What Will Stein Still Needs to Learn About His Kentucky Football Team

Even though SEC Media Days is the unofficial start to football season in the South, Kentucky football fans must still wait 47 days to see Will Stein‘s team in action. The first-year head coach can’t wait. “Very excited. Very excited,” he repeated during his first interview in Tampa. “It seems like just the other day I was coaching in the Peach Bowl, but it also seems like forever. It’s kind of a weird dynamic mentally for me, but I’m excited for these guys to go get their opportunity. “I’m excited for this coaching staff. So excited for Big Blue Nation. I’m excited to run out of the tunnel with the fight song. It’s going to be really cool and unique. There’s still a lot of work to be done. We still got 47 days till we kick off, but it’s going to come here before we know it, and that’s really exciting.” In case you couldn’t tell, Will Stein is excited for Kentucky football. Cast all of those exciteds to the side for a moment. The actual work that happens between now and Sept. 5 is what’s most important. Fall camp will set the tone for what will happen on Saturdays this fall. Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content. Evaluating Personnel Creates a Depth Chart and a Scheme So what work is actually happening? During spring practice, Stein shuffled the deck, organizing the teams into a blue team and a white team, forcing players to get acquainted with a different cast of characters. Those are being cast to the side for fall camp. The projected group of starters, particularly on the offensive line, must cultivate chemistry. The month of preseason practice will be used to determine the pecking order on the depth chart. That’s not the only reason why the coaches need to get better acquainted with the Wildcats. “We’re continuing to evaluate our scheme and what is going to fit this personnel? I think that’s an ongoing battle for every coach in the country. You have this plan in place. We want to do these things offensively, defensively, on special teams, but this happened, or it doesn’t fit like we wanted it to in fall camp,” said Stein. “You have to be very adaptable as a coach and be able to change on the fly, and that is the most important thing for me, going forward, is I want to play clean. I want to not beat ourselves before we even try to win a game.” Will Stein has a playbook. What they use in that playbook will be determined once he learns his team’s greatest strengths. The Kentucky Identity Will Stein set the tone for what he wants his program to be during spring practice. He will beat those DNA traits into his team’s head until he’s blue in the face. Those aren’t going anywhere. However, there can’t be too many constants when you’re rebuilding a program. “I really want to see a team grow from Practice 1 in fall camp to Practice 13, from Week 1 to Week 12. That to me is the biggest sign of a program that is consistent, on the rise, doing the right things. It’s truly a team that gets better every single week.”