BYU COUGARS
Kedon Slovis Delivers Good First Impression In BYU Blue
PROVO, Utah – Watching Kedon Slovis don the oval Y helmet and a no-contact royal blue jersey for BYU was surreal. A former USC and Pitt quarterback, Slovis, who once joked about the strange kindness of BYU fans, is now the man that is expected to lead BYU’s offense into the Big 12 Conference.
Day one of spring practices was the first glimpse of Slovis operating as a BYU quarterback. The first impression was a good one. During the 20 minutes of media observation, Slovis looked like a quarterback that has started 38 games for a Power Five program.
First glimpse of Kedon Slovis at #BYU.#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/fHTCprPkBM
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 7, 2023
There was great velocity on his passes, he made quick decisions and he looked comfortable in Aaron Roderick’s offense. One of the knocks on Slovis has often been his accuracy on deep passes. However, he showed that he’s more than capable of airing it out with a 40-yard deep ball on the money near the sideline to redshirt freshman Dom Henry.
Now it’s only day one, and there are no pads on. A far different look than what Slovis and the BYU offense will face when they navigate a schedule that includes a program record 10 Power Five programs. But Slovis’ experience makes him the favorite to be the signal-caller to step into the shoes left behind by Jaren Hall.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake was impressed with Slovis and the entire quarterback unit after day one.
“Kedon made some nice throws. I think all of the quarterbacks [made some nice throws]. I was impressed with (Cade) Fennegan, too, I was really impressed with all of the quarterbacks,” said Sitake. “A high level of accuracy and great demand on the offense. They were able to tell their guys where to go. Any errors that are happening and signaling, they are correcting it on the field. That’s crazy that we’re doing that with this new group of guys. But they seem to be veterans and seem to be adapting to our offense really well.”
Slovis, who picked BYU over opportunities from Notre Dame, UCLA, SEC, and Big Ten programs, was also pleased with day one.
“I thought it was good. First day isn’t perfect by any means, so some learning curves for everyone on timing stuff. But I thought, for the most part, for our first day, I’m pretty proud of the way the guys competed; completed a lot of balls and looked pretty clean up front. So I was pretty happy with it,” said Slovis. “We’ve got to be better, obviously, and build on it, but a pretty good first day.”
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Slovis and Roderick have spoken in high regard leading up to spring ball about each other. Slovis praised how much he felt Roderick and BYU analyst Matt Mitchell aligned with him on how they want an offense to run.
After a day of running Roderick’s offense in a practice setting at BYU, Slovis continues to praise the system that has churned out two NFL quarterbacks.
“There’s a lot,” Slovis said with a smile on what he likes about Roderick’s offense. “We throw it a lot. That’s kind of our identity. I think it does a great job of protecting the quarterback. It’s very quarterback-friendly and puts you in a position to get in a rhythm and operate. I think the first period was run action, play action, and run period. We didn’t have a great rhythm, but we found [rhythm] like a period later. And I think that’s kind of a testament to the offense is we might not hit a touchdown every play, but you’re going to find a rhythm because of the way it’s set up.”
Roderick made Slovis a top priority in the Transfer Portal after two-year starter Jaren Hall informed coaches that he was moving on to the NFL. So when Slovis arrived on campus in January, he immediately went to work to pour over Roderick’s offense. The third-year OC on Sitake’s staff likes how Slovis has gone about his business so far.
“He’s been a great worker since he’s been here. And he’s done a great job of having no entitlements. You know, he’s just here to work, and he’s like one of the guys, just like everybody else,” said Roderick. “But everybody knows the work he put in before he got here too. Everybody’s seen him play and knows he’s a good play. I think we’re all excited to have him here.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.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.
