Back in the summer of 2018, Kedon Slovis was a high school senior going through the recruiting process as one of the top high school quarterback prospects coming out of Arizona.
While BYU had its sights set on another quarterback from the state of Arizona at that time — four-star prospect Jacob Conover of Chandler High signed to the Cougars’ 2019 recruiting class — Slovis ended up signing with USC.
Fast forward to December 2022, and now Slovis is Provo bound — last week he announced he was transferring to BYU as a grad transfer after three years at USC and one at Pittsburgh — while Conover, the Cougars’ backup the past two seasons, is headed to Arizona State.
Slovis had the opportunity to learn under a Hall of Fame quarterback during his high school days: former Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner was his QB coach and offensive coordinator at Desert Mountain High in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Examining the history between Slovis and Warner can help reveal a bit of what BYU is getting in its newest graduate transfer addition.
What did Kurt Warner see in Kedon Slovis?
Before Slovis’ senior year of high school, Warner talked with the Arizona Republic about his quarterback soon after USC offered him.
“I felt he was underrated,” Warner told the Arizona Republic about Slovis, rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports. “One of the things we’re going to do as a program here, you’re going to see more guys get attention. Once we start proving we’ve got good, quality players here, ... I felt Kedon was under the radar a lot.
“He’s got all the skills. If you’re looking for a drop-back quarterback, I’ll put him up against anybody in the state in regards to understanding the game, throwing on time and being able to make every throw on the football field. It’s exciting to see him getting some of the fruits of his labor, because he’s put in the time.”
“That’s Kurt. He doesn’t care if you lost the game on an interception or if you threw the game-winning touchdown, he’s going to want you to get better.” — Kedon Slovis, on Kurt Warner
Slovis was the starter at USC through much of his three seasons there — taking over for an injured JT Daniels in his first college game, then staying in the starting job until near the end of his junior year, where struggles and injuries plagued his 2021 season.
He transferred to Pittsburgh for the 2022 season and the Panthers went 7-4 with him as the starter, though he saw his numbers dip from previous seasons.
Through four years of college, Slovis has thrown for 9,973 yards, 68 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. His most impressive season came as a freshman, when he threw for 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
In 2020, Slovis told Sirius XM after rallying USC to a win over Arizona State that he still was getting pointers from Warner.
In that game, Slovis threw for 381 yards on a school-record 40 completions and tossed two touchdowns in the final three minutes as the Trojans edged the Sun Devils 28-27.
“He’s awesome,” Slovis said of Warner during the Sirius XM appearance. “He actually texted me after the ASU game and kind of said great play. I think he watched my film or something and texted me again to say be careful of that overhanging safety. If he’s any closer, get back to your curl.
“That’s Kurt. He doesn’t care if you lost the game on an interception or if you threw the game-winning touchdown, he’s going to want you to get better.”
Does Kurt Warner see a bit of himself in Kedon Slovis?
Warner’s story is well-known: he played collegiately at Division I-AA Northern Iowa, spent time stocking shelves at a grocery store after college, then played in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe before finally landing in the NFL.
His 12-year NFL career included leading the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl championship — he was named the Super Bowl MVP that year — and Warner was twice named the NFL MVP and he earned Pro Bowl honors four times.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the 2017 class.
Warner told The Athletic in 2020 that the adversity Slovis faced in high school, playing for a school that isn’t traditionally known for success, helped him develop the ability to step up in critical moments.
This came after Slovis had led game-winning drives for USC in back-to-back weeks to start the Trojans’ 2020 season.
“He was always in situations where he had to perform and he had to step up big and we needed him to make a play,” Warner told The Athletic. “As much as that can be a burden when you’re in high school and start to feel like, man, you don’t make the plays, your team loses, so much of it’s on you and on your shoulders, I think, ultimately, that does nothing but strengthen you as a player and lifts your expectation that you expect to perform every time you have the ball in your hands no matter what has played out.”
Warner then drew the parallel between what Slovis has accomplished to his own career.
“I look at my career in Arena Football kind of the same way. It taught me, the last person with the ball wins. ‘Hey, you’ve got to make a play and you’ve got to answer every score and you’re expected to score every time you touch the football.’ So that becomes your mindset,” Warner said.
“I think that is such a great training ground when you’re called upon to have to do that all the time and you can’t depend on anyone else. It’s going to depend on you and the plays you make. But being able to get used to that and understand that expectation, you look to welcome that and you set that expectation for yourself so it’s never really a burden in those moments, and I think that’s a big reason why Kedon handles that moment extremely well.”