New coach Will Stein is giving Kentucky football a ‘modern’ sheen
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Will Stein presents a modern Kentucky, emphasizing transfers, signees and NIL.
- He acknowledged NIL and revenue factors and said Kentucky is sufficiently resourced.
- Coach stresses resource-backed recruiting, staff building and competitive SEC goals.
The current media room at Kroger Field opened in 2015 as part of a major renovation of the former Commonwealth Stadium.
On Monday, for the first time ever, a Kentucky Wildcats head football coach not named Mark Stoops held forth in that room.
Will Stein met with local reporters to provide insight on the 30-plus new players UK is bringing in for 2026 via the transfer portal, as well as the 13 traditional recruits who cast their lots with the Cats during December’s early-signing period.
Mostly, however, what Stein did was display how Kentucky’s hiring of the 36-year-old former Oregon offensive coordinator has put a modern sheen on the UK program.
The new Wildcats head coach spoke with comfort about the financial component of college football roster construction in an era when schools share revenue with players and college athletes can profit from name, image and likeness deals.
“It still goes back to relationships and building those relationships and going to show players how they can develop in your offense, defense and special teams, how they can develop outside of the field of play, what connections you have with people in the community,” Stein said of recruiting.
“But (money’s) obviously in the conversation now, like there’s no hiding that, or not talking about it, that is real. But that’s not the first thing that we want to talk about.”
Stein assured that Kentucky football is presently “resourced” at a level sufficient for Southeastern Conference relevance.
“They resourced me definitely in a good way to feel like we can push the envelope with player acquisition, retention and then building the best coaching staff possible,” Stein said. “... Are we completely there? I think everybody’s always trying to push (the financial envelope in) every program across the country. It’s not just Kentucky.”
Prompted by a question, Stein explained why the offensive approach he will bring to UK from Oregon is best described as — wait for it — “modern.”
“It’s adaptable,” Stein said. “We can play multiple personnel, (just) as we can play with multiple tempos. We like RPOs, we love tempo. We also like two-back sets and getting downhill on people and adding extra people to the run (plays) with fullbacks and tight ends.”
For a first-time head coach, and a young one, Stein did an impressive job Monday in “keeping things real.”
On the new Kentucky staff’s inability to reach a deal with incumbent UK starting quarterback Cutter Boley, Stein gave his version of what happened and wished the former Lexington Christian Academy star well with his new team, Arizona State.
“(I) felt like we put a really good plan together (for Boley) and, you know, it just didn’t work out,” Stein said. “And there is nothing wrong with that. And I’m really excited about, you know, what he does at his next spot, his next adventure. I just think (Boley’s) a great person. Obviously, he’s a good player. But I know we’re excited about what we have here and what we have to offer our players.”
It is a major part of Stein’s personal narrative that he grew up in Jefferson County in a UK household, the son of two University of Kentucky alumni, but wound up playing quarterback for the University of Louisville when Kentucky did not offer him a requested chance to walk on.
I asked Stein how his former U of L teammates have responded to his becoming the head coach at their archrival.
“Very supportive, all those guys are extremely happy,” Stein said. “Is there a big rivalry? Of course. But I’m still their teammate and their friend, and I’ve had an outpouring of support from former (Louisville) players.”
In 2022, tension between the Kentucky football and men’s basketball programs exploded into public view. Then-UK basketball coach John Calipari angered Stoops by publicly describing the University of Kentucky as a “basketball school” and contrasting UK with other SEC universities, Alabama and Georgia, which Cal billed as authentic “football schools.”
Stein handled a question about the impact that the historically-regal Wildcats men’s basketball program has on UK’s football fortunes with aplomb.
“I’m the biggest Kentucky basketball fan you’ll ever meet,” Stein said. “I went to Tubby Smith basketball camp, like, four times, won ‘the Hot Shot’ award. I won the free-throw competition.
“I hope every single (UK sports) program wins — basketball, baseball, football, women’s volleyball, gymnastics. ... You’re not going to find me complaining about men’s basketball or any other sport here.”
In an era when Indiana football can play for the national championship and Vanderbilt football can win 10 games, the most “modern” thing about Stein’s vision for Kentucky football starts with refusing to accept limits.
In looking at UK’s SEC schedule for 2026, “Everybody’s talking about, ‘You gotta play these guys,” Stein said. “I mean, they gotta play us too, you know. So let’s put a great team together that’s tough, smart, dependable, plays four quarters of football (and is) connected. Then let’s see what happens.”
