Expect Marcus Herford on the football field this fall — somewhere.

Herford, a Kansas University freshman who took a red-shirt season in 2004, will vie for the Jayhawks’ starting-quarterback job this fall with Jason Swanson, Brian Luke and returning starter Adam Barmann.

But if Herford can’t hurdle all three, he won’t wither on the sideline with a clipboard in hand. He’s too athletic for that.

“We’re not going to fool around here for a long period of time,” KU coach Mark Mangino said Tuesday. “The only guy we don’t know about for sure yet is Marcus Herford. If he wins the job, then he’ll be our quarterback. If not, he’s definitely going to play wide receiver for us. Our wide-receiver position is a position we need to get stronger and get better at.”

Spring drills will begin Sunday, and, without question, the biggest issue is the quarterback quandary. All four slingers present a case to be the guy when KU opens the season Sept. 3 against Florida Atlantic.

Even incoming freshman Kerry Meier will get his shot, though he’s likely to take a red-shirt season.

But the most intriguing — and mysterious — candidate is Herford, who, by all accounts, thrived on the scout team in 2004 as a dual-threat quarterback. During the first week of spring ball, Mangino said Herford would receive about 25-30 percent of the repetitions, and after that he would be evaluated.

“Marcus Herford is a heck of an athlete,” Mangino said. “He’s going to be on the field.”

Mangino stressed Tuesday that four quarterbacks would not receive an equal share during the 15 practices between Sunday and the spring scrimmage April 16. Enough reps won’t exist for that to be beneficial.

So, for the first week, Barmann likely will get 30-35 percent of the snaps, Herford will see his share, and Luke and Swanson will pick up the pieces.

“He’s the returning starter,” Mangino said of Barmann. “He lost his job through injury. We’re going to pick up where we left off. But the job is open to competition.”

Herford, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder from DeSoto, Texas, dressed in a few games last year and participated in pregame workouts with both receivers and quarterbacks.

Where he’ll be this fall might soon be answered.

“We’ll see in the first week how it goes with him,” Mangino said. “We’ll keep him at quarterback until we feel differently.”

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All better: Mangino said everyone banged up at the end of last season was back to 100 percent, including Barmann, Swanson, running back John Randle and cornerback Theo Baines. All are expected to participate in spring drills, and no new injuries have surfaced.

“According to our medical staff and what I see in workouts, we’ll have everybody practicing and ready to go,” Mangino said.

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Changing places: A couple of players will pop up at different positions this year. Among them is senior-to-be Matt Thompson, KU’s starting left tackle in 2004 who will get a look at center.

“He is a veteran guy and a very intelligent guy,” Mangino said. “We think he may be really suited for that position.”

The other significant change is freshman Bruce Ringwood, who will move from linebacker to fullback.

Charles Gordon was mentioned as focusing on the wide-receiver position after being a full-time cornerback in 2004, but Mangino doesn’t anticipate changing his role.

“Charles is going to get some plays (at receiver) just like last year,” Mangino said. “Until I watch spring ball very closely, I have no reason to move Charles from the corner position as I sit here right now.”

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Smooth transition: Mangino said three new assistant coaches — Tim Beck, John Reagan and Earle Mosley — had stepped right in with no problems.

“They’re doing great,” Mangino said of the offensive assistants. “I’m really happy with the coaches we hired. They’re all really good teachers.”

While the abundance of coaching changes could be a problem in many programs, Mangino said he didn’t see it as a potential hazard.

“We have the same system in place. We hired coaches that are familiar with what we do here,” Mangino said. “I think in the long run, we’ll end up being stronger than we’ve ever been on the offensive side of the ball.”