Kedon Slovis Officially Named BYU’s Starting QB For 2023 Season
Apr 15, 2023, 2:00 AM | Updated: Apr 17, 2023, 1:27 pm
PROVO, Utah – When BYU takes the field as a Big 12 team this fall, Kedon Slovis will lead the offense.
In the least surprising news of the year thus far, the former USC and Pitt signal-caller was officially named BYU’s starting quarterback for the 2023 season.
Pitt transfer Kedon Slovis is #BYU’s starting QB for the 2023 season.#BYUFootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/wbQo5wdoqP
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 15, 2023
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick announced after the 15th and final spring practice on Friday.
“Kedon is our starter, and I want to make that clear,” said Roderick. “We put him in a position to earn that job, and he’s lived up to what we expected up to this point. So he’ll go into fall camp as our starting quarterback. And as long as he continues to do what I expect him to do, I expect he will be our starting quarterback in the first game.”
Slovis has the task of filling the shoes left behind by former BYU star Jaren Hall. Hall was the starting quarterback for the past two seasons. He declared for the NFL draft this past December. If Hall gets drafted, he would be the second consecutive starting BYU QB to be picked in the NFL.
Slovis aims to become the third starting QB in a row from BYU. Roderick liked what he saw from Slovis in the 15 spring practices.
“His decision-making, efficiency, things I expected,” Roderick said on what he liked from Slovis in spring ball. “But he is what I expected him to be; just calm demeanor, under control out there, and runs the show.”
Slovis picked BYU over offers from SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 programs. Before spring practices, Roderick said Slovis was the number one transfer quarterback on BYU’s big board for the 2023 cycle.
Since 2010, BYU has only had two seasons where one quarterback started every game in a season (2013, 2020). So the backup QB battle will be the spot to watch heading into the summer and fall camp.
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Behind Slovis will be JUCO transfer Jake Retzlaff and former Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan. Fennegan started spring earning all of the second-team reps. But as Retzlaff returned from tonsils surgery, those snaps diminished, and the former No. 1 JUCO QB began taking most of the No. 2 snaps. Roderick said the battle would continue into the summer.
During Slovis’ four-year career in college football, he has passed for 9,973 yards, 68 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions and has completed 65.9% of his pass attempts.
Throughout spring practices, offensive personnel raved about Slovis’ ability to throw the football and his leadership off the field.
Slovis will get his first start in BYU blue this fall when the Cougars open the 2023 season on September 2 in Provo against Sam Houston.
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.
