Why Will Levis is confident Kentucky offense will ‘take a big step forward’ in 2023
Will Levis is preparing to start his professional career, but his impact on the Kentucky football program is still being felt.
Levis’ status as a likely top-10 NFL Draft pick has added attention to the program — even if much of the chatter about his draft stock involves questions about his supporting staff at Kentucky. It also helped Mark Stoops and company land Levis’ replacement, North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary.
“I was just honest with kind of how I felt about the school, my love for it, my love for the coaching staff and my love for the players,” Levis said Friday at the NFL scouting combine when asked about his relationship with Leary. “And my belief in him, knowing the type of player he was to be able to put him in that situation and succeed. Obviously I think the situation I’m in right now, being a potential draft pick, was exciting for him to see that by playing in an offense like that and having success there that could be a possibility for him.”
Leary was the top-ranked available quarterback in the transfer portal when he committed to Kentucky.
He is coming off a torn pectoral muscle that ended his 2022 season after six games, but in 2021 Leary was one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which goes to college football’s best quarterback. That season he threw 35 touchdowns and just five interceptions for N.C. State.
The idea of Kentucky signing one of the country’s best quarterbacks would have seemed impossible even a couple of years ago.
When Levis signed as a transfer from Penn State with the Wildcats, he was viewed as a run-first backup quarterback. Kentucky’s high school quarterback recruiting has been a consistent issue throughout the Stoops era as run-heavy offenses failed to attract top-level passers, as evidenced by Mac Jones’ decision to flip his commitment from Kentucky to Alabama as a high school recruit.
But the staff’s ability to help Levis develop from Penn State backup to one of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class has changed the perception of the offense. The return of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who recruited Levis to UK and coached him in Lexington in 2021 before a one-year stint as Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, doubles down on that change.
“It just goes to show that if you buy into this culture, if you buy into this program and really give all you have to this team a lot of good things can happen,” Leary said after arriving on campus. “At the same time, everyone’s process is different. I’m really happy for Will, but obviously he’s an awesome example of what hard work and really just buying in can do for you.”
Leary and Levis, who first met last summer at the Manning Passing Academy, remain in semi-regular contact. Levis texted Leary this week for an update on offseason workouts in advance of the start of spring practice next week.
“I’m excited to see how spring starts off from them,” Levis said. “I know all the guys in that offense from this past year, especially the young ones, will be able to develop and make an even bigger mark this year.”
When Kentucky was recruiting Leary in the transfer portal, there was no offensive coordinator in place. While Coen signed his contract in early December, he and Stoops agreed to keep the news quiet so Coen could focus on his responsibilities with the Rams through the end of the NFL season.
There was no shortage of speculation that Coen was returning to Lexington after Stoops fired 2022 offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, but Leary has insisted in multiple interviews he was given no guarantees about who would be calling plays for the Wildcats next season.
Still, he acknowledged a conversation with Levis about what Coen could do for him as a quarterbacks coach was key in his decision to pick the Wildcats over interest from “just about every school from every conference.”
It should come as no surprise then that Levis thinks Coen’s return to Lexington is a major boost for the Wildcats as they work to build an offense around Leary and a gaggle of promising young receivers.
“It’s great for the guys,” Levis said. “I know that Coach Stoops is really happy about it, and I know he’s going to make the best decision for the program.
“Coach (Coen) loves it there, and I know he’s excited to be back. I know that Devin and all the other guys will be able to learn a lot from him, and we’re going to take a big step going forward from this past year.”