Stein Continues to Set New Standard in First Season
In July, at the annual Southeastern Conference Media Days, Kentucky head coach Will Stein may have had the quote of the event. When asked why he thought he could win at Kentucky, his answer was “because of me”.
Perhaps the first-year UK head coach is on to something.
On Saturday, Stein and his 24th-ranked Cats went on the road for the second time in SEC play. And for the second time, Kentucky came away with a victory, beating South Carolina 35-34 in overtime at Williams-Brice Stadium.
If winning the first two SEC road games of a career sounds impressive, it is. In fact, with Saturday’s win, Stein became the first Kentucky coach ever to accomplish that feat.
Stein, who came to Lexington and built his roster largely through the transfer portal, is off to a 4-1 start this season. He has taken a Kentucky program that was in a pretty low spot after the end of last year and now has UK ranked and in contention to go to a bowl game, something that almost no one other than Stein could have imagined.
To put Stein’s early success in perspective, consider this. The most wins for a first-year Kentucky head coach is seven, which was accomplished by legendary head coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant in 1946 and Blanton Collier in 1954. The 1946 UK team started 4-1, while the 1954 team started 2-3 before winning their final five games.
Of the 17 coaches who have coached UK since the SEC began in 1933, Stein and Fran Curci (1-1 in 1973) are the only Kentucky coaches to win one of their first two SEC road games. Charlie Bradshaw went 0-1-1 in his first two SEC road contests in 1962. All other Kentucky coaches started 0-2 in SEC road games.
Not only did Stein get the win, he did it in style. In overtime and trailing by seven points, the Cats got a touchdown pass from Kenny Minchey to Henry Boyer. Instead of electing to tie the game and play on, Stein rolled the dice by going for two. On that two-point conversion play, Minchey found Willie Rodriguez in the back of the end zone for the win.
Stein’s confidence at SEC Media Days surprised some people. However, through five games, he’s proven that he can talk the talk and walk the walk.
