Fewer than 24 hours after firing 13-year head coach Mark Stoops, Kentucky reportedly named his replacement Dec. 1.
Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, a Louisville alum, will be taking the reins in Lexington as a first-time head coach, per a report from ESPN. He will take over a 5-7 Wildcats team that just lost 41-0 to Stein’s alma mater, as he attempts to right the ship.
Stoops was the all-time winningest coach at Kentucky, racking up 82 wins. He barely finished his career there above .500, going 82-80 in that span. Kentucky missed bowl games in consecutive years for the first time in 10 seasons, exacerbating the urgency to show Stoops the door.
The timing of firing Stoops was puzzling, with Jon Sumrall accepting the Florida job earlier on Nov. 30. Sumrall, who played at Kentucky, was a popular name being tied to the job as an alum. But the subsequent timing of Stein’s hiring indicates he was a priority target for Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart and the Kentucky brass.
The seeds for Stein to Kentucky have been cultivated for over a year.
Now, Stein will have an opportunity to prove he can thrive in SEC football as well, as he looks to do what Clark Lea has done at Vanderbilt and help one of the more difficult jobs in the conference turn things around.