Liam Coen's pro-style offense sold Wan'Dale Robinson on Kentucky

When Wan’Dale Robinson decided it was time to leave Nebraska, he could have transferred to any school in the country. There were multiple reasons why Kentucky was attractive to one of the five best players in the portal this offseason. It was close to home and he already had a long-established relationship with the coaching staff. Once he talked to the Wildcats’ new offensive coordinator, he was ready to join the BBN.

“Seeing that Liam (Coen) was hired here and he was bringing a pro-style scheme and seeing the things I could do to hopefully get to the next level, and then actually getting to talk with him during the recruiting process, to sit down with him and watch a little film of the things I can do, that’s what really sold me,” Robinson told reporters a week before Kentucky begins spring practice.

“They told me that they needed just a little spark on offense. Obviously, the run game was there. They just need some guys to have explosive plays, stretch the field and open up the box a little bit so that we’re more balanced on offense.”

Robinson can certainly provide big plays. Last year he had seven receptions over 20 yards in the eight-game season. In 11 Kentucky football games in 2020, Josh Ali led the Cats with just five gains of 20+ yards. In two seasons with Nebraska Robinson recorded just shy of 1,500 yards from scrimmage and was a two-time finalist for the Paul Hornung Award.

Despite having some success at Nebraska, Robinson was not always put in a position to succeed in a scheme that would not adequately prepare him for what he may have to do at the next level. Coen’s offense will solve that problem, operating almost exclusively out of the slot.

“It’s just matchups. The passing game goes through that slot guy. That’s really what I want to do, be an efficient route runner and catch a lot of balls to move the chains.”

He could be catching passes this fall from former foes. Beau Allen previously quarterbacked at Lexington Catholic, a district foe of Western Hills during Wan’Dale’s time in high school. The two actually threw together during the early stages of the pandemic last summer. Last season, Robinson’s Nebraska team nearly blew an 18-point lead against Penn State thanks to quarterback Will Levis’ heroics. Arriving in Lexington this summer, the two talked prior to Levis’ commitment to Kentucky.

“He’s a big kid with a strong arm. We’ve gotten to talk a little bit. Whenever he hit the portal he had known that I was coming here, so he was just getting my thoughts about things like that. I was excited whenever he decided to come here too, just to give us another arm in that room and hopefully have a real good battle with figuring out whoever is going to be our quarterback.”

Now only 30 minutes away from his family, instead of a 12-hour drive to Lincoln, Robinson found a program close to home with an offense that can utilize his explosiveness and prepare him for the NFL. Even though he initially turned down Kentucky, everyone is happy he is back in the Bluegrass.

“They welcomed me with open arms,” Robinson said of Mark Stoops’ staff. “They weren’t holding that against me at all or anything like that. It was really good to know that they wanted me on their football team.”