The Will Stein era in Lexington has, at least thus far, been relentlessly positive. The Wildcats' new head coach has dominated on the recruiting trail, especially in the 2027-28 class, giving fans plenty of exciting quotes and confidence to stave them over until fall in the meantime.
Although, it may be easy for the BBN to forget that Stein was hired in the midst of Oregon's College Football Playoff run. Stein, serving as the offensive coordinator, stayed on after his deal at Kentucky to finish out the year with the Ducks; a year that ended in a crushing, 56-22 defeat at the hands of the eventual champion Indiana Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers' defensive coordinator, Bryant Haines, saw something different in the Ducks as the teams met for the second time that season. According to him, the onus is partially on Stein.
Playing the Blame Game
In a since-deleted post on X, Haines was asked why Oregon's offense (split into two parts on Haines' ranking of toughness), saw its latter half much further down the list. His response pulled no punches:
"Oregon 2 had an OC that was torn away by a new job. Coach Stein is elite, but he was not at full game-plan... and their RB room was decimated."
Could Stein have been distracted as a result of coaching for one school and recruiting for another? Absolutely, but for an opposing coordinator to take an apparent shot at someone for taking what is essentially his dream job seems, to me, in bad taste.
Indiana defensive coordinator in a since-deleted post pic.twitter.com/SpVDmYiEOm
— Paul (@TheCorpatty) April 26, 2026
Not to mention that Stein not only got the Kentucky job due to his years-long success out west, but that the Ducks weren't the only school to get trounced by the undefeated Hoosiers on their march to a title.
Whether or not Haines deleted his post for these reasons or others, the Cats' new staff - Stein especially - should be sure to take note of his perspective. The team can pin it to the wall with the rest of the nationwide "write-offs" that Stein has already allocated since his arrival in Lexington.
Although, most of those have been rescinded already, given his early recruiting success and general "show don't tell" attitude.
In the blue and white, you'll always have detractors coming in from all sides. Thankfully for Stein, though, he's got the best fanbase in college athletics at his back. BBN takes care of their own.
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