Will Levis' leadership guiding Kentucky through spring practice

For what feels like the first time in the Mark Stoops era, there will be no quarterback competition this spring for Kentucky Football. Will Levis has taken full control as the leader of the program, both on and off the field.

A former Penn State transfer, the rising senior quarterback helped change the perception of the Kentucky offense in just one season. Levis became just the seventh player in school history to total at least 3,000 yards of offense in a single year, earned multiple FBS National Offensive Player of the Week honors, and saw his NFL Draft stock soar in 2021.

With a 10-win season and a Citrus Bowl victory now under his belt, he’s assuming responsibilities as the team’s clear and obvious leader moving forward.

“The team is gonna follow Will,” Head coach Mark Stoops said following Saturday’s spring practice session. “He has a really strong presence about him. It was evident last year when he was voted a captain with only being on campus a few months. Will is really strong.”

Levis was named one of eight team captains a year ago and it would be a shock if he’s not the top pick for a captain role once again in 2022. His progression over just the last few months has been noticeable by the coaching staff. Levis is having to adapt to a slightly new style of playcalling under new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, but it’s been a relatively seamless transition thus far.

“He is very confident,” Stoops added of Levis. “It’s really nice to see Will — as I mentioned early on, what I was looking for when you bring someone like Rich (Scangarello) in here, and Will knows he’s going to get better. He’s out there every rep with the intention of being the absolute best player he can be. And things still move fast when you get out there in games and scrimmages; things move quickly. But he’s very confident and he’s definitely going to take it to another level and be a really great player.”

Spring practice has been in full swing the last few weeks in preparation for the annual Spring Game, which is set for Saturday, April 9 at Kroger Field. There’s been a slight adjustment period with the new OC, but nothing that can’t be repaired with some mental fixes. Levis was forced into a couple of turnovers during Tuesday’s practice but responded appropriately with zero-miscue outings on Thursday and Saturday.

“Tuesday we just had some turnovers. Bad decisions by us, just unfortunate kind of happenings that happen,” Levis said on Saturday. “But any time you have a few turnovers in a practice it’s not going to feel good. We thought it was worse than it was and then we went back and watched the film and we felt better about it. But it’s just consistency, we gotta be more consistent. There’s got to be the same standard from the 1s all the way down to the 3s. There should be no excuses for anyone who doesn’t know what they’re doing on a play.”

The most important aspect of Levis’ leadership qualities is how his teammates should fall in line and follow him. That was clearly the case in 2021 and all signs point to a repeat in 2022. Levis has obvious intentions to be great and he’s demanding the same from the rest of the Wildcats. It’s one of the main reasons why he has a chance to go high in next year’s NFL Draft.

“The leadership qualities that he has, people are attracted to him,” Stoops said of Levis. “He has a genuine leadership ability which is extremely important to be a franchise quarterback but he’s also very intelligent. He’s intelligent in the classroom but also on the football field. And he works at it. He wants to be great and loves putting in the time so he has all the intangibles.”