The new UK football staff is young, but it might not be as young as you think
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stein’s staff skews young but his recruiters’ average age is older than Year 1 Stoops.
- Staff has young recruiters, veteran coordinators to balance player relations, experience.
- Program recognizes changing college football dynamics: NIL, portal, revenue sharing.
New Kentucky football coach Will Stein had clearly heard one of the most common concerns voiced about his hire by the time he met with reporters to discuss his first Wildcat roster last week.
At 36 years old, Stein will be the fifth-youngest head coach in FBS football next season. He will be the second-youngest leading a power-conference program.
When Kentucky hired Stein, the common thought was that because of his age he would surround himself with veteran assistants to fill any experience gap.
Instead, he hired a staff filled with coaches around his same age. That decision meant questions about his staff’s age were sure to follow.
Stein was not interested in feeding that narrative, though.
Reporter: “What would you say to somebody who is worried that there are a lot of young guys on this staff who have not been in coaching for a long time, what would you say to those people?”
Stein: “I guess, who do you think hasn’t been in coaching? I’m sorry. Seriously.”
Reporter: “For only like three or four years. Like Tony Washington Jr. is a young guy. Like there’s a lot of very young coaches on the staff.”
Stein: “OK, yeah. I mean, I think experience is all relative. What we’re doing now in college football is not the same as we were doing 20 years ago. It’s just not. Everything is changing.”
Washington, the 33-year-old outside linebackers and defensive ends coach, is not even the youngest assistant on staff. That honor goes to 27-year-old offensive line coach Cutter Leftwich.
Six of the 10 recruiting assistants on Stein’s staff will be younger than 40 when the 2026 season starts. Only two will be 50 or older. Three of the 10 were born in the 1990s.
But Stein’s staff might not actually be as much of an outlier as it seems.
The average age of his 10 recruiting assistants (40) is actually two years older than the average age of the full-time assistants on Mark Stoops’ first Kentucky staff. (At the time, football staffs were limited to nine assistant coaches).
If special teams coordinator Parker Fleming (37), run game coordinator Derek Warehime (43), passing game coordinator Andrew Coverdale (55) and linebackers coach Chad Wilt (47), who have been hired in non-recruiting assistant positions, are added to the calculation, Stein’s staff is even older, with an average age of 42 in Week 1.
“I feel great about our staff,” Stein said. “Are they young? Yes. I’m young. But it is a new age of college football. And to me, it is about putting the best people in these jobs: high IQ, high character, guys that love coaching, really smart. They connect with players.”
Stein’s age likely is the cause of the difference in perception of his staff and the early years of the Stoops era.
Stein is 10 years younger than Stoops was when he coached his first game at Kentucky, but both were first-time head coaches coming off successful stints as coordinators at powerhouse programs.
Stoops found early success at Kentucky, thanks at least in part to the youthful energy on his first staff. That group paved the way for unprecedented recruiting success in an era when the transfer portal did not exist.
But Stoops’ staff grew older across his 13-season UK tenure. Last year, the average age of Stoops’ 10 recruiting assistants was 46. That staff included a 63-year old linebackers coach (Stoops’ brother Mike). Leftwich is half the age of the offensive line coach he is replacing (Eric Wolford).
Considering the sagging results of the last few Stoops seasons, an injection of youth onto the staff could be helpful due to massive changes to the college sports landscape in recent years. The advent of revenue sharing, NIL deals and free transfers has created an environment where experience from the previous era may not be as valuable.
“Obviously he’s come in with an incredible enthusiasm for a new job that he has, and he’s put together a very energetic, remarkably energetic staff, and they are hitting the ground running,” UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart said. “I think that our fans have embraced that.”
Stoops seemed to acknowledge that dynamic by hiring two 34-year-old offensive assistants last year. Those coaches (L’Damian Washington and Derek Shay) quickly landed at SEC powers Ole Miss and Texas A&M after Stoops was fired. Stoops also deserves credit for hiring then-36-year-old offensive coordinator Liam Coen before the 10-win 2021 season.
Coen is now one of the youngest head coaches in the NFL. He was not shy about hiring young assistants in constructing his first Jacksonville Jaguars staff last season. That staff led the Jaguars from four wins the previous season to 13 wins and a playoff berth in Coen’s first year on the job.
The elder statesman on Stein’s UK staff, defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, will be 53 when the 2026 season starts. He would have been younger than three Stoops assistants last season but was picked to lead UK’s defense in part due to his experience.
“He’s a veteran, right? A veteran coordinator,” Stein said. “That is something that I was looking for, too, a guy that has been in college for a while, who has been on that side of the ball, who has been through ups, downs and currently was at an elite spot on defense with Texas A&M.”
Given Stein’s background as an elite offensive mind, it makes sense for the defensive coordinator to be the most-experienced coach on Stein’s staff.
But that does not mean the relative youth elsewhere on the staff is without its own benefits.
“Recruiting has changed, the portal’s changed,” Stein said. “It is about adaptability. And these guys have shown me that they are the best people for these jobs. They relate to players.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 6:00 AM.