Every Spring Kentucky football fans look forward to getting that first glimpse at the team that will take the field in the fall. Part of that is getting that first depth chart drop to see where everyone stands. Well, you won't be getting that this year, and it is for the best possible reason.
Will Stein doesn't believe in depth charts
No one wants to be stagnant in their career, and that includes these kids in pads every day at practice. Stein knows that development is the name of the game. "Everybody says you want to be developed. Well, how do you do it?"
"Don't have a depth chart."
Excuse me?
"We don't have depth chart. We have a blue and a white squad that's intertwined. There's not a one's, two's, three's at all. So that's really to me the big part of development."
Stein doesn't want to see someone play in the same spot against the same players because he believes that's the only way to get a clear idea of who is actually better.
"See what Lance Herd looks like to maybe a rotational guard, or a guy that was a walk-on, like see who can play. So, Kenny Menchy doesn't have a starting offensive line out in front of him. We have truly a blue team and a white team that will be different each week."
When asked how he decides which players go where, Stein said they really do just "mix it up."
There is a method to the madness
Initially, I was taken aback by a coach coming in with a chip on his shoulder and letting everyone know things were going to be different. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a depth chart to give you, but here we are. And it really is brilliant.
If you have your best linemen always playing together, that builds cohesion, but cohesion comes after evaluation. And how do you evaluate? You mix it up.
If Lance Heard and Coleton Price are the two best players on the offensive line, let's find that out by moving the pieces around them.
It really is a wonderful move by a young head coach looking to make his mark in Lexington.