\u201cReally sharp guy. I love the idea of Kentucky going after Will Stein,\u201d Pate said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great hire. I have no idea if it will work out. I do love the concept of it, though. And the concept is, stop trying to find a sure thing. Stop trying to find a guy that\u2019s already an established winner as a head coach, because they aren\u2019t really out there, and if they are out there, respectfully, it\u2019s Kentucky, and you\u2019re probably not landing them. You\u2019ve got to go land the next guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pate was able to sit in on Oregon\u2019s meetings as recently as last month alongside his wife, fellow college football pundit Savannah. While watching the Ducks\u2019 coaching staff prepare for USC, Savannah asked her husband about Stein and noted that he gave off head coach energy. Pate was struck by how Stein\u2019s players responded to him throughout the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow prepared does the room feel, is always what I compare, because I go to a lot of these places,\u201d Pate said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what you know if you can\u2019t put it in their heads, and if what\u2019s in their heads doesn\u2019t come out on the field. You can be the smartest football savant known to man, but it doesn\u2019t matter. Will Stein\u2019s really good at knowing the game, calling the game, coaching the game, but then his players executing the game at a high level.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lock in for a pivotal Kentucky Football offseason KSR Plus! We\u2019re giving you behind-the-scenes intel you won\u2019t find anywhere else. Join the most vibrant online community in the BBN for the exciting start of the Will Stein Era.<\/a><\/p>\n Kentucky struggled to develop quarterbacks under Mark Stoops, so this next part about Stein will really get you excited about the possibilities with Cutter Boley<\/a> and, eventually, Matt Ponatoski<\/a>. At Oregon, Stein developed Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel into Heisman finalists; current Duck signal caller Dante Moore isn\u2019t too shabby either.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other thing that stands out about Will Stein\u2019s offense and being in his meeting rooms is how readily those quarterbacks could finish his sentences for him,\u201d Pate said. \u201cThey just know the system, so he knows it, and what he knows is in them, so it\u2019s not a guarantee of anything. I\u2019m just giving you an observation. Dude is really sharp offensively, and his team plays accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Boley has yet to announce his plans now that Stein is in charge, but you could see the excitement on his face (and Mitch Barnhart\u2019s) during Kentucky\u2019s team meeting last night.<\/p>\n Of course, it won\u2019t be easy. Pate noted the challenges that Kentucky always faces when it comes to recruiting and playing in the SEC; however, he gives the Cats credit for going after Stein when they could have punted (and saved $37.5 million) with another year of Mark Stoops. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll come down to the same things for him at Kentucky,\u201d Pate said. \u201cYou\u2019re probably not going to swing shot for shot with the Georgias or Alabamas or Texases. Can you place a premium on evaluation and on development, sort of what [Mike] Elko did at Duke? Not to apples-to-apples compare the programs, but that\u2019ll matter a lot here.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at least they took a swing. I respect Kentucky for taking the swing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Will](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/G7NHPESXYAAAiMZ-1024x683.jpeg\")
Will Stein addresses the Kentucky Football team during a meeting on Dec. 2, 2025 \u2013 UK Athletics<\/p>\n![\"Mitch](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-03-at-11.43.31\u202fAM-1024x632.png\")
Mitch Barnhart, Cutter Boley, and Kentucky\u2019s players react to Will Stein in his first team meeting as head coach \u2013 UK Athletics<\/p>\n