Kentucky Wildcats Football

Liam Coen is leaving his gig as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams to go back to the University of Kentucky.

Per ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Coen is taking the same position with the Wildcats on head coach Mark Stoops' staff.

Mortensen noted Coen helped assists in Baker Mayfield's rushed preparation for the Rams' game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night. Mayfield didn't officially join the team until Tuesday when he was claimed off waivers.

Despite the short week and quick turnaround time, Mayfield took over at quarterback for the Rams' second offensive possession of the game. He turned in one of his best performances of the season, finishing 22-of-35 for 230 yards and one touchdown.

The touchdown pass was a 23-yard toss to Van Jefferson with nine seconds remaining that gave Los Angeles a 17-16 victory.

Thursday's win snapped a six-game losing streak for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Coen returns to Kentucky after leaving the program following the 2021 season. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Wildcats during his first stint.

Stoops fired Rich Scangarello as offensive coordinator on Nov. 29 after one season with the Wildcats. Their 22.1 points per game ranked 106th out of 131 FBS programs.

This marks the sixth time in Stoops' 10 seasons as Kentucky head coach he has made a change at offensive coordinator.

Kentucky's offense ranked 36th in the nation with 32.3 points per game with Coen as coordinator in 2021.

Rams head coach Sean McVay brought Coen back to the NFL after Kevin O'Connell, the team's offensive coordinator from 2020-21, was hired as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

This was Coen's second run with the Rams. He was originally hired by McVay in 2018 as assistant wide receivers coach. The 37-year-old served in that role for two seasons before being taking over as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2020.

Kentucky redshirt senior quarterback Will Levis has established himself as one of the best signal-callers in college football in his two seasons with the Wildcats, and now he's ready to test himself against the pros.

On a Twitter space hosted by Blue Chips, Levis announced that he will enter the 2023 NFL draft, foregoing his final year of college eligibility. Levis also said he hasn't decided whether he'll play in Kenucky's bowl game.

After spending the first two years of his college career at Penn State, Levis transferred to Kentucky in 2021 and was named the team's starter to open the season. He led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and a win against No. 15 Iowa in the 2022 Citrus Bowl. Levis put up 2,826 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions as a junior.

The 2022 season didn't quite go as Levis and the Wildcats had hoped. Kentucky finished with a 7-5 record and placed fourth in the SEC East with a 3-5 conference record. Levis missed one game with an undisclosed injury and recorded 2,406 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this year.

On Tuesday, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops fired offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, who was in his first year in the position. Scangarello had replaced Liam Coen after he was named offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.

Levis' down year doesn't appear to have affected his projection at the next level. B/R's NFL draft big board ranks him as the No. 3 quarterback and No. 11 overall player in the 2023 class. In B/R's most recent mock draft, he's projected to be selected 15th overall by the Indianapolis Colts.

Will Levis' struggles in big games have apparently not turned off NFL front offices.

ESPN's Todd McShay reported the Kentucky quarterback has drawn comparisons to Josh Allen and Carson Wentz from NFL general managers, and he's still expected to be a high first-round pick.

Levis has a bevy of raw physical talent at 6'3" and 232 pounds, but his senior season at Kentucky has been anything but spectacular. He's thrown for 1,733 yards and 13 touchdowns against eight interceptions while struggling mightily in games against elite opponents.

In Levis' four games this season against ranked opponents, he has more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four). He's coming off a dreadful three-pick performance in last Saturday's 44-6 loss to Tennessee—an outing some thought would send him plummeting down draft boards.

That does not appear to be the case for now. It seems front offices remain enamored with his physical gifts and are willing to chalk up most of his struggles to playing an SEC-level schedule with middling Kentucky talent.

Allen (Wyoming) and Wentz (North Dakota State) both played next to non-elite talent at the college level before being high first-round draft picks. The gamble with Allen paid off for the Buffalo Bills, though it took years of patience as he struggled to acclimate to NFL game speed. Meanwhile, Wentz is playing for his third NFL team in as many seasons and seems unlikely to land a chance at a starting job with a fourth.

There is likely a team that will be willing to roll the dice on Levis' talent. It's just hard to find evidence of impending success from his tenures at Kentucky or Penn State, where he lost the starting job to Sean Clifford.

Will Levis has been a controversial NFL draft prospect for fans who have seen his inconsistent play for Kentucky, but ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. is undeterred because of the senior quarterback's tantalizing physical traits.

In his latest big board update, Kiper has Levis ranked as the No. 2 quarterback prospect and No. 4 overall player in the 2023 class, one spot ahead of Alabama's Bryce Young.

When 2023 draft rankings began rolling out, Levis' name being included among the top-10 players caught many off guard.

ESPN's Todd McShay projected Levis to go No. 8 overall in his way-too-early mock draft released in May.

"Levis needs to find more consistency, but he has a live arm and a big 6'3", 232-pound frame," McShay wrote. "He has thrived in the quick game at Kentucky, with a lot of run-pass options and screen-type stuff, but there are some Josh Allen-like traits here for new Giants coach Brian Daboll.

Even though McShay threw out the Josh Allen comparison, Kiper actually cited Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford as a projection for Levis.

The main difference in evaluation between Levis and Young appears to be size. Levis is listed at 6'3" and 232 pounds on Kentucky's athletic website. Young comes in at 6'0" and 194 pounds, according to RollTide.com.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic noted NFL scouts expect Young's measurements will be closer to 5'10" and 190 pounds, and only two quarterbacks drafted in the past 25 years have been under six feet tall and 200 pounds (Seneca Wallace and Joe Hamilton).

