was out there holding on today," Stoops said. "They were holding on, so, you know, it was hard to get a sense of that leadership. Again, I'd rather have it that way than a bunch of rah rah phony stuff and guys not locked in and not being real."

Senior Avery Williamson - UK's leading tackler from last season and presumed starter at middle linebacker - figures to eventually emerge as a vocal presence. For now, he has enough maturity to realize it's not his time yet.

"I wasn't really trying to be out there trying to yell at everybody because I was messing up myself," Williamson said. "Just really trying to get a feel for everything, get a feel for the coaches and the plays and different things and then after a couple practices you can start stepping up."

The leadership isn't there, but neither Williamson nor his coach is all that worried. In the limited practice time the next few weeks has to offer, it's all about getting on the same page about what Kentucky football will be from this point forward.

"Offensively and defensively at the end of these 15 practices, these players should know, this is who we are offensively and this is who we are defensively," Stoops said. "There will be much more but the basics, you know, is a big part of who we are. They need to know that."

Here are a few more quick hitters from day one of spring practice:

• Due to inclement weather, practice was moved indoors to the Nutter Field House. Of course he would rather be outside, but Stoops is pleased with the venue. "I like the indoor, I really do," Stoops said. "I feel like we can get good work in there."
• Media in attendance for Stoops' press conference received guides for spring football 2013. Reporters quickly thumbed to the roster page and found a handful of interesting positional listings. Bud Dupree is at defensive end (not linebacker where he played much of last year), junior-college transfer Steven Borden is at both tight end and wide receiver and Zach West at both guard and center. Notably absent, however, is a depth chart. Players are listed only alphabetically by position right now. "I just didn't feel that was right until we had a chance to work with these guys," Stoops said of his decision not to release a depth chart.
• Monday was the first time Stoops got the chance to see Neal Brown in action. He couldn't help but be impressed with his offensive coordinator. "I think Neal had the whole offensive side of the ball very organized," Stoops said. "I like the drills. I like the efficiency."
• The offensive side is home to the positional battle that will surely draw the most attention throughout the spring. Sophomore quarterbacks Maxwell Smith, Jalen Whitlow and Patrick Towles all saw extensive action last season and will engage in open competition. On Monday, snaps were split equally among them. "We are rotating them each drill just to be fair with those guys," Stoops said. "All of them had their ups and downs. Each of them looked really good at times and at times, you know, they struggled just putting it all together, which you can understand."
• It's clearly still very early, but UK's defensive players were struck by the relative simplicity of the base 4-3 system stoops and coordinator D.J. Eliot have brought with them. "It's so much simpler and less communication has to be made, which is kind of better," Williamson said. "It helps us out so we don't have to make as many calls."
• On the injury front, Stoops says UK is healthy "for the most part." The exception mentioned on Monday was running back Josh Clemons, who missed all of last season recovering from a torn meniscus. When asked about Clemons' availability, Stoops said, "We'll see."
• UK will practice twice more this week on Wednesday and Friday, opting not to scrimmage on Saturday in order to fully review installation. UK will practice in full pads on Friday.

Senior linebacker Avery Williamson and senior running back Jonathan George

Over the past four months, Mark Stoops has infused the Kentucky football program with a remarkable sense of excitement, and he's done it all without coaching a single practice. On Monday, that changes.

UK will hold its first practice of the spring on Monday morning. Due to inclement weather, the session was moved inside. Afterward, selected players will be available for interviews and Stoops will hold a press conference to talk about his team and installation of his system. We will have video and at least one story here on Cat Scratches later in the day.

There are certainly a lot of storylines worth following leading up to the Blue/White Spring Game on April 13 at 7 p.m. ET, so what are you excited to hear about? Is it the defensive improvement that has been a signature of Stoops' stops as coordinator? What about the quarterback battle? Or Neal Brown's offense, which he said will take no more than a handful of practices for players to learn?

We'll be doing our best to cover all that and more in the coming weeks.