Will Stein grew up loving UK football, but it’s risk-taking that got him the job
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky hired Will Stein rapidly after Stoops firing to salvage recruiting.
- Stein brings high-scoring play-calling; Oregon ranked ninth at 38.2 PPG.
- Athletic director moved fast to protect roster amid transfer portal and signing period.
The is-this-really-happening moment for Will Stein did not come when he walked by the pyrotechnics lining the walkway between the practice facility and stage where he would make his opening comments as Kentucky football coach.
It did not come when he, his wife and two young children walked to the 50-yard line of Kroger Field, the stadium where he grew up attending games to watch his father’s alma mater play, with his picture blown up on the video board. It did not come when he “blacked out” for a second as the capacity crowd at Rupp Arena for the Kentucky-North Carolina basketball game Tuesday roared in approval when he was escorted by two cheerleaders onto the court as the “celebrity Y.”
It came shortly after he stepped off the private jet that had flown him and his family from Oregon to Lexington.
“I’m not kidding, there were 15 cop cars in front of our car and 15 cop cars behind our car,” a still beaming Stein said toward the end of his introductory news conference. “I felt like the President of the United States. I was like, ‘What in the heck is going on?’
“I took a picture of it on my phone. I’ve never seen anything like that. It kind of woke me up. … This is big-time.”
In a turnaround quick enough to cause some whiplash, just three days after Kentucky fired 13-year coach Mark Stoops following a second straight losing season, UK president Eli Capilouto and athletics director Mitch Barnhart introduced the Wildcats’ new coach Wednesday afternoon in a news conference at the Nutter Field House.
Changes to the college football calendar had necessitated Barnhart move quickly with the search once he decided to fire Stoops.
Wednesday was also the start of the December signing period for high school prospects and junior college transfers. This weekend, UK’s current players will have the ability to enter the transfer portal due to the coaching change. In less than a month, the transfer portal will open to all other players as Kentucky looks to build a competent 2026 roster.
“We can talk about tampering, we can talk about, ‘no doing, no do that,’” Barnhart said. “They’re flat calling players all over the place, and there’s player movement everywhere. So, let’s not kid ourselves. Yeah, to protect our roster, to protect our program, to protect recruiting, we had to move fast.”
Much has been made about Stein’s connections to the program since it became clear he was a leading candidate for the job.
His parents, Matt and Debbie, graduated from Kentucky. His father played for the Wildcats under Jerry Claiborne. A picture displayed on an ESPN broadcast during one of his games as offensive coordinator at Oregon showed him attending a children’s birthday party wearing a UK shirt alongside ESPN analyst and Louisville native Katie George.
Stein attended Tubby Smith basketball camps growing up. At one, Tayshaun Prince, the legendary former Wildcat also honored at Tuesday’s basketball game, was his counselor.
But the diminutive three-time state champion Trinity High School quarterback was not offered the chance to play at Kentucky by then-coach Joker Phillips. Instead, Stein walked on at Louisville, where he was eventually put on scholarship and won the starting job.
“I went to the rival,” Stein said. “So there was four or five years of some bad blood, but that’s the competitor in me. Yeah, out of high school, I would have loved to have the opportunity to come here, but everything happens for a reason.”
At Louisville, Stein would play for Charlie Strong after the coach who recruited him, Steve Kragthorpe, was fired. His relationship with Strong would lead to his first full-time coaching job as a quality control coach at Texas.
There, Stein met assistant coach Jeff Traylor, who let him live at his house and would eventually hire him as a wide receivers coach and later offensive coordinator at UTSA.
“It all works out,” Stein said. “I get to Oregon. Now I’m here at Kentucky, where I always wanted to be and wanted to play as a kid, and now coach. Firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Never take anything for granted, and just be where your feet are and be great where you’re at.
“…I’m extremely thankful for my time at Louisville. I am. I would lie to you guys right now if I said I wasn’t.”
For Barnhart, those ties to Kentucky were a bonus, not the driving force behind the hire.
Barnhart scoffed at the popular notion that athletic directors keep a running list of potential candidates for future openings at all times but acknowledged as he watches college football games he takes note of up-and-coming coaches around the country. The fact that Stein was leading one of the sport’s most high-powered offenses at Oregon, where Barnhart’s former deputy Rob Mullens is now athletic director, made it more likely Barnhart would be familiar with his work.
“Then you begin to find out who’s doing what on the staff and begin to put pieces of the puzzle together,” Barnhart said. “Somehow they might make your list, so you sort of keep track of people, and then you sort of see how things play out.”
When the Kentucky job last opened in 2012, Barnhart was primarily focused on finding a coach who could build the sort of defense capable of slowing SEC opponents that the Wildcats had historically lacked. That search led him to Stoops, then the defensive coordinator at Florida State.
This time, Barnhart heard the calls from fans who had grown disillusioned with Stoops’ methodical style for a more exciting offense.
“I was very specifically trying to find ways to put points on the board,” Barnhart said. “It’s really hard to win games in our league scoring 17-21 points a game. We’ve got to find a way to be where we’re lighting up the scoreboard.”
Stein’s offenses have certainly done that.
Oregon ranks ninth nationally this year in points per game (38.2). In each of Stein’s three years as play-caller there, the Ducks have ranked in the top 20 of that category. His first season at Oregon in 2023 saw the Ducks rank second in points per game (44.2).
Stein’s 2022 UTSA offense ranked 14th in points per game (37). In each of the past three seasons, Oregon has ranked in the top five in points per offensive drive.
“It’s a real simple philosophy: Get your best players the ball as many times as you can,” Stein said, citing his oft-quoted “Feed the studs” mantra. “We know players win games.”
That philosophy involves taking risks. The same could be said of Barnhart’s decision to hire a 36-year-old, first-time head coach at a time when the college sports landscape is ever-changing.
But Barnhart seemed to acknowledge in his statement introducing Stein Wednesday that there were not enough risks taken for Kentucky in recent seasons.
“They say sometimes conservative folks can win; risk-takers can win it all,” Barnhart said. “You also lose a little bit. You take a risk, and sometimes it doesn’t work. This guy knows where to take his risks. He’s shown that over his career in an amazing way.”
Kentucky football looks much different than it did when Stein was watching games from section 128.
The stadium has a different name. The facilities are vastly improved. Even the field house where Stein was introduced to Kentucky fans has received a significant facelift since Stoops was introduced there 13 years and one day previously.
UK owes much of that progress to Stoops and the success he had during a run of eight straight bowl games that included two 10-win seasons, but ultimately Stoops failed to meet the bar of expectations that he raised.
If a risk-taker is what is needed to make Kentucky competitive in the current era of college football, Stein showed Wednesday he is willing to take on the challenge. But it won’t be the days with police escorts, pyrotechnics and photo ops that matter in that quest.
“I’ve won at every single level that I’ve been at: high school, college,” Stein said. “Now the goal is to win here. Not to win five years down the road, 10 years down the road. Do it now. The way you do that is you work. Success is not free. Rent is due every damn day that we’re here.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 7:45 PM.