Liam Coen, Kentucky will be looking for leadership in transfer portal

The 2023 regular season wraps up on Saturday with rivalry weekend. Throughout the college football landscape from the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving until the final games end on Saturday night, trophies will be won and bragging rights will be claimed. On Sunday, some schools will start preparing for conference championship games, but everyone else will turn their full attention to recruiting.

Teams will work on locking up their high school recruiting classes, but the transfer portal will get most of the immediate attention. On Dec. 4, the first window of college football free agency will begin and run for 45 days. It’s officially roster retention season.

Kentucky’s offense will again be an active shopper in the transfer portal this season. Liam Coen will be looking for some upgrades, but some intangibles also must be addressed. The Wildcats need some more leadership.

“We need very consistent leadership in terms of the day-to-day process. Whether that be from us as coaches but at some point it really has to come from the players to take it over. To be the guys that are holding each other accountable. If we have an MA (missed assignment) in practice, it shouldn’t be us as coaches having to reload the play or holler about the issue. You want good teams, and good teams are typically player-led. We would love for that to occur and for somebody to really emerge to take this thing over. And to truly fix the issues.”

In three close SEC games this season, Kentucky has crumbled down the stretch. The Wildcats did not score a fourth quarter touchdown against Missouri, Tennessee, or South Carolina. Some of that could be due to lack of execution. The Wildcats do not appear to have a clear go-to guy. That needs to change in the future.

Finding some leaders who can hold players accountable and execute with the game on the line is a top need for the Wildcats.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Line of scrimmage growth

Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky had a clear identity on offense. The Wildcats were a run-heavy, downhill rushing attack that moved bodies at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, a strong run on the offensive line ended in 2022. Kentucky has improved in 2023, but progress still needs to be made in the trenches.

“We need to get bigger, faster, and stronger. We need to get bigger, faster, and stronger as a unit. At the skill positions, we need to continue to grow and develop. We need to get more physically dominant up front and continue to grow to get back to that mentality that we can wear you out,” Liam Coen said. “That’s gotta be who we are. We’re not going to sit here and chuck it around 50 times per game.”

Look for Kentucky to take a look at big wide receivers and some more offensive line help in the portal.

Kentucky will re-evaluate its system

Pace of play has been a problem for the Kentucky offense this season. The Wildcats move at a snail’s pace and are only averaging 56 snaps per game. No offense in college football moves slower than Liam Coen’s.

The offensive coordinator addressed that on Tuesday. Kentucky’s staff will look at making some systemic changes to how the offense operates.

“Have to look at as a staff how can we play faster,” Coen said. “How can we maybe take this offense and mold it into more of a no-huddle system? Get more plays, play faster, play with more tempo. Do what we’re ultimately trying to get done schematically but also how do we change it up to play with more tempo? Spread things out a little bit more. Get your athletes in space while still trying to be physical in the run game.”

Some much-needed changes could be coming to the offense in 2024. Kentucky realizes the slow pace is a problem and must be corrected.