‘Your stroke is your stroke.’ What makes Kentucky’s Devin Leary an accurate passer?
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For Sunday’s college football preview package, Herald-Leader UK football beat writer Jon Hale profiled Devin Leary and how the Wildcats’ quarterback had prepared himself for his first season as the leader of Mark Stoops’ offense.
The No. 1 thing you hear about Leary is his accuracy. The New Jersey native completed 65.7 percent of his passes in 2021 when he played a full injury-free season at North Carolina State. That was the same season in which Leary threw for 35 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He ranked 20th nationally in pass efficiency with a 157.05 rating.
So what makes a quarterback an accurate passer? Is it footwork? Is it mechanics? Is it arm motion? Or is it just God-given ability, something you are born with?
I asked UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen that during fall camp.
“I think your stroke is your stroke, you know,” Coen said. “It’s like a golf swing. If you are a natural, if you’ve got a natural stroke a lot of those guys are typically pretty accurate.
“There’s not a lot of wasted motion, he’s smooth, he’s been throwing the football the same way for a long time. He hasn’t had a ton of mechanical tweaks throughout his career. He’s just got a natural stroke.
“And he throws the ball firm. That’s what a lot of guys miss on, especially on the short and intermediate throws when they don’t drive it. You lose accuracy. He drives it, which definitely makes that ball more catchable.”
Coen was asked if he’s had to work on Leary’s mechanics.
“Not really,” the OC said. “Footwork. Footwork, and then above-the-neck stuff. But I have not talked or touched about his stroke at all.”
Kentucky’s receivers had heard Leary’s reputation for accurate throws. Still, they admit they have been surprised, and impressed, by the quarterback’s ability to put the ball in certain spots.
“He’s definitely surprised me with his accuracy,” said sophomore Dane Key, who caught 37 passes, including six for touchdowns, as a freshman. “One day at practice the other day, he actually was not looking at me when he threw the ball, but the ball still like hit me straight in my chest. And I was like, ‘OK, he’s that type of guy that would go out there and make those types of plays.”
Coen has also remarked on the fact that with Leary “all receivers are eligible” that the quarterback will throw to any receiver on any play.
“I know Leary, he likes to look at the whole field,” Key said. “He doesn’t just look at one side and you could be backside of the route one time and not expecting the ball and you’ll see the ball in the air and you’ll have to get to moving. But that’s not how we can play this year. We have to play like everybody’s live and everybody’s going to get the ball that play.”
Said fellow receiver Tayvion Robinson, “He thinks everyone is open until they’re not.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
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