Kedon Slovis Feels BYU Offense Has Been Easy To Learn During Spring
Apr 12, 2023, 1:54 PM
PROVO, Utah – BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis is set to lead the Cougars into Power Five football this fall.
The first glimpse of Slovis as a BYU signal-caller was during spring practices.
Throughout the spring, he showed quick decision-making and accurate passes in media observation windows. Plus, he’s earned high praise from teammates, emerging as a leader heading into BYU’s first season as a Big 12 team.
There was the spring scrimmage where he had an interception while going up against BYU’s first-team defense in “THUD” work. But overall, Slovis has done a solid job and looked better than the quarterback who had nine interceptions to only ten touchdowns a season ago at Pitt.
Slovis hopped on with the KSL Sports Zone’s Hans Olsen & Scott Garrard, “Hans & Scotty G,” on Wednesday and discussed the transition to BYU. And he brought up the ease of the offense.
“It’s kind of as smooth as I could ask for. I’ve had a lot of fun out here playing ball. The offense has been easy to learn. It’s been fun. Which is what football is all about. So I’m glad to be out here,” said Kedon Slovis to KSL Sports. “Guys, teammates, and coaches have been all amazing, and they’re doing some good stuff. Excited to build on [spring practice] and get ready for the season.”
What makes BYU’s offense feel easy for Kedon Slovis
In the past, BYU’s offense under offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has been labeled “quarterback-friendly” by former signal-callers Jaren Hall and Zach Wilson. Slovis, who had interactions with Hall and Wilson before signing with BYU, went into greater detail about what has made BYU’s offense easy for him to learn.
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“It’s just stuff I’m familiar with,” Slovis said. “I feel like Fesi [Sitake], me, and A-Rod all speak the same language and have similar ideas for stuff. They’re familiar with what I’ve done too. So they know how to run the offense and call the offense to stuff that I’m familiar with. So it’s just meshed really well.”
Roderick has previously stated that Slovis was BYU’s number one quarterback target in the Transfer Portal after Jaren Hall announced he was leaving for the NFL.
Before BYU landed Slovis over the likes of UCLA and Notre Dame, Roderick and BYU analyst Matt Mitchell studied every throw Slovis made in his collegiate career. They did their homework on the fifth-year college prospect, and Slovis did his homework on BYU and its offense.
“It’s not a simple offense by any means,” said Slovis. “But I think the way we see things, it’s been pretty easy, and we’ve talked a lot about installing some stuff that I like, and they’ve seen me do and stuff I’ve done in the past too. So it’s just been nice to all be on the same page, so to speak.”
Big year for Slovis and BYU football
BYU’s offense has a proven track record under Roderick of producing NFL quarterbacks and QBs that don’t the ball over. One of the knocks on Slovis has been his turnovers. He’s thrown 33 interceptions in 38 games played.
OK … @Kedonslovis can MOVE 💨 pic.twitter.com/4qYy0HBWS3
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) March 16, 2023
By comparison, BYU quarterbacks in the past three seasons have thrown only 14 picks.
After Slovis set Pac-12 records for completion percentage in 2019 at 71%, he was viewed as a future first-round NFL draft pick. That stock has now dipped. But he has the chance to bounce back and cap off his college career with a big season for BYU in their first season in the Big 12.
“It’s my last chance to have the year that I want to have. And I think that’s another thing that has kind of attracted me to this coaching staff and these players is I think they feel the same thing too with me. But also a big year heading into the Big 12. It’s a big year for the program.”
BYU wraps up spring practice on Friday, April 14. The program will then take a break at the end of the school year before returning for summer conditioning in June. BYU opens the 2023 football season on September 2 against Sam Houston in Provo.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
