For Kentucky’s receivers, life after Wan’Dale Robinson starts at the top
When Liam Coen departed for the Los Angeles Rams, his friend Scott Woodward became a person of much greater interest to University of Kentucky football fans.
The status of Woodward, UK’s acting wide receivers coach during the 2021 season, was immediately thrust into the rumor mill. Would he follow his buddy to the West Coast? Does he want to coach at another college, maybe back in his native northeast? Might Mark Stoops name Coen’s “eyes in the sky” as the new offensive coordinator?
As the dust settled, Woodward found himself in the same role at the same university — exactly where he wanted to be.
“In the long run, I thought it was best for me and my family that we stay here,” Woodward told the Herald-Leader. “Obviously, Liam and I are very close and there may be a time down the road in the future where we’re back together. Me and him have talked about that. But this wasn’t the right time to do that. I’m fully committed to the University of Kentucky.”
He and his wife Kelli love Lexington, and the couple just had their first child during UK’s recent spring break. Contractually, Woodward is set to serve the next two seasons as the Wildcats’ receivers coach, a position he assumed midway through last season following the suspension of then-receivers coach Jovon Bouknight, who was charged with a DUI and now works at Marshall University. Woodward mostly worked with quarterbacks before a two-year stint as an offensive quality control assistant at Pittsburgh prior to his arrival at Kentucky. Like Coen, his history at that position brought a different dimension to coaching pass-catchers.
“He’s a quarterback at heart,” former UK receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said. “He gives you that perspective of a quarterback and how a quarterback is seeing the play concepts and things like that, just giving you another level of understanding.”
From the outside looking in, said Woodward, UK’s offense under Rich Scangarello shouldn’t look too different from how it looked under Coen. There are terminological tweaks and some varying route concepts for the receivers, but the transition has been relatively smooth compared to last spring, when the entire offense was trying to understand a pro-style revision.
The Wildcats’ only season under Coen produced a record-breaker in Robinson, but their passing attack was mostly contained to the connection between he and quarterback Will Levis. Josh Ali added a career-best 601 yards on 41 receptions despite missing three games, but six other UK receivers combined for a total of 27 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns in 2021. Neither Robinson (NFL Draft early entrant) nor Ali (eligibility exhausted) is around any longer.
Woodward’s goal for the group in 2022? Spread the love.
“Last year everyone kind of knew if the ball wasn’t going to Wan’Dale, it was going to Josh, and vice versa,” Woodward said. “Those were the two guys we counted on and the guys who were on the field each and every play. It’s going to be a lot different this year. I think it’s going to be more by committee.”
By the end of spring practice and going into fall camp, Woodward wants to be in a position where “six to seven guys” can be counted on as contributors. UK over its last two recruiting classes has piled up higher-rated receivers than it has been accustomed to getting, and they’ll need those guys to quickly live up to their billing if Woodward is to get where he wants in terms of a diverse rotation.
Dane Key, a true freshman, has been the most highly-regarded newcomer among those on campus, and true sophomores Dekel Crowdus, Chris Lewis and Chauncey Magwood have all had impressive moments throughout spring. But it’s a junior new to the program, Tayvion Robinson, who’s most likely to be the unit’s ringleader this fall. “He has the potential to be very special,” Woodward said of the Virginia Tech transfer who had 1,555 yards in three seasons at his former school.
The group will add a couple more challengers for playing time — five-star prospect Barion Brown and Alabama transfer Javon Baker — in the summer. For Kentucky to replicate or exceed what it accomplished last year, it’ll need a Wan’Dale-like star to emerge or, more realistically, a few youngsters like them to hit the ground running in their first fall in Lexington.
“If you asked me who was going to lead our team in receptions next year, I would have no idea,” Woodward said. “That’s kind of a good thing.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
