Zach Yenser embraces pressure of protecting “doggone special” Devin Leary

Kentucky did not protect Will Levis last season under first-year offensive line coach Zach Yenser. The Wildcats finished No. 127 overall in sacks allowed (3.62 per game) while also ranking No. 95 in points per drive and No. 101 in yards per play. Inexperience and injuries were issues, as was communication under one-and-done offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

That’s how you wind up with the No. 95 passing offense (208.5 YPG), No. 116 total offense (324.7 YPG) and No. 112 scoring offense (20.4 PPG) in all of college football.

Poor OL play under Yenser in ’22

It wasn’t good enough, plain and simple. And Yenser knows that, no matter the reasoning.

“Last year there was a lot of verbiage, obviously, with Scangarello coming in. I think that was probably part of it, verbiage-wise,” Yenser said on 630 WLAP’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk. “But listen, we were just inexperienced up front. There is no way around it. Both tackles — Kenneth (Horsey) had to bump out to left tackle, started the bowl game at tackle against Iowa in ’21, but he’s never had tackle experience. (Jeremy) Flax, he was your (right tackle). Those guys battled their butts off. Eli (Cox) at a new position, you know?

“It was just a struggle, gelling together and with injuries. And that’s not an excuse at all, we just didn’t play as well as we needed to. We won seven games and were close to winning nine, but we’ve got to be better up front. We know that.”

Liam Coen’s return to Lexington

Scangarello was dismissed as the program’s offensive coordinator on November 29 and Kentucky officially announced the hire of Liam Coen on January 10. After a one-year hiatus with the Los Angeles Rams — he served as Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator coming off the franchise’s Super Bowl win the season prior — the Wildcats welcomed his return after a breakthrough debut campaign in 2021.

Yenser would be lying if he said that wasn’t a huge part of the team’s optimism ahead of the 2023 season.

“Getting Liam (Coen) back, the guys loved Liam in ’21. The staff and the players — heck, I came to work for him,” the second-year OL coach said. “Having him back and getting a reset, him going into his second year (with the program), me going into my second year, O-line’s second year hearing his verbiage. It’s going to be really good.

“Bringing him back — and not that Rich did anything wrong. There was just a lot of verbiage in our offense and we’ve done a good job cutting that out and letting the guys just play, letting them show their talents.”

What is it about Coen that sparks so much excitement ahead of fall camp and the upcoming season in general? His confidence and swagger in general. There’s a clear objective when the 37-year-old coach approaches game preparation: put points on the board.

Easy enough, right?

“Liam is a really, really good football coach, but it’s also his personality. When he walks into a room, he’s confident. I see that, the guys feel that,” Yenser said. “He does have a swagger to him, like, ‘We’re here to put points up.’ He’s confident in his ability, and it shows through. It’s cool.”

Simplifying things this fall

Don’t underestimate Coen’s simplification of things, either, going out of his way to give clear and concise instructions to run his well-oiled offensive machine. It’s advanced, obviously, but not unnecessarily complicated. And he’s approachable as a coach, welcoming of all ideas and concepts from the top of the coaching staff to the bottom.

“It kind of feeds off of everybody, even outside of the X’s and O’s part. But he’s obviously phenomenal at that, trying to find guys the ball, simplifying things,” Yenser said. “His presence and personality, how he treats guys, everybody on the offensive side of the ball, they feel they have a voice. It doesn’t matter if they’re the O-line coach or a GA or a QC, whatever you are, you feel that you have a voice in that room. To bring stuff up and you’re not scared, which is good, because there are a lot of guys in that room with good ideas and thought processes.

“He allows that to be used, not just, ‘I’m the OC and this is what we’re doing.’ He has his vision and knows what he wants to do, that’s ultimately his product on the field, but everyone in that room on the offensive staff has a voice. That’s good, especially for young guys that are still learning to speak up. ‘You’ve got an idea? Throw it out here, let’s figure it out.’ He does a really good job at that.”

Coaching accountability

But Coen doesn’t come with a magic wand, all of the offense’s struggles from a year ago disappearing upon his return. It doesn’t work that way. Yenser knows that accountability regarding his position group’s poor play in 2022 is necessary and things have to get better, especially considering who the line will have to protect this fall.

Maxwell Award Watch List member Devin Leary transferred to Kentucky this offseason after a standout career at NC State, racking up 6,807 passing yards and 62 touchdowns on 60.2 percent completion across four years. When he’s been on the field, he’s been nothing short of terrific.

This issue, though, is he suffered a season-ending torn pectoral muscle last October. Before that, a broken fibula in 2020. Freak injuries, but availability concerns nonetheless, playing just 30 games from 2019-22 for an average of 7.5 games per year.

Will Levis was banged up and bruised all season long in 2022. Priority number one for the offensive line will be avoiding the same with Leary in 2023 — a non-negotiable.

Is there pressure that comes with that task? Of course, but it’s pressure Yenser and his position group embrace going into fall camp.

“Yeah I definitely think that (there is pressure). Ultimately, that’s our job,” he told KSR. “I tell our guys all the time, our job is the most important job because if we don’t do our job, people can get hurt. Not many positions can say that on a football field. Running backs, quarterbacks, people can get hurt and it’s a big responsibility. But it’s a responsibility we’re willing to do and we’re excited about it.”

Keeping Devin Leary upright

Kentucky went out and added four scholarship transfers — two being projected starters at left and right tackle in Marques Cox and Courtland Ford — while returning core pieces such as Horsey, Cox and Jager Burton on the line. Factor in guys like Jeremy Flax, Tanner Bowles, Ben Christman, Paul Rodriguez and Grant Bingham, and Yenser is confident there are more than enough rotation-quality linemen there capable of keeping Leary upright this fall.

“That’s why we went out and brought in the guys we did to compete and find eight guys we truly believe can play in the SEC, eight to ten guys. I feel like we have that,” Yenser added. “If we do our job, Devin is very talented. He’s very talented with his arm, love how he moves in the pocket and he’s very friendly to the O-line. How fast the ball comes out, all that stuff. As a football coach, you love to see it.

“We have a lot of responsibility and we’ve got to improve on what we did last year and I think we will. I’m excited to see it all start coming together in fall camp. We had a decent spring and I’m looking forward to putting it all together this fall to help protect that guy.”

Assuming Yenser’s position group does its job, confidence is high in QB1 taking care of the rest.

“We feel like we can protect the quarterback better and have confidence,” he said. “The guy that is behind us is pretty doggone special.”

The post Zach Yenser embraces pressure of protecting “doggone special” Devin Leary appeared first on On3.