Liam Coen experienced medical episode, in good condition per Kentucky
Liam Coen completed his second game in his return to the Wildcats staff a little over 24 hours ago. However, a day later, Kentucky’s offensive coordinator is dealing with a medical situation.
UK’s athletic department shared a statement on Coen’s condition earlier this evening on Twitter. It says that Coen “had a medical episode” while in the facilities today and that “he is currently in good condition” at UK Chandler Hospital.
The statement also added that “medical personnel continue to monitor him” and that a release sometime on Monday is expected.
Coen is in his second season as Kentucky’s OC. In 2021, he led the Wildcats to their best offense yet under Mark Stoops with an average of 32.2 points per game, good for 36th in the nation, and 425.4 yards.
He then spent last season as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams before returning to Lexington this offseason.
In UK’s pair of games this fall, the offense has had a bit of a slow start at times. Kentucky ended up with 44 points against Ball State in Coen’s return to the sidelines of Kroger Field but then slowed up, before finding more of a groove in the second half, with 28 points against Eastern Kentucky this weekend.
An update on Coen’s status will likely be shared tomorrow with more to come over the next few days. For now, though, his health should be the one and only priority this week before the Wildcats have to take the field again against Akron next Saturday night.
Devin Leary on win vs. EKU: ‘We’ve got some things to learn’
Kentucky overcame a sluggish start early and some solid play from Eastern Kentucky on Saturday evening. The Wildcats managed to pull out a 28-17 win but it certainly did not come easy.
Kentucky managed to outscore EKU 21-10 in the second half, thanks to a much better performance from their quarterback, Devin Leary.
Following the game, the Wildcats’ signal-caller spoke with the ESPN+ broadcast crew.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely a good finish. You know, we’re gonna take a win at the end of the day. But still, slow start. We’ve got some things to learn, definitely from today. It was good to get some drives going in the second half, but we all know walking away from here, we’ve got to start a lot better,” Leary said on the field.
In the second half, things started to click a bit better for the Wildcats’ passing attack. Leary completed 9 of 12 passing attempts, tossing three touchdown passes. What was the difference for him in the second half that allowed him to get into a groove?
“Yeah, I think you know, just kind of taking a deep breath. Taking it one play at a time. You know, the scoreboard can’t go from zero to 40, as much as we want it to. So, we kinda had to sit back a little bit. Take a deep breath. Get some adjustments done at halftime. And go just one play at a time coming out of the second half. And I thought we did a good job of that. But like I said, in the first half, we’ve got to get a lot better,” Leary said.