Devin Leary on Liam Coen: ‘He's truly a players’ coach’ 

After transferring to Kentucky from NC State this offseason, quarterback Devin Leary has the opportunity to work with one of the best offensive minds in college football, head coach Mark Stoops. And after the Wildcats made a change at offensive coordinator, he will also learn from former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

During a recent appearance on the Paul Finebaum show, Leary gave his thoughts on his new OC and revealed how his developing relationship with Coen has been beneficial to him.

“He’s truly a players’ coach. I think he’s someone that understands what it’s like to play the position; he’s played the position,” said Leary. “And coming from the Rams, he’s seen it operate at the highest level, being around guys like Jared Goff (and) Matt Stafford.

“It’s really cool for me, being an aspiring quarterback wanting to learn from the best. And every single day, he challenges us quarterbacks to be the very best; bring your A-game every single day, represent yourself like a pro, and just someone that I love to learn and develop under.

Since 2018, Coen has split time between the Rams and the Wildcats. From 2018- 2020, he was Los Angeles’ assistant wide receiver coach and spent a year as their assistant quarterback coach. Following his three seasons in LA, he accepted the offensive coordinator position at Kentucky in 2021, only to return to the Rams in 2022 as their offensive coordinator.

Now that Coen is back with the Wildcats, he has the opportunity to turn Leary into one of the top quarterbacks in college football once again. If the two can put together a successful season at Kentucky, Leary could join the likes of Goff and Stafford as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

Stoops opens up on impact of Kentucky having Coen back

The Wildcats’ headman also shared his thoughts on Coen returning to the program recently. Stoops opened up about Coen’s impact this week, noting his familiarity with the roster and how that plays a role in his transition back to the college level.

“There’s no question, the comfort level with bringing Liam back is there,” Stoops said. “I mean, it’s evident. It’s obvious in our building and with our players because he knows so many of them. But he has that energy. And again, I don’t want to put any and all problems on a previous coach. That’s on me, things that have happened a year ago. The areas where we fell short, a lot of them are within the program. I’ll shoulder that.”

Coen previously led the Wildcats to 32.1 points and 424.1 total yards per game in 2021. Last year, after he left, those numbers dropped to 20.4 points and 324.7 yards per contest to rank last in the SEC. The goal will be to get the new-look offense back to those solid numbers as Leary gets the keys at quarterback.