QB Anthony Colandrea picks up first Power 5 offer from UK, calls it a "dream come true"

(Photo courtesy of Anthony Colandrea)

Liam Coen has been making his mark on the recruiting front over the last week or so.

Kentucky Football’s new offensive coordinator has been handing out scholarship offers like candy to quarterbacks from the class of 2023. Coen has essentially skipped over the class of 2022, sitting confidently with a deep quarterback room and Destin Wade coming in next season to potentially slide into that position, as well. There are roughly two dozen offers out there right now from Kentucky to rising high school junior gunslingers–and one of them lives down in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Anthony Colandrea, a 6-foot, 175-pound dual-threat quarterback from the class of 2023, picked up his first-ever Power 5 offer on Tuesday and it came from Coach Coen and the Wildcats following an impressive camp performance. Coming into the day, Colandrea only held one other Divison I offer, which came from Troy back in early June. But an offer from a big-time program in Kentucky, an SEC school, was something he’d been dreaming of.

“Dream come true,” Colandrea told KSR on Tuesday about picking up his first Power 5 offer from UK.

Extremely Blessed To Receive My First SEC Offer From the University Of Kentucky!!🔵⚪️ #BBN @LiamCoen @Andrew_Ivins @Rivalsfbcamps pic.twitter.com/mKKRHe0QIx

— Anthony Colandrea (@acolandrea10) June 22, 2021

It didn’t take Coen long to make Colandrea’s dreams come true, either. It was the quarterback’s first time on campus and he flourished in camp drills before quickly receiving an offer from Coen shortly after the camp came to an end.

“It was great,” Colandrea said about his visit. “I got there and my friend Terrell Crosby–he has an offer from Kentucky–and we were there on a visit and we ended up doing a camp and I ended up meeting Coach Coen, the offensive coordinator, really cool guy. It was just a great experience, I did great at the camp and he ended up giving me an offer.”

Colandrea will play his high school ball at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg after transferring following the conclusion of his sophomore year. He moved schools to an offense that opens up the field and lets him play to his strengths. It’s a pass-happy offense that he expects to thrive in. During his spring game at Lakewood not long ago, Colandrea threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone.

“My spring game that I just played, I had 400 yards and five touchdowns in the first half,” Colandrea added. “I transferred schools. The other school I was at, there was a lot of issues with the offense and stuff. I end up coming to a new school and then my spring game highlights were really off the charts. So that’s why a lot of coaches have been like ‘Oh okay so he can throw it.'”

Colandrea views himself as a dual-threat quarterback who can run the ball and throw on the run. But he’s also confident dropping back and slinging the ball down the field. Coach Coen is clearly a fan of what he’s seen on tape and in person.

“He said he’s gonna talk to me later because he was in a rush, he had a meeting,” Colandrea said. “But he was saying I could throw the ball like crazy, I have really good footwork and everything. It was a really good time, he’s a really good guy.”

It’s been a busy month for Colandrea already, as well. He’s been to camps at Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Georgia with plans to return to Georgia Tech sometime this summer. He told KSR that he’ll be at UCF next week for a camp and that Florida State has been expressing some interest. But interestingly enough, Colandrea said he would prefer to not stay in Florida.

“I don’t wanna stay in Florida so I wanna go to a school outside,” Colandrea added.

Kentucky has got on Colandrea early, which the staff has a penchant for doing. He explained that he’s noticed the UK Football program more and more over the years after only being familiar with the ever-popular basketball team. Add in an NFL-style offense that caters to quarterbacks and Colandrea came away impressed with what he experienced.

Expect him to pick up more offers over the next few weeks, particularly with more camps coming up.