Kiper wrote Young's arm strength is "more than good enough for him to be a great signal-caller at the next level."

Young is easier for casual draft observers to get a feel for because Alabama is on national television every week. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner also plays with a higher level of talent than Levis ever has in his college career.

Levis had a chance to elevate himself last week when Kentucky took on Tennessee in Knoxville. He turned in his worst performance of the season with just 98 yards passing, no touchdowns and three interceptions in a 44-6 loss.

No one will argue the Wildcats are on the same level as Tennessee as far as talent, but it would be nice to see a prospect who has a lot of questions about his ability to lead an NFL offense at least put up a strong fight under the national spotlight.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis saw his Heisman Trophy chances take a serious hit Saturday as the seventh-ranked Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season, falling to No. 14 Ole Miss 22-19 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.

Levis' baseline numbers were solid—18-of-24 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions—but UK struggled to generate big plays and couldn't complete a second-half comeback. Each of the team's final two drives in the fourth quarter ended with fumbles by the senior signal-caller in the Rebels' red zone.

His inability to protect the football came after he suffered a gruesome finger injury in the first half, but he didn't come out of the contest.

Here's a look at some social media reaction to Levis' performance:

Freshman running back Quinshon Judkins led the charge for Ole Miss with 106 rushing yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Malik Heath added six catches for 100 yards as the Rebels, who could crack next week's Top 10, improved to 5-0.

Kentucky's four-game winning streak to open the season included a road victory over No. 12 Florida to spark its surge up the rankings.

The Wildcats still have some high-profile games left, including clashes with No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Tennessee, so their unexpected push toward the College Football Playoff isn't totally dead, but Saturday's loss is a setback.

Levis would also need a nearly flawless remainder of the campaign to put himself back in a crowded Heisman conversation being led by a trio of quarterbacks: Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Alabama's Bryce Young and Kansas' Jalon Daniels.

UK returns to action next Saturday when it heads home to Kroger Field to host South Carolina.

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops elaborated on his recent remark toward Wildcats men's basketball coach John Calipari after Calipari called Kentucky a "basketball school."

"I don't care about anyone’s program, I stay in my lane," Stoops told reporters Saturday. "But when you start talking about mine, and people I compete against, I'm going to defend my players. … Don't demean and distract from what we've done to get to this point."

In an interview with The Athletic's Kyle Tucker, Calipari lobbied for the school to make facility upgrades for the basketball school, pointing toward the sport's importance:

And the reason is, this is a basketball school. It's always been that. Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. I mean, they are. No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls. At the end of the day, that makes my job easier and it makes the job of all of us easier. But this is a basketball school. And so we need to keep moving in that direction and keep doing what we're doing.

Those comments drew a swift response from Stoops:

Athletic director Mitch Barnhart attempted to shift the narrative a bit Saturday:

Calipari also struck an apologetic tone on social media:

Kentucky is one of college basketball's blue bloods, and the Wildcats have earned a national title and four Final Four trips under Calipari's watch.

But the gulf between men's basketball and football isn't quite so wide as it once was.

The football program is coming off a 10-3 season and won its fourth straight bowl game—the longest such streak in school history—with a 25-17 victory over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. The Wildcats ended the year 18th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and climbed as high as 11th.

You can understand why Stoops and his assistants would take exception to somebody—a peer at Kentucky no less—downplaying what the team has achieved.

Calipari's interview is also the kind of thing rival coaches can pounce upon when attempting to compete for high school recruits or experienced players in the transfer portal. Why go to Kentucky when football isn't even the school's top priority?

Cooler heads should prevail in this situation, but Calipari clearly touched a nerve.

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops doesn't believe the program is the little brother to Wildcats men's basketball anymore.

Stoops pushed back against the idea expressed by men's basketball coach John Calipari that Kentucky is a "basketball school":

In an interview with The Athletic's Kyle Tucker, Calipari campaigned for facility upgrades and argued his case by pointing toward how important basketball is toward UK's identity:

And the reason is, this is a basketball school. It’s always been that. Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. I mean, they are. No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls. At the end of the day, that makes my job easier and it makes the job of all of us easier. But this is a basketball school. And so we need to keep moving in that direction and keep doing what we’re doing.

Stoops' rejoinder is understandable and reflects the relative success he has helped deliver on the gridiron. Kentucky is coming off its second 10-win season under his nine-year watch, and its streak of four straight years with a bowl victory is the longest in school history.

When laying out its budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, the university also reported higher revenues for football ($40 million) than men's basketball ($29.6 million). Football had a higher percentage of expenses as well.

Football is big business for the University of Kentucky.

Having said that, Calipari's position still reflects the reality of the situation to a large degree, and Stoops' recent contract extension is a perfect illustration.

Stoops signed a new deal last December, one that will pay him $6.75 million starting with the 2022 season. The 55-year-old is basically bulletproof in Lexington right now despite delivering zero national titles and zero New Year's Six bowl bids.

Calipari, by contrast, has guided Kentucky to one national title and four Final Four appearances. His 365 wins are second only to Adolph Rupp in school history.

Still, the immediate reactions to the Wildcats' first-round upset to St. Peter's in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament is a testament to how past achievements—no matter how significant—only counts for so much in the eyes of fans.

The gulf between Kentucky football and men's basketball is certainly closing, but Stoops might want to consider how perceiving the Wildcats to be a "football school" means more scrutiny and higher expectations.

Life in the shadow of Kentucky basketball isn't all that bad when you think about it.