If there is one thing you can say about new Kentucky football head coach Will Stein, it is that he is not short of confidence. We will soon see if that confidence is misplaced or the start of something incredible in Lexington. Sitting down with Jon Hale of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky's new head coach, offered a loud endorsement of himself and his staff.
"My track record and Joe’s with quarterback play, I don’t think you’re going to find a better head coach and coordinator duo in the country than us."
Whoa.
That is some serious confidence in a 1st year head coach. But the stats say he should be confident.
Will Stein's "QB70" club
Stein’s history showcases a coach who has elite QB play. After taking over at Oregon from Kenny Dillingham, his offenses never skipped a beat. He transformed Auburn cast-off Bo Nix into a Heisman finalist (5,000+ total yards, 59 TDs) and followed that up by sending Dillon Gabriel to the NFL. Even Dante Moore was a projected top-2 pick this year before deciding to stay in Eugene for another run.
Kentucky hasn’t seen QB accuracy like this since Tim Couch
All 3 of those guys finished their last year with Oregon above 70% completion. Want to know when the last time that at happened at Kentucky?
Tim Couch in 1998 when he was selected number 1 overall the following year.
On the other side of the headset is just Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman, Offensive Coordinator Joe Sloan.
Maybe he should be that confident.
A fearless message about Kentucky’s schedule 'If you are scared, go to church'
Kentucky's 2026 schedule does Stein no favors in his first season. With home games against Alabama and LSU and a road trip to Oklahoma all before November, it's being called one of the 10 hardest slates in the country.
But Stein’s response to all the talk about the schedule was simple: "If you are scared, go to church."
Football is not a place for fear; it is a place for aggression, preparation, and performance. They say a team will take on the mindset of its head coach. If Kentucky football adopts Will Stein's personality, it will be an ultra-aggressive, confident bunch ready to shock the world.
That is exactly the type of team you want in Lexington. With the Big Blue Wall getting a rebuild, and Will Stein's belief, things could get very interesting for Kentucky football.