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BREAKING: Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw out at Kentucky

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They say “third times a charm,” well that isn’t the case when it comes to offensive coordinators at Kentucky under Mark Stoops. After four seasons in Lexington, Eddie Gran has been relieved of his offensive coordinator duties, as well as QB’s coach Darin Hinshaw.

As we all know, rumors about coaching changes have been looming for about a week now, and fans have been displeased with Gran’s job on the sideline for awhile now.

Even though there has been a lot of frustration centered around Gran’s play-calling the past couple years, overall, he was pretty successful at Kentucky. He had four different QB’s in his time here and all of them at one point succeeded.

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He had a promising QB in Drew Barker, who shined against Southern Miss in a new system, then he got hurt and Gran had to adjust to a completely different QB in Stephen Johnson, who was pretty successful in his time at Kentucky. Then Terry Wilson took over in 2018 and led Kentucky to a 10-win season. The next season, Wilson was injured in the second game of the year and ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gran had to come up with a new gameplay for incoming transfer Sawyer Smith, who had never played a down of SEC competition. He was really successful, until his injury. Then, maybe Gran’s best accomplishment at Kentucky, he took Lynn Bowden, a QB turned WR at Kentucky, and once again made him a QB. Bowden led the Cats to an 7-win regular season and a bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

Now, there have been a lot of complaints over the past couple seasons about Gran’s odd, conservative play calling, and the “don’t lose” style of play when the Cats take a big leads, which has lost Kentucky plenty of games, and his inability to “open up” the offense. Trust me, I have been aggravated plenty of times with it and have shouted some choice words from the stands. However, Eddie Gran did a good job here. We as Kentucky fans wanted 8-win seasons consistently when Stoops got here, and Kentucky has done nothing but that since Gran’s time here.

I think we all know the real problem here, but I do think it was time for Gran to go. The style of play won’t fit without the big blue wall and Kentucky is going to need to change its style of play to contend in the East. We’ve already seen a talented WR recruit decommmit, current and former players express their frustration on social media, and a former WR coach express his opinions about the real problem with the offense on social media. Once again, I think we all know the real problem here.

But, simply put, the style of play had become old with fans and players, which doesn’t equal anything good, and we saw that toward the end of this season.

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Who will the Cats hire? I don’t think anyone knows yet. I would expect names to be mentioned in the coming weeks.

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REPORT: Liam Coen Leaving Kentucky for NFL Offensive Coordinator Position

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UK Athletics

On the eve of a huge recruiting weekend for Kentucky football, the program has received some bad news. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving for the NFL again, this time taking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator position.

When Coen returned to Kentucky last offseason from the Los Angeles Rams, for his second stint as offensive coordinator, he talked about Lexington being a place that he and his wife had missed. In his return press conference, on January 12, 2023, he went as far as saying he wanted to be somewhere for a “few years”, at least.

“I want to go somewhere, make a real impact. Plant some roots for a little bit. Be somewhere for a few years — at least — that you feel really good about. I’m excited about being back in Lexington… I’m not in a rush to go anywhere.”

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That “few years” was just a year, but to be honest, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. After many games last season, Coen talked to the media with frustration about fundamental things such as lack of discipline and dropped passes. Even then, it always felt he was holding his words back. With his name circulating around multiple NFL jobs, it was clear this was the direction it was heading.

Now for Kentucky, it’s about getting the next hire right. In a time where offense is becoming the premium in college football, going through five offensive coordinators in ten seasons is not ideal. Paying $1.8 million to Coen, they have shown they will pay amongst the top in the country. Now, go get someone who keeps this core of offensive talent, can recruit, and brings much-needed consistency.

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A Piece of Will Levis’ Historic NFL Debut Displayed in NFL Hall of Fame

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Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis after his NFL debut.
© Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

During last year’s NFL Draft, Will Levis was one of the last players left in the green room after dropping to the second round. That moment fueled Levis, and he’s since earned the starting quarterback spot with the Tennessee Titans, appearing to have a bright future with the team.

Entering the season with no shortage of motivation, Levis entered the franchise as QB3 and wasn’t even on the active roster for the first six weeks of the season, being deemed the “emergency quarterback.” However, following an ankle injury to Ryan Tannehill in Week 6, the Titans gave their rookie quarterback an opportunity.

Levis certainly capitalized and had one of the best debuts in NFL History, throwing for 238 yards (19/29 passing) and four touchdowns. From the game, Levis has been put in the Hall of Fame. Well, at least his Houston Oiler throwback helmet from the performance has been placed on display in the Hall of Fame’s “Pro Football Today Gallery.”

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Levis started his career with a bang and had his moments. The former Kentucky Wildcat will look to build on his rookie campaign, going into a year where he should be the starter under new head coach Brian Callahan.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Cutter Boley Opens up on Playing for Kentucky, “This Is Where My Heart’s Always Been”

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Four-star quarterback prospect Cutter Boley signing with Kentucky football.
© Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

With the early National Signing Day for the class of 2024 being over, Kentucky’s newest signed quarterback Cutter Boley discusses why he committed to play at Kentucky.

“Just growing up in the state, you know, I’ve grown up a fan I feel like this is where my heart’s always been, and just the offense that Liam Coen runs and the job coach (Mark) Stoops does as head coach is phenomenal and I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else,” Boley tells Kentucky Insider.

Kentucky needed to get some quarterbacks after three players either graduated or transferred with Devin Leary graduating, Destin Wade transferring to Colorado, and Kaiya Sheron electing to transfer as well.

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Kentucky was able to load up in the quarterback room by landing the Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff, Georgia Southern transfer Beau Allen, and then signing Boley in the class of 2024. Boley is ready to compete against them and he recognizes their talent.

“I couldn’t be any more excited to learn from them. They’re two really good quarterbacks, like I said, and they’ll have countless things to teach me from the places they’ve been and the offense that they’ve been in,” Boley tells us. “I just can’t wait to learn the things they know and just be able to work and get to work with them.”

One of the reasons why Boley committed to Kentucky is due to him having a connection since he has lived here his whole life.

“Just growing up in the state, you know, I’ve grown up a fan I feel like this is where my heart’s always been, and just the offense that Liam Coen runs and the job coach (Mark) Stoops does as head coach is phenomenal and I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else,” said Boley.

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As for finally signing his National Letter of Intent, Boley feels relieved to have it finished.

“It’s definitely a relief to finally put the pen to paper and make it official,” said Boley. “It’s been a long time coming so I couldn’t be any more excited about my decision and where I’m going to be for the next four years.”

What Boley is most focused on is how the offense is run, as at this time he feels like his play style is made to play professionally.

“I’m really hoping to develop into that pro-style quarterback, but I feel like I’m definitely a pro-style quarterback right now, but really develop into just being able to play in that offense at a very high level and get really comfortable in the offense, and I just want to develop all parts of my game and really be a quarterback that the NFL looks for and that type of quarterback they want to have,” Boley tells us.

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With Kentucky having a chance to develop within instead of the transfer route, fans will have a chance to see a quarterback finally develop into potentially starting in the future.

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