Lawrence Brookins has his hands full and he knows it.

Brookins, who was officially introduced Tuesday as Cape Girardeau Central High School's new head football coach, takes over a team which went 4-6 last season, lost its star 6-foot-3 quarterback and hasn't won a district championship since 1989.

What's more is that Brookins -- accepting his first varsity head coaching job after being an offensive/defensive line coach the past three years at Central -- will have to help find, basically, a whole new coaching staff after several assistants departed earlier this year.

"We've got to put together in a hurry -- the administration and myself -- as good a staff as we can put together." said Brookins.

That in itself will be a monumental task at this late of a date. It's not too late, but it gets harder as the time goes by.

"I'm going to be honest with everyone in this room and beyond," Brookins said as he addressed the media, some faculty, his family and three team captains at the Central Board of Education Office. "This is not an easy task I'm about to undertake and I can't do it without help."

Even with the immediate obstacles, Brookins, 44, is looking forward to the labor.

"I'm just excited about it all and it will be work," said Brookins. "I'll probably be about 30 pounds lighter when you all see me at the end of the season."

Brookins takes over for Jerry Dement, who, after six years as head coach, resigned and later accepted a position as an assistant coach at Sikeston. Dement compiled a 31-29 record.

"We have interviewed some top candidates, some very good football coaches," Central athletic director Terry Kitchen said. "(Brookins) was a contender at the (beginning), but after we went through all the interviewing process and the smoke cleared, he went from a contender to the No. 1 contender. He was the best choice we could find and we think he is the man for years to come."

Brookins, who has been coaching since 1977, graduated from Westminster College in Fulton. He's taught and coached at Moberly, Kirksville and Columbia public schools before moving to Cape Girardeau in 1996.

Brookins also coaches girls track at Central.

The husband and father of three said he has learned a lot from the number of head coaches he has worked under.

Brookins has already said that he will modify some of the team's tactics next season. He said he will make a few changes on offense, but indicated he will install a more traditional "50" defense as opposed to the 4-6 set that the Tigers used last season.

"I think we've been doing some good things offensively these past couple years," Brookins said. "The 50 defense will allow us to get into and out of three and four linebacker sets."

The biggest difference, Brookins said, between being an assistant coach and a head coach is "added responsibility and accountability."

"I think one of my strengths is organization," Brookins said. "And I'll have to be more organized than I have been my whole life to handle all the things as head coach. An assistant coach just coaches. A head coach has to be more of an administrator."

Brookins graduated from and played football at Fulton High School. He was a wingback in high school, or as he put it, a "glorified guard." Brookins helped open holes for All-American running back Tony Galbreath, who starred at Missouri before moving on to the NFL.