QB Devin Leary transferred to Kentucky to "learn from the best"

We don’t have to spend too long talking about the importance of Kentucky football bringing back Liam Coen as offensive coordinator. At this point, everyone familiar with the Wildcats knows what his return means to the program. It’s what helped Kentucky replace Will Levis, a second-round NFL Draft pick this past spring, with an equally talented quarterback in Devin Leary, who transferred in from NC State during the offseason.

Leary was the 2022 ACC Preseason Player of the Year before a torn pectoral muscle saw him play just six games for the Wolfpack. Injuries have limited the 23-year-old signal caller since he first made the leap to college, but when he’s healthy, there’s no denying the talent. Leary has appeared in 30 total games (27 as a starter) where he’s thrown for nearly 7,000 yards on a 60.2 percent completion rate, compiling 62 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions. NC State was 5-1 to start 2022 before the aforementioned injury cut his season short.

There is clear NFL potential with Leary, who is known for making pinpoint passes and boasting impressive football IQ. And that’s why he came to Kentucky — not something the Big Blue Nation is accustomed to hearing — to learn from one of the game’s top offensive minds.

“He’s truly a player’s coach,” Leary said of Coen during Wednesday’s edition of The Paul Finebaum Show. “I think he’s someone that understands what it’s like to play the position. He’s played the position. Coming from the (Los Angeles) Rams, he’s seen it operate at the highest level being around guys like Jared Goff, Matt Stafford. It’s really cool for me, being an aspiring quarterback, wanting to learn from the best, and every single day he challenges us quarterbacks to be the very best, bring your A-game every single day, represent yourself like a pro, and just someone that I love to learn and develop under.”

It wasn’t just Coen’s influence though. Head coach Mark Stoops laid the groundwork over the last decade-plus to put Kentucky in a position where the program could even land a player of Leary’s caliber. A place where Leary knows he could come in and achieve both individual and team success.

“It was really just the culture here, what Coach Stoops has built here, the players that are a part of this program and what they did last year too with such a young group, and then of course being able to learn from Coach Coen,” Leary added. “His offense is one of the best to be able to learn from and develop as a quarterback. And in my opinion, I just wanted to learn under him, learn under Coach Stoops, and be a part of something big here.”

Although Kentucky’s 2023 schedule certainly isn’t kind, the Wildcats will have all the chances to pull off that “something big” that Leary is hoping for. A road matchup against two-defending national champion Georgia followed by a home game against Alabama a month later is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s also Tennessee at home, Mississippi State and South Carolina on the road, and a tougher-than-usual matchup against rival Louisville. There will be plenty of opportunities for massive upsets, but just as many for disappointment.

Kentucky could have a better overall team this fall than the squad in 2022 that finished 7-6 with a loss in the Music City Bowl, but the schedule is much more challenging. It’s the main reason why the Wildcats are projected by ESPN’s Football Power Index to win 7.2 games in 2023. But preseason numbers are just that. They don’t have any effect on what’s actually going to happen this season, and that’s how Leary is viewing any and all predictions.

“Honestly, I think it’s our job not to hear this stuff,” He said. “I think it’s our job to block out all noise. Every single day, being on social media or just being around certain numbers like this, you’re able to buy into what other people are saying. I think as a culture and something that we want to build going forward is really just keeping the noise in-house.”

Sounds a lot like something Stoops would say, doesn’t it?