Kentucky hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein as the school’s head football coach, it was announced on Monday.
“I’m honored and excited to become the next head coach at Kentucky,” Stein said in a statement released by the school. “Growing up in Kentucky and sitting in the stands at UK games as a kid, I could only dream of one day leading the Wildcats. This is truly a dream come true.”
Stein agreed to a five-year deal with the Wildcats, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Stein, 36, is a Kentucky native who has emerged as one of the country’s top offensive coordinators and playcallers after working with several notable quarterbacks at Oregon.
Stein will remain in his role as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and playcaller throughout the team’s playoff run, per a source. The Ducks finished the regular season 11-1 and were sixth in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning hired Stein in 2022 from UTSA, where he was part of the offensive staff from 2020 to 2022 as well as the co-offensive coordinator during his final season there.
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Since arriving in Eugene, Stein has helped the program to a top 10 scoring offense in two of his three years. While in the role, Stein has also coached two Heisman Trophy finalists — quarterbacks Bo Nix (2023) and Dillon Gabriel (2024).
Like his predecessor Kenny Dillingham, who left his post as Oregon’s offensive coordinator in 2023 to become Arizona State’s coach (Dillingham is from Phoenix), Stein would be going back to his roots.
Stein played quarterback at Louisville from 2009 to 2012, appearing in 25 career games. Both of Stein’s parents attended Kentucky and he grew up going to Wildcats games.
One of the allures of Stein’s quarterback background for the Kentucky brass was a match with promising redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley. He’s a local product who threw 15 touchdowns as a true freshman and has been a priority for the school to keep home.
Kentucky fired longtime coach Mark Stoops after 13 seasons Sunday. The Wildcats finished with a 5-7 record this season after going 4-8 in 2024.
“I played in the West Coast offense at Louisville,” Stein told ESPN in an interview last year. “So [his offensive system] is all a derivative of that. We play fast and free and we put a lot on the quarterback, but we give them a lot of freedom, too.”
With this move, the program is betting on Stein’s offensive acumen and history with quarterback play after plenty of recent struggles on that side of the ball.
Kentucky has failed to produce a top-50 offense since the 2021 season and has ranked no better than 100th in total offense each of the past three seasons. In 2025, the Wildcats averaged 341 yards, a mark that ranked 105th.
“It’s hard to put a label on what we do [as an offense] because we kind of do it all,” Stein said in 2024 of his approach. “That’s where college football is going.”
