Kentucky's offensive identity under Will Stein in 2026
· Yahoo Sports
The Kentucky Wildcats are bringing in a new era of football in 2026. We have all become accustomed to what a Kentucky team looks like, as we found the formula for success that Mark Stoops used over his 13 year run with the program. Kentucky has essentially flipped that in the opposite direction with head coach Will Stein. The 36-year-old offensive guru is going to try to win football games on the offense rather than on the defensive side.
Old: Ball Control Ground & Pound
Kentucky lacked an offensive identity in multiple seasons of the previous regime, struggling to move the football consistently, especially through the air. Over Stoops 13 seasons at Kentucky, the Wildcats had six different offensive coordinators and only a couple of them found success, most notably current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. The common theme of Kentucky's offense was centered around controlling the clock, moving the ball slowly down the field by an inside run game with a tough offensive line. This worked beautifully under the late great offensive line coach John Schlarman.
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After Coach Schlarman's unfortunate passing, the offensive line never got back to the "Big Blue Wall" moniker that was created. Coach Coen helped bring in modern passing concepts that you will see under Coach Stein. Even then, the passing game always was the thorn in the side that held back Kentucky during this era. Often times, Kentucky's offensive spent the whole season searching for an offensive identity, but that will no longer be the case.
New: "Feed the Studs"
This is a mantra that Coach Stein lives by, and the easiest way to categorize his offense. We saw a glimpse of this in 2021 under Liam Coen, as he made sure Wan'Dale Robinson got touches on the ball as Robinson was top five among power four wide receivers in total targets. Similarly, Coach Stein will always find ways to create an offense around his best players, which is the ideology of "feed the studs". However, Coach Stein's offense is much more complex than just that saying as he constantly stresses the defense with nuanced things that can make a tremendous impact.
Those nuanced things are little things that Kentucky just hasn't put an emphasis on under the last regime, besides the stint under Coach Coen. These are things like utilizing motions, shifts, stacks, bunches and different personnel groupings to create an advantage before the ball is snapped. The Oregon Ducks had one of the highest percentages of 12 and 21 personnel in college football last season. Two tight ends on the field in 12 personnel and two running backs on the field in 21 personnel, and with the depth chart at both those position groups I would not be surprised to see that again this season for the Wildcats.
Most college football teams live in 11 personnel with three wide receivers on the field. The emphasis on personnel groupings like 12 and 21 can create edges for the Wildcats' offense in 2026. Coach Stein also pairs those with different formations out of the shotgun, pistol and under center. When you combine that with complex eye candy of shifts, motions, stacks and bunches, it can really create chaos for an opposing defense.
Coach Stein has complex run schemes, focusing on outside zone, counter and duo runs which all attack different gaps in the run game. He uses perimeter screens as extensions of the run game, creating high percentage opportunities for the quarterback to give the playmakers the ball in space with blockers out in front. He then marries the two with RPOs (run, pass options) that allow the ball to get out on the perimeter quickly or become a handoff. The emphasis on the quick game is an advantage of the new offensive identity.
Once the offense finds success doing these things is when Coach Stein throws curve balls at a defense. After lulling them to sleep with a lot of quick game is when the offense will take shots down the field. In another term, this is when they put their foot on the gas. This is when Coach Stein runs an ultra high tempo offense, similar to teams like the Tennessee Volunteers and Ole Miss, to switch the tempo and attack a defense aggressively on a particular drive.
Kentucky no longer has to worry about the lack of an offensive identity. The new look Wildcats will have that day one from Coach Stein and his offensive staff. A dynamic blend of complex formations, eye candy, quick game, RPOs, deep shots and GAS tempo. Kentucky will have a much different approach offensively under the new regime.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky's offensive identity under Will Stein in 2026