Relationships are an important part of recruiting for Kentucky football coach Will Stein and his staff. However, those relationships also matter after players get to Kentucky.
“Connection is such an important part of a program. Player to player connection, where our players actually are bought in and love each other, is important,” said Stein during an appearance at the Louisville Quarterback Club. “You can do it in a whole different multitude of ways.”
He’s having meetings each Wednesday where players tell each other stories about where they are from, who in their life is important to them and more.
“That player to player connection is huge. The coach-player connection is huge. These players are bought into what we are selling them, and it’s authentic. It’s transparent. It’s not just a transactional relationship where we bring these kids in and spit them out. We’re invested in them and their future,” Stein said.
He said “coach to coach” relationships are also important. He said his coaches are “guys that all of us would want to go have beers with after work” because of who they are.
“They are the people whose wives come on our campus to bring their kids up to work and enjoy coming there. So the coach relationship is huge,” Stein said.
He also noted that groups like the Louisville Quarterback Club are important.
“We talk about a program and building a program. It takes everybody, a whole state, a whole group of men and women in one room talking about one thing, Kentucky football,” Stein said. “So I cannot be more excited to be here in front of you guys.
“We’re doing some really cool stuff right now. We’re obviously undefeated. We have not won a game or lost a game. So the buzz is real, but it’s really exciting where this program is going, and we have great men, great women in our organization.
“The players are working their ass off this spring. They really did, and they’re bought in. Recruiting is obviously the buzz right now because there’s nothing else going on in football. Everybody’s really excited.”
Kentucky’s final two seasons under coach Mark Stoops left many UK fans disillusioned about the future of the program. Stein wants to reignite the pride and passion of UK fans and said there is “no slowness to how we operate” as a program.
He has been part of 69 wins over the last six seasons and been part of two trips to the college football playoffs as well as two trips to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation where Oregon quarterbacks were finalists for the award.
However, the wins started long before that.
“My days at Trinity with (assistant) coach (Oscar) Brohm, my days at Louisville as a football player, won a lot. My days at Holy Spirit (grades 1-8). That’s just what I’ve been a part of. And I don’t really know any other way,” Stein said.
“And people ask me about, ‘Oh, what are the goals for the season?’ What the goal is is to win. If you’re not showing up to win every single Saturday, this is what I say now. You’re a loser. I don’t want anybody near me that has a mentality, or near my players, or near my coaches. You play to win the game. It’s what you do. You prepare to win. You recruit to win every single second of every single day.
“So you want to ignite a fan base. You want to get a team going, get great players, get great coaches, get people that are invested and that are fearless. That’s what it’s all about.”
Even Stein admits he doesn’t know how that will translate to his first season at Kentucky.
“If I had a crystal ball, I’d be a really rich man. I would know every result of every game. All I know is that if we prepare the right way, I think we have really good players, that it’s going to give us the most, the best possibility to win on Saturday. So I’m so fired up.”
Some Kentucky fans are already pointing to UK’s home game with Alabama on Sept. 12 as a potential signature win to start the Stein era. Stein has another idea.
“I could honestly give a damn about Alabama. I’m worried about Youngstown State (on Sept. 5). And that’s not some cliche coach talk. That is true. The first game is going to be electric, and I want our players to play really well, play really clean, and have a great Saturday on September 5,” the UK coach said.
