If you listen closely to Will Stein talk about the game of football, he sounds exactly like a hard-nosed coach from the 1950s, and it is awesome.
Change is always a shock to the system, and the returning veterans on the Kentucky football roster are currently getting a massive wake-up call.
During the opening stretch of spring practice, a few of the Mark Stoops holdovers let it slip that they were used to taking far more breaks during these offseason sessions.
Will Stein is absolutely not here for any of it. He is making it very clear that the days of casual offseason workouts are permanently over in Lexington.
No breaks in the Bluegrass
When asked about the lack of downtime during his practices, Stein seemed genuinely confused as to why anyone would even need a break in spring football.
"I have never experienced breaks in spring practice," Stein told the media, citing his playing days and his Texas high school football coaching roots. He noted that while watermelons, hydration tents, and halftime simulations are more of a fall thing, they don't have a place in spring.
And he wants as many people on the field as possible.
Everyone practices all the time
Instead of sitting on the bench, Stein uses eight-minute offensive and defensive walk-throughs in the middle of practice to actively teach while the players catch their breath.
"There's always work to be done. I'm not going to sit back and take a seat like we're here to work. Like, we're here to play," Stein bluntly stated. "I'm trying to put a product on the field that the Kentucky faithful is proud in, not a country club environment. This is tough. Football's hard. So like, learn what that means and go attack it."
Sounds like the question even got him a little riled up. This ain't no Mark Stoops country club anymore.
It's all about embracing the chaos.
Stealing reps and embracing the chaos
That anti-country club philosophy extends directly to the actual practice structure. Stein is completely throwing out the traditional schedule of stretching, running individual drills, and then scrimmaging.
Instead, he is doing everything he can to make everything as fast-paced and chaotic as possible. He drops special teams drills into random spots in the middle of practice to simulate sudden changes of possession. He has players always rotating who they practice with.
Instead of running a traditional drill where 22 players get better while the rest of the roster watches, Stein utilizes "two-spot" drills so that 44 players are getting physical reps. If a team period ends and there are a few extra minutes, he immediately rolls right into a 7-on-7 drill rather than waiting for it later in the schedule.
Stein said he is all about "stealing reps."
But he isn't going to make any mamas sit outside in the elements.
A calculated soft spot for the recruiting mamas
Stein might be running a military-style boot camp on the gridiron, but he still understands exactly how to play the SEC recruiting game.
Despite the intense, no-breaks philosophy, Stein did actually make one major concession this weekend. He originally planned to hold the chaotic practice outside, but ultimately decided to move the entire operation into the indoor facility for a very specific reason.
"We had some recruits here. I want to make sure their moms were warm, so we went inside," Stein joked.
Lexington is no longer a place where you can come in and give a little bit of effort here and there. It is a place where you will either compete or you will watch your playing time disappear. That harsh reality should excite every single player on the roster.
It sounds like this is the exact kind of spring practice that Kentucky hasn't seen in over a decade, and it was sorely needed.
If Kentucky football looks this different in the spring, imagine how different they will look in the fall.