Winning is really fun, as Will Stein quickly reminded everyone following Kentucky Football’s 45-13 victory over Youngstown State. After eight months of grueling preparation, the Wildcats head coach finally got to watch his team reap the benefits of their hard work under the sweltering Lexington sun.
But for Stein, the postgame press conference wasn’t about rattling off box scores. It was about setting the standard, honoring the heart of his program, and getting things rolling in the direction they
should be.
Stein’s evaluation of his quarterback, Kenny Minchey, offered a fascinating window into his coaching philosophy. Rather than just praising the four-touchdown performance, Stein pointed out the growing pains of a signal-caller trying a bit too hard to feed his playmakers in his first college start. He noted that Minchey briefly fell into a trap of trying to force the ball down the field just to get specific guys a touch, specifically DJ Miller.
“That’s not how you play quarterback,” Stein explained. “How you play quarterback is you take the easy money. You take what they give you. I thought the majority of the game he managed extremely well. I think for his first start I was very pleased with his performance.”
Michey would finish with 18 completions, 301 yards, and 4 touchdowns.
That same candid evaluation applied to the offense’s tempo. Will Stein’s teams thrive on dictating the pace, and Stein admitted he was actively frustrated by a late first-half possession where the team lazily broke the huddle.
“There is still a possession later in the first half where I feel like we broke the huddle slow, back to the huddle. That’s where it pisses me off as a coach. Like you have to play at a certain standard every single snap. Regardless of circumstances. I don’t care if it’s hot; I don’t care if it’s freezing cold or raining. Sleeting, snowing, you need to get your butt back to the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage ASAP so we can dictate the pace…That’s why we practice three days a week in the afternoons during fall camp and not in the mornings where it is convenient.”
When the offense was clicking, it was often thanks to a youth movement that clearly has Stein buzzing. True freshmen receivers Kenny Darby and Prince Jean both found the end zone, earning high praise from their head coach.
Beyond the X’s and O’s, the afternoon carried profound emotional weight. Stein’s father served as the honorary captain, a moment Stein said he will cherish forever. Even heavier was the tribute to Nic Smith, a stark reminder of life’s fragility.
“I saw his dad before the game walking into the stadium, which was just a reminder about how precious life is,” Stein shared. “We are going to leave his seat open, we are going to leave his locker there for him, and we are going to have a patch on our helmet for him.”
With Alabama looming next on the schedule, it would be easy for a coach to immediately bury his head in game film. Instead, Stein provided the most relatable, uniquely unpolished moment of the day when asked about his Saturday night plans.
“I will pick at Bama later. I’m going to go have a cold beer and expletive…”* Stein caught himself mid-sentence with a laugh. “Excuse my French, I was going to say F-ing hang out with my family, sorry. Apologies, sorry Big Blue Nation. They probably liked that.”
They definitely liked what they saw Saturday.
