When a new coach arrives, fans want the splash.
Coordinator names. Position coaches with résumés. “This guy can recruit Texas” energy. That stuff matters, sure.
But a program doesn’t run on splash. It runs on infrastructure. And Kentucky football’s staff build is reaching the point where the less glamorous names are going to matter just as much as the headline hires.
Will Stein is building Kentucky football like a modern operation
The GM layer isn’t optional anymore. It’s how big programs keep up with roster churn, NIL realities, and the fact you’re basically running a pro team with college branding.
That’s why Pat Biondo as general manager and Pete Nochta as assistant GM aren’t just admin notes. Those roles can determine whether Kentucky’s portal process feels organized or frantic.
Football in 2026 won’t reward “we’ll figure it out later.”
It rewards teams that already did.
Kentucky football keeping Mark Perry is not a small deal
Kentucky has continuity pieces worth protecting, and Mark Perry is one of them.
He’s been with the program since 2019, and he’s done the kind of work fans don’t see until it’s gone: high school relationships, internal organization, and now even more responsibility after staff turnover.
Keeping people who already understand your footprint and your contacts is how you avoid rebuilding from scratch while trying to win games.
Jay Bateman’s defensive ripple is already showing
If the reporting holds, James Gibson is expected to follow Jay Bateman to Lexington and take over the nickel role.
That’s not a throwaway position in modern college football. Nickel is where offenses try to stress you. It’s where you either survive space… or give up 11-yard completions that feel like paper cuts until you’re bleeding out.
If Kentucky wants a defense that holds up against tempo and spread concepts, the nickel spot has to be coached like it matters. Because it does.
Kentucky football on field staff is nearly complete but the work is just starting
Even once the final pieces fall into place, Kentucky’s real sprint begins when the full staff can put hands on the roster.
That’s the truth of a coaching transition: the announcement phase is the easy part. The evaluation, retention, portal work, and development phase is where you either build something real or end up patching leaks forever.
Kentucky is close to having the full team in the building.
Now they have to make the team on the field look like it belongs.