Former North Carolina State quarterback Devin Leary was seen as one of the best signal-callers in the nation during the 2021 college football season, capping it off with one of the most memorable last-minute wins of the year with a 34-30 victory over in-state rival North Carolina.
Injury caused him to largely fall off the radar in 2022, but he’s in a perfect position to remind analysts why he was a top signal-caller with the perfect landing spot in Lexington, Kentucky.
He describes the transition as a smooth one.
“I love it so far,” Leary said. “You know, everyone here really just welcomed with open arms. My teammates, coach Stoops, all of the rest of the coaching staff and the entirety of the fan base. I’m just really looking forward to going out on the the field to play and getting to strap up.”
One of the biggest assets of playing quarterback for the Wildcats comes with the return of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who had immense success with turning around the Kentucky offense in his first stint, and can keep that trend going.
The system he runs is a bit different than the offense Leary was in at NC State, but that’s a positive thing in some aspects, and Leary is picking things up well.
“Coach Coen does a great job of really, you know, translating the college offense that we’re in right now to what it’s going to be like in the NFL,” Leary said.
“A lot of the installs and cut-ups we watch are based off of what the L.A. Rams did last year,” Leary said. “Pre-snap, I don’t think much is too much different is identifying the defense and kind of going through that whole sequence. But from a terminology and just really understanding the system has been really new for me, but it’s something that I’m really trying to grasp before the season just gets up and going.”
Heading into his last year of eligibility, Leary is an incredibly experienced college football player, but all of the relationships he’s building are new from everyone from the front office staff to the teammates around him.
One of the most important of those will be the one he has with Coen, which he feels is progressing at a great rate.
“You can tell from the unit that you got here the type of energy that he brings around himself,” Leary said. “You can tell that he’s on a mission and you can tell that he expects a lot out of us as players.”
But while Coen makes his standards clear and holds those playing under him accountable, he’s equally personable.
“At the same time, he’s a guy that, you know, is very open to being able to sit down and ask him questions about anything,” Leary said. “That’s exactly what we needed as an offense. I think he is happy to be back and that all of Big Blue Nation is excited about what we can do under him this year.”
Leary is equally as confident in what he can accomplish as a quarterback for the Wildcats as he is in Coen’s guidance and offensive philosophy.
“I just bring in a lot of experience, playing a lot of snaps,” Leary said. “I understand what it takes to win. I understand that it takes a lot and that it’s very hard to win football games regardless of where you’re playing.
The senior views himself as a mentor figure to some of the younger players, which plays a huge part in team culture.
“With my experience, I understand that the preparation comes first,” Leary said. “That the film study comes first. Pulling guys along to make them understand that whatever they’re doing or the hard work they’re putting in now, there’s always more that they can do.”
As where he specifically is concerned, Leary knows how much every game counts as he goes up against the best competition college football has to offer with hopes of being an early-round draft pick.
While the former Wolfpack starter does not pay much attention to the narratives that surround him — positive or negative — ahead of the season, he goes into it with a lot to prove.
But that’s to prove to himself as he aims to stay healthy. If he does that, it’s easy to see a scenario where he could be talked about among the top five quarterbacks in the nation.
“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Leary said. “Football is a violent sport and that it’s what we signed up for.You never know what’s going to happen each and every year, whether that’s injuries or having success. I can’t wait to get back out there with my new team and being able to fly around and just enjoy the game that I’ve played since I was a kid.”
There’s little question that the standards at quarterback are high in Lexington after Will Levis transferred in for 2021, quickly entering the early Heisman Trophy conversation and going on to be selected by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Everyone will be looking for the success to be repeated, but make no mistake about it, Leary is not trying to be the next Will Levis. From a tangibles and intangibles perspective, they’re completely different quarterbacks in just about every facet.
“Will Levis left his legacy here at Kentucky,” Leary said. “He did a great job of really setting the foundation of what it’s like to play quarterback at Kentucky. I think he’s a really great player and he’s going to have great success at the next level. Now, for me, it’s just kind of finding my own way of adding to that quarterback tradition.”
“It’s time for me to build my own story, my own journey and put my best that I can out there.”