Scangarello's Move to Coaches Box 'The Right Answer'

Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello made a noticeable change on Saturday in Columbia against Missouri.

The longtime football coach and first-year SEC OC made the switch from calling plays on the sideline, instead opting to move up to the coaches box.

"He just wanted a change. He just wanted to look at it and see it, see the picture," head coach Mark Stoops said after the 21-17 win over the Tigers.

Plenty of chatter has surrounded Scangarello and his ability as a play-caller over the course of his first season in Lexington. That talk ramped up ten-fold following the Wildcats' 44-6 loss to Tennessee a weekend ago.

"I'm not gonna lie, last week against Tennessee there were two or three things that happened in the first half that were not exactly what really happened...that stuff will get to ya, it was a trade off, the choice was to go upstairs," Scangarello said.

The switch was made, and if you're judging solely based off the first drive of the game, it was a smash hit.

Most of Kentucky's opening drives on offense have failed, usually fizzling out early ending in a punt. On Saturday, Scangarello dialed up a play-action pass to open the first drive leading to a bomb from quarterback Will Levis to wide receiver Barion Brown.

Levis would rack up 65 passing yards on the opening drive, ending with a touchdown pass to Dane Key. Granted, there wasn't that much more to brag on offensively for the remainder of the four quarters, but there was clearly a bit of a change in mixing up schemes.

There and pros and cons to Scangarello being up in the box rather then down on the field, but ultimately he believes its better to stay up top.

"It's much easier to call a game from up there and just to help distribute information to all the coaches so things get fixed faster," he said. "I'd known it for a little bit, you make compromises when you do either, but to me, I'd rather let Will (Levis) be down there by himself and try and orchestrate things up top so we can get adjustments done faster and see when things happen, what was really behind them."

Scangarello entered his position at Kentucky with over two decades of experience, some collegiate, some professional. He of course joined Stoops' staff after being the QB's coach for the San Fransisco 49ers in the NFL.

He admitted following the Mizzou win that flat out, it's harder calling plays in college than in the NFL.

"It was a change after last week. Part of it was, you're limited by headsets and stuff like that in this league, so who communicates with the quarterback and who can do that stuff," he said. "Then being down there and being on the pulse of your players, making sure you feel the emotion and just understanding what's going on. There's benefits to being down there but it is much harder to call the game."

With three games remaining on the schedule, Scangarello will remain in the coaches box for the rest of the season as the Wildcats attempt to build some offensive momentum for really the first time this season.

"You do it for various reasons, I don't want to say that that was a reason we didn't win a game or anything like that, I just know that it helps me be more effective for the players and the coaches up there, and I can call a much cleaner game. I think going forward it will help," he said. "We have the right answer."

A good opportunity is on the horizon, as the struggling Vanderbilt Commodores will enter Kroger Field on Saturday. If there's ever a time to pad some stats and empty the playbook, it'll be on Nov. 12.

For more on the win over Mizzou, click here.

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Trevin Wallace Made an Impact in His Second Career Start

Watch: Stoops, White and Scangarello, Levis Talk Post-Game

Game Notes: Kentucky 21, Missouri 17

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