Stein, Cats Focused on Situational Football

Kentucky football head coach Will Stein believes that every play in a football game is important. However, Stein also knows that there are particular plays that could be the difference between winning and losing.

Stein and the Cats practiced inside Kroger Field on Saturday, and they spent a lot of time on situational football. Those are the plays that Stein believes can make or break a team in a close game.

“In a 60-play game, you’re going to have 35 or so normal down plays,” Stein said. “First and 10, second and one-to-six, and then you have your third-down calls, your red-area calls and two-minute drills.”

Stein believes that the more his team can learn from being put in stressful situations in practice.

“We try to put them in chaotic environments now,” Stein said. “So, when fall hits, there is no chaos, we’re calm within the chaos. So, we’ve hit about every situation that you can to this point of spring ball. Today’s real situation was two minute, end of half. A minute three (seconds) left, you’ve got one timeout, any points are good.”

So, how did the UK offense handle that stressful situation today?

“It was good to see our guys go execute on offense, the defense held the offense to a field goal, which is obviously positive,” Stein said. “We would rather have no points, but it was a non-touchdown drive for the offense.”

The UK head coach was asked if there was a particular part of practice that has been tough for players to adjust to. Stein noted that it’s all about being prepared.

“I think it’s just the drills that you do, you have to teach them,” Stein said. “It’s not like you just go out on the field and then teach it . We do everything before we even get to the practice field. I’m big on efficiency. If these guys don’t know the drill prior to practice, shame on you as a coach. So, that’s been the biggest adjustment.”

Kentucky will likely find itself in all of these situations at some point during the 2026 season. Stein knows that if the Cats are dealing with stressful situations in practice, they will be ready for anything as the real games begin. The UK head coach also knows that being prepared for anything the game throws at his team could be the difference between winning and losing.