LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks says quarterback Curtis Pulley has been kicked off the team for violating team rules.

Brooks made the surprise announcement Tuesday at the team's preseason media day. Last week, Brooks had said Pulley would miss playing time for his recent brushes with the law but still had a chance to win the starting job for the Wildcats.

Pulley was arrested on traffic charges last month in Hardin County. In June, he also received a citation for marijuana possession in Louisville. Pulley missed last season because of academic reasons.

Pulley had been competing with sophomore Mike Hartline to succeed Andre Woodson as the Wildcats' starting quarterback. The dismissal likely moves Will Fidler to second on the depth chart. Fidler also was arrested last month on a disorderly conduct charge for an incident outside a Lexington restaurant.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)