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Lexington, KY – 9-23-26 – On December 3rd, at his introductory press conference, Will Stein raised a few eyebrows with some quotes that not many have heard a coach utter at the University of Kentucky when it comes to football. “There’s no reason why we can’t be successful here, zero. The excuses are done. It’s time to get to work.” “I didn’t come here to win five years down the road, 10 years down the road. Do it now.” “I didn’t come here to be average. I didn’t come here to be mediocre, I came here to win. And to win championships.”
When Will Stein made it clear that he didn’t come here to wait around for success, he said he came here to win, and he meant right now. At the time, it was easy to write that off as coach speak. Opposing fans scoffed at it, and even a lot of the Kentucky faithful maybe brushed it off as just a young, hungry coach trying to energize a fanbase and sell a new era of Kentucky football.
Not Will Stein. He believed it.
Last week, Kentucky went toe-to-toe with Alabama for 42 minutes before the game eventually got away from them and turned into a 28-point loss. Afterward, player after player talked about the same thing: they felt like they had let a real opportunity slip away. Still, that didn’t stop plenty of people from writing Kentucky off. It didn’t stop fans from wondering whether the talk about winning immediately was a little too ambitious, either.
Then came Saturday. Kentucky entered the game as a 17-point underdog against No. 9 Texas A&M, heading into the largest stadium in the SEC against a Heisman-contending quarterback and a team many believed could contend for a national championship…but something around the program felt different in the days leading up to it.
It was quiet.
There wasn’t a lot of hype coming out of practice. Players and coaches weren’t making big declarations. In fact, there wasn’t much noise at all. And maybe that was the point.
Why?
Will Stein and the Cats just went to work to “be the eye of the storm.” And Kentucky did just that.
“We have fielded a team I believe that can go out there and compete, you know, immediately.”
Kentucky didn’t sneak out of College Station with a lucky win. For the majority of the game, the Wildcats dominated the No. 9 team in the country on its home field. It led national pundits to describe Kentucky’s play as so dominant that they have only seen that level from 3-4 teams in the SEC over the last several years, period.
Maybe Winning Now Isn’t a Pipe Dream
“We are not going to back down to anybody.”
Will Stein has got a little Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Curt Cignetti in him. A defiant attitude that he is going to win, and it’s an infectious belief that has spread like a hurricane across the locker room.
How can you tell that the locker room has changed and bought into this mentality? CJ Baxter was one of the top running backs in the nation coming out of high school. He transferred to Kentucky from Texas after a setback due to injury. His postgame comments said a LOT about where Will Stein has this team.
This win changes the conversation around Kentucky this season. There are games coming, and coming quickly, that if Kentucky continues winning, could lead to conversations Big Blue Nation probably wasn’t expecting to be having this early in the Will Stein era.
Just yesterday, Todd McShay said he thinks Kentucky is a dark horse playoff contender THIS SEASON.
How Far Can This Go?
Of course, there are still a lot of games yet to be played, and staying healthy for this team is very important. One thing that has some fans wondering how high this team can actually go is the person this article is all about: Will Stein.
His confidence and defiant attitude that this team is going to win, and win now, has the locker room believing. The BBN has been through a lot when it comes to the football program, and you can’t blame many of them for still being pessimistic. Stein understands this. He’s one of us. He’s been a UK fan since he was a little kid and has seen the heartbreaks along the way. That’s also why it’s so important to him to win here and win now.
Can this team go on a run and have a special season? That’s still to be seen. It’s one game. But this game showed us something. Will Stein is here. He’s here to win now.
If Stein has his way, this is just the tip of the iceberg for the 2026 season.
