Wearing a Kentucky shirt, Will Levis said Tennessee's offense reminds him of Kentucky
Will Levis has been busy in his first spring as the new face of the Tennessee Titans. Around this time last year, the former Kentucky quarterback answered questions about falling on draft night and the chip on his shoulder going into rookie camp as a second-round selection. A year later, Levis’s offseason responsibilities are very different after he took the starting quarterback job in Nashville, moving from QB3 to QB1 in his rookie season.
Today, Levis was the only Titans player at Thursday’s press conference in Nashville, proving his status within the locker room ahead of his first full season with the keys to the car. Levis joined first-year head coach Brian Callahan and the team’s assistant coaches to recap the spring and preview the summer before rookie camp begins for the new class on Friday.
Levis addressed several interesting topics to Titans fans, some of which you will find summarized below. However, the collective KSR readership will be more interested in the shirt Levis wore to speak on behalf of his NFL franchise. The Titans starting QB didn’t use Thursday’s face time at the podium to show off the latest release from the team store or the newest trend in Nashville fashion. Instead, Levis wore a Kentucky basketball t-shirt for the cameras in Tennessee.
All of those Tennessee Vols within the Titans fan base can’t love their guy being so proud of his Big Blue roots. Levis also wore a Kentucky hat before the team’s final road game at Houston last season:
For those wondering, Levis’ hat and shirt are from a ’47 Brand release last year. I shouldn’t know that, but I do.
“Similar to my first year at Kentucky”
More than a shirt, Kentucky also earned a mention in Levis’ Thursday comments about the Titans. Speaking about Brian Callahan’s new offense, Levis compared the new language to how he and Liam Coen communicated UK’s offense during Levis’ first season in Lexington.
When asked about the familiarity of Callahan’s offense, Levis replied, “Actually, language-wise, it’s most similar, I think, to my first year at Kentucky, so that was kind of cool hearing that new verbiage come back to me.”
That makes sense because Coen came up in the Sean McVay system with Zac Taylor, who would go on to hire Brian Callahan to be his first offensive coordinator with the Bengals from 2019 through last season.
Ready to throw
Levis loved the hiring of Callahan in Tennessee back in January. “I was psyched when we got the news about him,” he admitted Thursday. “Starting to learn about him and the quarterbacks and offenses he’s worked with in the past got me really excited, and it’s been great to work with him.”
Levis also revealed that Callahan told him in their first meeting, “Hey, we’re going to throw the ball. We’re going to throw the ball on first down. We’re going to throw in all types of situations. It’s going to be on you and we’re going to trust you to do it.”
Of course, those are exciting words for a QB to hear, and Levis can’t wait for the opportunity this fall. Last season, he played in only nine games, attempting fewer than 30 passes per game. Tennessee ranked last in the entire league in that category and others.
The coaching change will benefit Levis, as will the Titans’ spending in free agency to add offensive weapons and prioritizing a left tackle with the first pick in the draft. Former Jacksonville receiver Calvin Ridley was added to the receiver room via free agency signing, and JC Latham, the seventh overall pick in the draft, is expected to solve the problem at left tackle.
“I love it,” Levis said of the organization’s commitment to build around him. “It means that you know they’re not afraid to make those investments and they want to go win, which is awesome to see.”
Hear more from Levis, and see his Kentucky shirt, in this video from @Titans:
And Titan Up.
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