Brendon Kay has had three different head coaches, three different offensive systems and three separate knee surgeries since arriving at Cincinnati.
With more than a week of spring ball under his belt, Kay is using the extra practices to ensure that his sixth and final season in a Bearcats uniform is his best.
"It's definitely been a long road," Kay told ESPN.com, "but that makes everything that much more meaningful."
Kay is hoping to pick up where he left off in 2012, which ended with five straight starts and four wins, capped by a 332-yard, four-touchdown effort in a Belk Bowl win over Duke.
The NCAA's pre-bowl decision to give him a sixth year calmed plenty of nerves, too.
Now it's on to another battle with Munchie Legaux, a competition he expected despite taking over the starting job last November.
"It's just like anything: We're going to go out, we're going to compete every day," Kay said. "It's football. I've never known anything different. I've been competing since I got here, so it's just another day for me."
And another new coach.
After Butch Jones left for Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville was hired a day later, Kay immediately went to Google to find out more about the new man in charge he would have to please.
He liked what he saw -- namely, a Texas Tech passing offense that finished second nationally in 2012.
"His résumé speaks for itself," Kay said. "You've got to go out, trust what they're teaching me, stick to the system and be in the right place to allow me and this offense and this team to get to where we want to be."
A fifth Big East title in his six years at the school would be a nice start.
For now, it's one more go-round with his buddy Legaux in a spring that Tuberville has said might not be enough to yield a clear-cut starter heading into the fall.
"We've been good friends since he got here," Kay said of Legaux. "I've helped him with everything learning the offense. When he was playing I was the first person he came to from the sideline to ask what he's seeing. When I'm out there he's the first person I go to. We both want what's best for this team and whatever's going to allow us to win."
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/i...i-bearcats