Stein Ready to Do Big Things at Kentucky
To say that the last 48 hours have been a whirlwind for Will Stein would be a vast understatement. On Sunday, Stein was the offensive coordinator for a nationally-ranked Oregon team that’s about to embark on a College Football Playoff run. By the time the day ended Monday, Stein was the head coach at Kentucky.
Stein hit the ground running upon his arrival in Lexington on Tuesday. A team meeting, a tour of the facilities, a trip to Rupp Arena to be the “Y” during the men’s basketball game and meet and greets with fans and donors.
On Wednesday morning, Stein starting signing players to the 2026 National Signing Day class. Despite the coaching change, UK was able to bring in some talent that could help right away.
The whirlwind started to hit Stein as he was officially introduced to the Big Blue Nation on Wednesday.
“Obviously it’s been a lot the last 12 hours because of signing day,” Stein said. “Everything is different. The calendar is different in college football.”
When asked how signing day went for the Cats today, Stein was realistic but positive.
“Went as good as it could have gone, being that we had about 12 hours to assemble an initial group of players,” Stein said. “What I’m proud about is those guys stayed committed to the university because they love Kentucky.”
Stein knows how important it is to acquire talent.
“The first thing any talent acquisition is the evaluation process,” Stein said. “Evaluation happens a lot of different ways. It’s in-person, on the phone, Zoom, it’s doing background checks, height, weight, speed, getting them to campus. There’s a lot of facets to the evaluation process. Then it’s about the recruitment. Recruiting is still old school. It really is.”
Stein is known for his ability to create big plays and points on offense. He plans to bring that same type of attack to Kentucky.
“Our offense, our plan is to light up the scoreboard,” Stein said. “Why not? I’ve seen it done here many a times. That’s the goal. It’s not easy. Football is not easy. Not meant to be easy. It’s the toughest game in the world played by tough men. I know doing it the right way, the way I’ve seen at the highest of levels in college football, it will be done here at Kentucky.”
Stein’s whirlwind will continue as he works two jobs over the next few weeks. But on Wednesday, he made it clear that he’s going to win at Kentucky.
“The vision is simple: it’s to win, it’s to win,” Stein said. “I didn’t come here to be average, to be mediocre. I came here to win and win championships.”
It’s that vision that has the Big Blue Nation excited about Stein, and vice versa.
