‘A difference maker.’ Mark Pope talks about new UK football coach Will Stein
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope talks about new UK football coach Will Stein.
- Stein was hired this week to replace Mark Stoops as the leader of UK’s football program.
- Pope’s Wildcats next play against Gonzaga on Friday night in Nashville.
During a Thursday morning press conference, UK basketball coach Mark Pope offered his first public comments regarding the new leader of the Wildcats’ football program.
Pope said he hasn’t had a chance yet to formally speak with Will Stein, who was hired this week as Kentucky’s next football coach.
Stein replaces Mark Stoops, who had been UK’s football coach for the past 13 seasons.
“I’ve just seen him in passing,” Pope said, before adding that his wife, Lee Anne, has met Stein’s wife, Darby.
“I can tell you how excited we are to have him here,” Pope added about Stein. “You talk about an incredible young talent. I think he is going to have a long tenure here and do extraordinary things here.”
Stein’s first public appearance as the Wildcats’ coach came Tuesday night at Rupp Arena during UK’s home basketball game against North Carolina. During a first-half timeout, Stein was introduced as the “Y” in “Kentucky” to a thunderous ovation from a crowd of more than 20,000 fans at Rupp.
“I actually blacked out, to be honest,” Stein said. “I didn’t really know what was going on. I know I did a lot of fist pumping and yelling. The cheerleaders that escorted me out, I think I wrestled away from them to get going as quickly as I could. I’m like, you’re choosing me over Tayshaun (Prince)? What the hell is going on here?”
The UK cheerleaders spelled out “Kentucky” a second time Tuesday, and Prince — once Stein’s counselor at a Tubby Smith basketball camp — made the “Y.”
Pope acknowledged that he doesn’t “know anything about football,” but said he’s gotten the chance to learn about Stein’s approach to program building through video clips.
Like Pope, Stein arrives at UK with well-established ties to the commonwealth.
Stein — who has been the offensive coordinator at Oregon for the past three seasons — is a Louisville native and the son of a former Kentucky football player. He comes from a family of Wildcat fans. As a prep player, Stein led Louisville’s Trinity High School to a trio of Kentucky state championships. He then went on to play quarterback at U of L.
“I know he has history here at the University of Kentucky that’s really rich,” Pope said. “We’re incredibly excited to have him. He’s going to be a difference maker.”
Pope’s comments about Stein came just days after he acknowledged Stoops’ firing by Kentucky.
On his weekly radio show Monday night, Pope lauded Stoops’ accomplishments over the decade-plus that he led Kentucky’s gridiron operations.
“By a whole host of measurements he’s the greatest, most successful (football) coach to ever coach here,” Pope said of Stoops. “He gave his heart and soul to this place.”
Pope and Stoops overlapped for 20 months in Lexington after Pope was hired to replace John Calipari in April 2024.
