Rich Scangarello reveals surprising change from NFL to college football

Although Rich Scangarello began his coaching career in the college ranks, it’s been a long time since he’s been back. Scangarello was last the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Wagner, before making the jump to the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. Between two other stops, Scangarello was hired by Kentucky to be their offensive coordinator after another stint in the Bay Area.

At the Power Five level for the first time in his career, Scangarello was asked the difference between college and the NFL. He said working with players in the summer is a major bonus when comparing the two. In the professionals, Scangarello claims players will go away and never really return in shape. The offensive coordinator thinks working with the Wildcats throughout the summer was a huge positive for development.

“What surprised me is in college football, you have more time in the summer with your players than you do with the NFL,’ Scangarello said. “It’s a great feeling and I feel like running a pro offense you can get this stuff done faster. You’re available for this limited amount of time where you can interact with them but you’re able to create momentum so things are not foreign coming out of spring.

“I think in the NFL — OTAs is virtually nothing anymore, they have limited it so much. Players disappear for five weeks and who knows what shape they’re in. You lose a lot of traction sometimes. We were able to gain that traction by interacting with these guys. Was able to help Will’s (Levis) development, the young quarterbacks, and just the players around them and what they can do. I think that’s accelerated what we can do in fall camp and I think that puts us ahead and I like where we’re at.”

More on Rich Scangarello, working at Kentucky

Scangarello will be calling plays for Kentucky this season, hoping to build off the positive year the Wildcats had in 2021. As mentioned, it’s a crucial year in the development of quarterback Will Levis, who is already rated one of the best in the SEC. Working with Scangarello throughout the spring, summer, and now fall camp can only be a positive.

Had the new offensive coordinator been in the NFL still, he’d be in the midst of training camp and potentially seeing his players for the first time in a while. Scangarello seems more than happy to be down in the college ranks to help Kentucky compete for an SEC East title.