Kentucky Football Spring Practice Primer: Schedule, Storylines and More

Kentucky football spring practice is here. The action kicks off Monday, March 6 when Mark Stoops meets with the media at approximately 10 am. Before the Wildcats return to the gridiron, here’s what you can expect to hear from Stoops’ team over the next six weeks.

Spring Schedule

The Wildcats will conduct 15 practices in the months of March and April. It typically culminates with a Blue-White Game, but for thanks to a scheduled turf change at Kroger Field, that will not be the case for the third time in four years. In lieu of a spring game, Kentucky will open practice April 1. It coincides with many high school spring breaks, creating an ideal recruiting opportunity.

The Wildcats will practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week, then take a week off for UK’s spring break. Once the helmet-only practices are out of the way, they’ll return with a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday morning routine through April 11.

One other noteworthy date: On March 24 NFL scouts will flock to the Joe Craft Football Training Center to watch Will Levis at UK Pro Day.

Spring Storylines

Liam Coen is Back — It will not serve as a time to bury Rich Scangarello, however, expect to hear players discuss how refreshing it is to have Coen back on the headset. Where they will feel it most is in the communication department. The simplification of the system, specifically when calling plays, should help the offense quickly take leaps and bounds forward.

Devin Leary Develops Early Chemistry — The Wildcats’ new QB1 is almost 100% ready to roll, almost. Expected to be placed on a precautionary pitch count, he should still have plenty of opportunities to develop a rapport wit his new pass-catchers.

New Leaders on Defense — DeAndre Square was the voice of the UK defense for what felt like 17 years. The torch has now been passed to former Blue Chip recruits: JJ Weaver, Trevin Wallace and Deone Walker. Even though it is somewhat of a transitionary period, Brad White does not anticipate a drop off in production.

Rebuilding the Big Blue Wall –The Wildcats brought in reinforcements, but is it enough to plug holes in a porous Big Blue Wall? We’ll learn more once spring practice concludes and the second transfer portal window opens in May.

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Top Positional Competitions

Cornerback — Carrington Valentine’s early departure for the NFL Draft forced Kentucky to hit the transfer portal to find two new starting cornerbacks. While Max Hairston and Andru Phillips compete for the field spot, JQ Hardaway (Cincinnati) and Jantzen Dunn (Ohio State) made the move to Lexington to play right away. Who will emerge from the early battle on the boundary?

Right Tackle — Jeremy Flax and Deondre Buford each earned starts at the position last fall, but it’s unclear if either is the answer in 2023. Alabama transfer Tanner Bowles has some experience at the position and redshirt freshman Nik Hall has the measureables to make the move if needed.

Quarterback 2 — We know that Devin Leary will be taking the first snaps for the Wildcats this year, but what happens if he goes down with an injury? It happened to Kentucky last year against South Carolina and it’s happened twice in Leary’s career. With Leary on a throw count, it’s the right time for Kaiya Sheron and Destin Wade to prove they can be a quality backup in 2023, or UK may visit the transfer portal in May.