Liam Coen Shares the Differences Between Devin Leary and Will Levis

In Liam Coen’s second stint as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, he’s starting things like the first. Kentucky will have a new quarterback from the transfer portal. Unlike Will Levis, Devin Leary is arriving in Lexington with a ton of production as a starting quarterback at the Power Five level. While some are quick to point out their differences, Liam Coen believes they still share similar traits.

“The leadership capabilities as a quarterback, I feel like at Kentucky specifically, you have to have a little bit of different moxy in your neck. You know, you just have to have something a little bit different to you,” he told Friday’s Kentucky Sports Radio audience.

“He’s a South Jersey kid that has a ton of swagger that was named a captain and early on in his career at NC State. He’s a type of kid that can get get along with with all different walks of life. He’s just a leader. He’s got that kind of that it factor that you look for in a personality. And then oh by the way, people forget he was 35-and-5 touchdown to interception ratio two years ago.”

This guy does not forget that 35-to-5 touchdown interception ratio that led the league’s media to pick Devin Leary as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year ahead of the 2022 college football season.

Will Levis’ Physicality vs. Devin Leary’s Production

Despite suffering season-ending injuries in two of his three years as a starter, Leary has compiled 6,807 passing yards and 62 touchdowns in his collegiate career. Before Will Levis made it to Lexington, he was Penn State’s running quarterback with only a pair of starts under his belt. There’s a reason why the Nittany Lions wanted Will to tote the rock.

“Will is built differently, I mean, he’s just built like Thor. He could endure so many hits and play the game so physical. You had to try to kind of reel him in from taking hits and being physical, but really it was part of what made him great. Will was an extremely violent thrower the football as well. He would throw a comeback at 25 yards on an absolute rope. He would throw a dig cut like that. I mean, he can throw the ball 70 yards,” Liam Coen said.

Kentucky’s offensive coordinator does not want to see his next quarterback try to hurdle defenders. However, that does not mean Leary can’t move around in the pocket to evade opponents.

“Now, Devin is not as big, not built quite the same. He has some athleticism, but it’s more so within the pocket where he can expand plays, extend plays, do some different things with his legs that way. But he’s also an extremely accurate and also powerful thrower of the football. The ball jumps off his hand like you saw, some of the things we were excited about what Will.

“I think Devin’s been in a more pass-happy or pass-friendly offense and the experiences that he’s had are a little bit different than Will. Will was a running quarterback at Penn State. We gave him an opportunity to throw the football and maybe not as much as Devin has, but that’s just different experiences that I think will help him when he does come here and tries to be a little bit more of a pro-style offense.”