Will Stein's message to the BBN will resonate with the most passionate Kentucky fans

Will Stein's appearance at SEC Media Days yielded a ton more quotable lines and reasons for the Big Blue Nation to get behind him ahead of his first season at Kroger Field. If you could summarize it all in a nutshell, it'd be Stein's response to why Kentucky can succeed: "Because of me." 'Nuff said, I say.

But Stein dropped a sneaky line beyond the podium while he was rocking his Kentucky pin in Florida. Speaking to Kentucky native Damien Harris (per Tyler Thompson), Stein sent a simple message to Cats fans ahead of kickoff this fall. In short, he's as crazy as the rest of us.

"I do consider myself as psychotic as Big Blue Nation because I am one of them," said Stein, going on to elaborate even further. "I was the kid that would cry after games when we didn't win, or rush the field when we did... excited to put a product on the field that they're proud of."

Stein has made sure, time and time again, to let the BBN know that he's got them in mind. It may seem like he's overdoing it to some, but Stein's dedication to this fanbase means so much more when you look back and remember Mark Stoops' relationship with those in the stands.

Looking Back at a Tumultuous Past

You could circle any one of Coach Stoops' standoffish press conferences regarding recruiting or a tough stretch, but his infamous "pony up" line, when it came to the program's financial flexibility, just about says it all.

In one cycle, we've gone from a coach essentially telling fans to pay up themselves if they want to see a better product to a guy who, before so much as coaching one game in Lexington, as taken the full brunt of Kentucky's hoped-for success onto his own shoulders.

Whether Stein will find that success is, again, yet to be seen; his first year will bring a particular challenge, with a roster that he had less time than most to build pitted against a grueling, nine-game conference schedule. The hill is a steep one to climb from the get-go, no doubt.

But Stein knew that when he took this job, and much like the crazed Kentucky Football fans who have loudly demanded better results for years in spite of that uphill climb, Stein won't use either history or money as an excuse from here on out.

Whatever we end up with at Kroger Field in the coming years, it will be a direct product of a system built in entirely the opposite fashion to the one that the BBN is used to. That alone should inspire a ton of folks to keep the faith a while longer, even when things get hard in the SEC.

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