Familiarity, balance of Liam Coen's offense gives Devin Leary confidence

Will Levis is moving on to the NFL and Kentucky has a starting quarterback to replace in Lexington. The Wildcats turned to the transfer portal in December and convinced NC State transfer Devin Leary to spend his final season of college football in Lexington.

Kentucky wide receivers coach Scott Woodward was the lead recruiter for Leary, but former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen has returned to the Bluegrass to serve as Leary’s position coach and play-caller. After a full career spent in a spread offense starring for offensive coordinator Tim Beck, Leary will be making a scheme switch this season. However, the pros outweighed the cons for the highly ranked transfer.

As Leary has dug into the playbook and film cutups, the multiplicity of Coen’s offense stands out to the veteran quarterback.

“The biggest thing that stands out to me is how balanced it is,” Leary told reporters on Wednesday. “Coach Coen does a great job of calling the offense and really designing it to where there’s so many different ways we can attack defenses. Whether that’s utilizing tight end, receivers, getting into 12 personnel, running the football, using two backs. A lot of different ways to attack defenses.”

“I think the biggest difference that I just need to dive into more — compared to the previous couple offenses that I was in — is this one is a little bit more pro-style. Which I think you need to run to succeed in this league. As well as just to help me in my development as well. I’m really looking forward to just keep on learning from coach and getting better and better.”

The last time Coen was in Lexington, the Wildcats produced top-25 results as an efficient offense (No. 5 in success rate) that had great balance. Kentucky produced a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher while ranking No. 8 in red zone touchdown percentage. Due to his familiarity with the program and most of the personnel on the roster, the transition has been rather seamless. Players are adjusting quickly to the new offensive coordinator.

“It’s really good to hear some of the terminology from 2021 with the guys that have been here,” Leary said. “It sounds very familiar. They’re able to pick up on it fast.”

That is helping the new guys on offense make a quick transition. Leary is now establishing a working relationship with Coen, but before that happened the new quarterback exchanged texts with Levis. The future first-round pick assured Leary that he is in good hands in Lexington.

“He kind of just shot me a little text saying like ‘dude, if there’s any coach in the country that can develop quarterbacks it’s Coach Coen’. For him it was really helpful and successful for him so he was just trying to feed that back off to me,” Leary said.

There will be a transition on the field for the ACC transfer, but roster familiarity with Coen and balance of the offense are two pillars that Devin Leary is leaning on. Kentucky is hoping that will help lead to another top-25 offense where scoring points comes easier.