Elite 2028 QB's top 10 is undeniable proof Will Stein has changed Kentucky football

Will Stein and Joe Sloan are known as quarterback gurus for a reason.

Stein helped turn three straight quarterbacks at Oregon into career-year monsters. Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel became Heisman finalists. While Dante Moore went from promising prospect to legitimate first-round NFL conversation before deciding to return to Oregon.

Sloan? He was the quarterbacks coach for Jayden Daniels during his Heisman season at LSU.

These guys know how to develop the most important position in football. And almost overnight, they’re changing how Kentucky football is viewed.

5-star quarterback Neimann Lawrence just put Kentucky in rare company

Five-star 2028 quarterback Neimann Lawrence out of Plantation, Florida, has named Kentucky in his top 10.

Let that sit for a second.

When was the last time a true five-star quarterback from outside the state seriously considered Kentucky out of high school? You might have to go all the way back to Morgan Newton choosing the Cats over Florida in 2008, and while that didn't turn out great, it was still something to cheer about. And now with Stein trying to get Elijah Haven and more in 2027, plus the 2028 blitz, you can see just how important he is to rebuilding and rebranding Kentucky football.

Lawrence’s top 10 includes:

Miami, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan, Kentucky, Oregon, Notre Dame, Florida, and Virginia Tech.

That’s not a courtesy mention, either, folks. That’s Kentucky standing shoulder to shoulder with the sport’s royalty and really fighting them.

Will it be hard to pull him away from Miami? Absolutely. But Kentucky isn’t just showing up anymore; they’re recruiting with credibility, armed with coaches who can point to real, recent proof. That is a difference maker in today's world.

This is a philosophical shift not just a recruiting win

For the final years of the Mark Stoops era, Kentucky leaned hard on the transfer portal, especially at quarterback. JUCO stopgaps. Short-term fixes. Plug-and-play answers.

That approach worked okay, the Cats never had a 3,000 yard passer and never had a single QB throw for more than 30 TDs in Stoops' entire tenure. Something tells me that changes this year.

Now, instead of hoping to find a quarterback, Kentucky is trying to develop one. Instead of shopping for leftovers, they’re sitting at the same table as bluebloods and getting taken seriously. They are letting everyone know this is not Mark Stoops' Kentucky football who just hopes to keep it close.

No, this is the new era, where you better bring all you got because Kentucky is coming.

This. of course, doesn’t mean Lawrence is coming. But it does mean something has changed.

Kentucky isn’t begging for relevance at quarterback anymore.

They’re taking it.