Will Levis (Vicky Graff Photo)
He’s only been at Kentucky about eight months after transferring from Penn State, but it did not take long for quarterback Will Levis to endear himself to UK football fans for a lot of reasons.
— He led the winning touchdown drive in the 20-17 Citrus Bowl win over Iowa by completing clutch passes to Wan’Dale Robinson.
— He ran for 113 yards and four touchdowns and threw for 149 yards in a 52-21 blowout of rival Louisville and threw up the L’s down in the end zone after each score, a move UK fans loved.
— He earned national attention with a preseason video showing him eating a whole banana including the peel that led to SEC Network personality Alyssa Lang doing the same thing on the UK sideline during the season’s opening game. He also puts mayonnaise in his coffer and ate an orange with the peel on it after the Citrus Bowl win.
— He organized a fundraising autograph session with teammates Robinson, Josh Paschal and Chris Rodriguez that raised $20,000 for tornado victims. In the Citrus Bowl, he wore specially designed cleats with the slogan “Kentucky Strong” that had the name of every person who died during the tornadoes.
Levis even found a unique way to announce he would be back at Kentucky for the 2022 season and end the NFL speculation before the Citrus Bowl. He posted a video on Twitter with an iconic clip from “The Terminator” in which star Arnold Schwarzenegger tells a police officer, “I’ll be back.”
No wonder offensive coordinator Liam Coen says it can be a “challenge” to coach Levis with his personality quirks and intense competitiveness. However, Coen is thrilled to have him back after he completed 233 of 353 passes for 2,826 yards and 24 touchdowns with 13 interceptions and ran for 376 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns.
His 3,202 passing/rushing yards made Levis just the seventh UK player ever to account for 3,000 total yards in a season as he joined Tim Couch (twice), Jared Lorenzen, Andre Woodson (twice), Dusty Bonner, and Patrick Towles on that list.
Kentucky associate coach Vince Marrow believes Levis could join an even more exclusive club after the 2022 season.
“Will was huge for us this year but I think he could be a first-round (NFL Draft) pick after next season,” Marrow said. “He can make every throw. He will develop even more under Liam with another full year. I really see him as one of the top quarterbacks in the draft.”
Coen said Levis is still learning how to play quarterback in a pro-style offense like Kentucky now has.
“That’s why I think the ceiling is just so high for him to play at a higher level and why I continue to push him to get better and better,” Coen said. “That’s what is fun to coach and that’s why it is a challenge to coach him. You better be on your stuff or he gets bored. He wants to be challenged daily and we are going to do that.”
That attitude is why Levis quickly became a team leader and was even voted a team captain by his peers not long after arriving on campus. He said then being viewed as a team leader was his “biggest” goal for the 2021 season.
“A year ago, at this time, I was in a pretty dark place. I was looking for an answer from God as to what I was going to do, whether to stay at my previous school,” Levis said after the Citrus Bowl.
He admitted leaving Penn State crept into his mind after he was benched against Iowa — the team UK beat in the Citrus Bowl — during the 2020 season. He decided to bet on himself, trust God’s light and come to Kentucky.
“It makes it so easy when I have got guys around me to go out there and be my best and do my best to lead these guys however I can,” Levis said.
For Stoops, that attitude and production is what matters. If Levis wants to eat a banana peel or put mayo in his coffee, he’s fine with that.
“As long as he continues to practice and play the way he does, whatever fuels him, I’m good with. But he’s a character,” Stoops said. “One thing about Will is he may have a little fun with social media and doing things of that nature but he is all business. The minute he walks in our building, he is wired correctly.
“Probably puts too much pressure on himself. He really is a super competitive guy, works extremely hard in the meeting room, studies, works, plays that way, lays it on the line for his teammates.”
Former All-American punter Max Duffy didn’t get to play with Levis. However, he’s still close to current players and knows what Levis’ demeanor meant this year.
“Will Levis is the type of guy that would be the first to jump the fence at a music festival and run through three security guards just to take the heat off the next 100 people that jump after him. That’s why guys respect him,” Duffy said.
4 Responses
I am extremely excited for the season next year. I thought this year had the potential to be a great year and it was. I truly believe next year will be the Cats best team ever.
I sure hope so Jim
UK has some big holes to fill in both players and coaches now, particularly on the offensive line, and in their secondary. Those are big concerns. So glad many very good football players are returning on both offense and defense, including Will Levis. UK better find a "go to" slot receiver fast to replace the best one in the SEC in Wandale Robinson. If Coen leaves for the NFL, as has been mentioned could be a possibility, it would be a huge loss about now. Also, losing John Sumrall to Troy was a big hit that could hurt. UK has a ton of talent on this team that just needs coaching up to get 10 or more wins in 2022. I hope they win big. 2021 was a year to remember, hope 2022 is even a better one.
I’ve been a Cats fan since I was 10 years old listening on the radio to the KY games. I bought season tickets for the better part of 38 years. Now I am retired in Florida and luckily I can watch the KY games on the SEC Channal or ESPN (I know it’s the same thing). It is really gratifying to me that KY is now getting the respect it has yearned for all these years. It makes all that time and money following and supporting the Cats worthwhile. Maybe I’ll live long enough to see the Cats win a SEC Championship. GO CATS.