"The Guy's Pretty Darn Special." Rich Scangarello Relishes Having Will Levis as Kentucky's QB

It's not been the flashiest of starts to Will Levis' senior campaign at Kentucky, but the future first-round draft pick has done nothing but impress his new offensive coordinator, Rich Scangarello.

As he exhibited all of last year and at the start of this season, Levis can launch the football with the best of them. That gunslinging play-style can get the QB in trouble, as reflected by his interception numbers. After tossing 13 picks a year ago, Levis has thrown four through three games in 2022.

"He's had a couple of times where he's gotten a little loose with his footwork, it's led to some high balls and what not," Scangarello said.

Both Levis and his OC understand that while it's fixable, those mistakes through the air are going to happen from time to time. It's hard to knock on the Madison, Conn. native when it comes to passing the football, otherwise.

On the feet, Levis has proven that he's willing to fight for every yard he can get, even if it comes at the expense of his well-being.

If you're Scangarello, you admire the will to win, but might need your star to make a few safer choices every now and again.

"Just protecting his body, he's such a competitive guy, he wants to play every play like it's his last, which I love, unless it's your quarterback," he said.

The repercussions of taking extensive damage is impossible to ignore, especially when it involves the player leading your offense. Scangarello knows that Levis will advance towards greener pastures following his last season in Lexington, so he's making sure to let his QB know that it's okay to go down occasionally, not going for glory on every play, because it'll benefit him down the road.

"You want him to not take a shot on his throwing shoulder when he's scrambling, you want him to not hurdle a guy from the seven-yard line to try and score," Scangarello said. "Those are the things, if he can protect himself on three or four plays a game that he's exposing himself, the way I explained it to him was 'do that over a 15-year career and add up the hits, it'll change your life.' That's what I want from him, if he can do that, protect himself, be a little smarter in that area, you know, the guy's pretty dang good."

The former San Fransisco 49ers quarterbacks coach is well aware of the talent that Kentucky has at its disposal with Levis.

No player is perfect, and while turnovers have stuck with the Penn State transfer throughout his time at UK, even Scangarello acknowledges that while those interceptions wind up in the QB's stat line, they aren't always as a result of him making the wrong decision.

"Overall it's been pretty good. There's just a couple of times where maybe the play is in rhythm, or the snap is off. Sometimes he wants to make the play so quickly in his mind, he sees it before everyone else, but that speeds everything else up in your body," Scangarello said. "When you see it fast, you almost want to see the opposite. 'Slow down, play within the game, let it flow, speed up when I need to.' Those are little things as he plays, he's getting better at. But i'm telling you man, the guy's pretty darn special."

Moving too fast is a sign of a player who has his offense down to a tee and is ready to execute at any given moment. Whether it be due to a better defense, the lack of protection from the offensive line or any other component, the playbook doesn't always work out as envisioned.

As a result, occasionally Levis will try and make the hero play, slinging the football at an awkward arm angle or taking on three defenders after he scrambles out of the pocket.

It looks amazing when it works, but dumb when it fails. You'd expect to hear an offensive coordinator denounce that sort of play-style due to the lack of positive results.

Levis, however, has proven otherwise in the eyes of himself, Big Blue Nation and even Scangarello:

"He can get away with it most of the time because, there's probably 15 guys on the planet who can throw it like him. Because of that, sometimes, things happen. You see it in the NFL all the time, guys think they can pull it off but they can't. So there's that threshold where you gotta manage your body and your mind...he'll get better at it."

It's always a work in progress for a quarterback and his offense, but Scangarello is as confident as anyone in the man who's under center for the Wildcats this season.

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