Stein, Cats Prepared to Focus on Details and Execution
Football season is a little over a month away, and that means that new Kentucky head coach Will Stein is preparing for his first regular season as the head man in Lexington. Stein and the Cats met the media on Monday for UK’s annual media day, and the UK head coach is ready to get fall camp going.
“Fall camp is here. It is here, and it’s very exciting,” Stein said. “As much as I love talking to everybody in this room (media), I am more excited about practicing football. It’s amazing how quickly the off-season evaporates and you snap your fingers and you’re right back into football mode.”
Stein and his staff hope to use the fall practices to refine what the team worked on during the spring and summer.
“Football camp is all about details and execution of our scheme,” Stein said. “That really is where we’re building currently and where we will continue to build throughout the next 30 days or so until we play on September 5th.”
Stein also hopes that his team will use the fall to prepare their bodies for the long season ahead.
“It is also time to get into playing shape,” Stein said. “Summer is about getting ready for practice. Now fall camp, it’s execution details and then playing ourselves into shape for that first contest.”
The Kentucky staff did not produce a depth chart in the spring and Stein likes that idea heading into the fall as well because of what it does for his team.
“There’s going to be a lot of competition out there,” Stein said. “I know there was some talk about starting lineups and all that. There really is still no starters. We can project out where we feel like this team is going to be, but I want this team to be as competitive as possible from top down with the roster. Why? Because we have to have strength in numbers. That, to me, is a key component to play winning football, especially in October and November where championships happen, is to have strength in numbers and to have winning football for multiple positions.”
Stein was asked if he talks to his team about winning championships, and the UK coach said that there are steps to get to that point, which is what the team is working on now.
“We just talk about our process. We just talk about what we have to do every single day to be our very best and let the results speak for themselves,” Stein said. “So, we’re still trying to master that, and we’ll have to re-teach some things as we start practice because it’s been a little bit since we’ve been out there with helmets and eventually shoulder pads and full gear, how to stay up, how to stay off the quarterback, how to run from drill to drill. We don’t necessarily talk about (championships). It’s not that it’s just a hidden message. We obviously have goals and aspirations, but you have to master the mundane, the little things every single day to even give yourself a chance at those moments.”
Stein and his team are ready to get fall camp underway and they will use this time period to prepare for game action, which starts on September 5 against Youngstown State.
