Will Levis Weighs in on Offensive Coordinator, Next QB and More

After two weeks out of the limelight, Will Levis stepped back into it this week as he returns to Lexington to prepare for the Music City Bowl. No, the Kentucky quarterback will not be playing in the game, but he will be helping his teammates a they get ready to take on Iowa Dec. 31.

Tuesday night he joined a couple of old friends, Max Duffy and Miles Butler, on KSR’s Pin It Deep. They discussed what went wrong in 2022, namely the severity of his injuries and the differences in offensive coordinators. Levis also looked ahead to the future, not just for himself at the NFL Draft, but what’s next for the Cats in the quarterback room.

Difference in Offensive Coordinators

What went wrong for the Kentucky offense in 2022? It’s a question Will Levis has asked himself often since the season ended. Obviously, the Cats lost Wan’Dale Robinson and offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Schematically, Rich Scangarello did not try to reinvent the wheel, but on gameday things did not click the way they should.

“I go back and try to find out what really was the difference from a play-calling standpoint last year and it wasn’t really too different,” said Levis. “I think a lot of the concepts that we tried to run this year that Coach Scangs had seen a lot of success with at the NFL level just simply for one reason or another… that just didn’t work at this level that we predicted.”

It was reflected in the game script. In 2021 Kentucky scored on its first possession eight times, compared to just four under Scangarello. Levis says that plays a part of the gameplan just didn’t go according to plan.

“Less often did it play out the way we expected it to, whether it was from a look standpoint or an execution standpoint, compared to last year. I still kind of ask myself to this day why we didn’t have as much success as we did and it’s hard for me to kind of put my finger on it why exactly.”

How Injured was Will Levis?

For most of the season Will Levis was battling injuries. He hurt his foot in the loss to Ole Miss and was forced to miss the game the following week, a loss to South Carolina. He did not provide specifics behind each injury, but did share what it was like to play through pain in 2022.

“It was a situation where each game, each each week I was just fighting every single day of every week in the training room to a level where I was comfortable playing,” he said. “Practice was pretty tough because I wasn’t able to kind of get things from a numbing or medication stuff that I could get on game days, so it was really tough for me to plant and have explosive movements in practice. It definitely was limited through the games. It sucked man, it was not fun. I just felt like I was going through a constant cycle of fighting to get back to healthy enough to play each week.”

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The Next Kentucky Quarterback

Will Levis is leaving big shoes to fill. Kaiya Sheron, Deuce Hogan and Destin Wade will be the first to get a crack at it while preparing for the Music City Bowl.

“It’s a competition. I think Kaiya got most of the reps this past week of practice and they’re going to change it up and give other guys some opportunities to rep the ones for the rest of the practices we have until we leave for the game. I don’t know when they’re going to make a decision, but it’s a very exciting time for them. It could be a little stressful but I know they’re going to work their butts off and whoever is going to play is going to be ready.”

While intriguing, most Kentucky fans are more concerned about which player the Wildcats will bring in from the transfer portal. Will Levis will not be hosting any of those players for visits, but he will be a resource during the decision-making process.

“I’m going to do my best to help the coaches with whatever they want in giving guys the information they need to make the best decision,” says Levis.

“I’m going to be honest with them and I am being honest when I tell all of them, if you want to go and play at the next level, there’s no better spot. I think the opportunity to play in this kind of offensive system, to have the terminology and to have the concepts in the playbook that’s going to be required and asked of you at the next level is extremely, extremely valuable. There’s countless examples of guys who didn’t have any exposure to this kind of offense or didn’t take a snap under center and it hurts them at the next level.”

Wednesday morning Levis also appeared in the latest episode of Pardon My Take. Dan Katz, a.k.a Big Cat, is a Wisconsin graduate who heard rumblings about Graham Mertz potentially coming to Kentucky. “News to me,” said Levis. However, Levis did say he has spoken to Mertz about life in Lexington.

“I’m aware of his game. I know him well,” he told he Pardon My Take crew. “I’ve talked to him a little bit recently just to give him an inside look at what Kentucky football looks like and he seems to like it, as I think any quarterback in the country should.”

PMT Measures Will Levis’ Hands

In addition to some serious questions, there was plenty of shenanigans in both interviews. During his trip to New York City, the Barstool Sports crew got Levis NFL Draft ready by taking a measurement of his hands. It’s an often overblown metric, but one some Draft gurus take seriously. Their unofficial measurement put Levis’ hands at 10 1/2 inches. “It’s top-notch.”