One thing I think that is overlooked is that for Will Stein this is his dream job. He's all in. I'm not saying those other guys aren't, but he wants UK to win in football like us fans do. It's different when your Dad played at the school, you grew up a die hard fan and then you get the head coach job. It certainly can't hurt.
Kinda how I feel about Pete Golding. He and his wife met in Cleveland, MS when Pete was at Delta State, and she’s an Ole Miss alum and current faculty member. That means a bit more than being a true mercenary
I think I remember reading about schools trying to hire head coaches that are alumni for that exact reason. Besides the added connection and drive, just knowing they'll be there beyond just one or two successful seasons (which is the entire reason you're hiring them, to get to that point) helps give the program so much more stability. So many non blue blood schools hire a good coach and after he gets poached they're in limbo again, have to start all over and often they have to go through a few coaches to get back on track. If he's a good coach and you know he'll be there for years, you can actually build a program up to another level because of the stability.
He played there, but he grew up going to UK games with his Dad who played for UK in the early 80's and was a season ticket holder. So even though he grew up in the city of Louisville and played there he was a die hard UK fan.
So you would be incorrect. He's talked about this many times.
Also, Kentucky and Louisville are a different kind of rivalry. I grew up in between Lexington and Louisville and it always seemed like there was way less bad blood between those schools than many other rivals. Kentucky fans despise Tennessee and Florida. Kentucky fans can say nice things about Louisville especially with the difference in conference.
its literally just a side grade of a job though. Its not like hes a diehard mich state fan who played at michigan where theres a clear upgrade. kentucky v louisville is the same job
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u/OleRockTheGoodAg Texas A&M Aggies 6d ago edited 6d ago
Everyone was talking about Lane, Sumrall or Golesh over the off-season when the best hire was Will Stein.
Guy is damn gutsy and damn good at it.