Halfway through the 2026 college football season, Kentucky’s first-year head coach Will Stein has done enough to force his way into the Coach of the Year conversation.
The Wildcats are 6-1 and sitting at No. 12 in the country after stacking up wins over Youngstown State, No. 9 Texas A&M, South Alabama, South Carolina, No.
10 LSU and Oklahoma. They’re also 4-1 in SEC play, with their lone conference loss coming against No.
12 Alabama in a game they kept tight in the first half.
That’s a sharp turn for a program that moved on from longtime coach Mark Stoops after Kentucky went 23-27 from 2022 to 2025. Stein has taken over and immediately put the Wildcats in the thick of the SEC race, with Kentucky tied atop the league standings with No.
5 Georgia and No. 11 Tennessee.
The buzz around Stein picked up again when On3 named him its midseason Coach of the Year. “Stein coaches the way you played on Saturday afternoons in the backyard when the neighborhood kids gathered to play a pickup football game,” On3’s Chris Low wrote. “He’s going for it on every play, especially two-point conversions, and breathes energy and passion into everybody around him.”
That energy has been obvious in Lexington, and Kentucky has backed it up on the field.
The road ahead is still demanding. Week 8 brings Vanderbilt, a game Kentucky should be favored to handle, but the Wildcats still have trips to No.
11 Tennessee and No. 22 Missouri, a home date with No.
20 Florida, and a rivalry matchup against Louisville left on the schedule.
If Kentucky finishes 11-1, Stein will almost certainly lock up Coach of the Year honors, and the Wildcats would also be in the College Football Playoff.
Even if they fall short of that ceiling, Stein’s first season has already changed the feel of the program. At 37, he has Kentucky humming, and the transformation has come fast.
In Other News...
Alabama Pass Rush Problem Could Follow The Tide Into Texas A&M
The pass rush has become one of the more uncomfortable storylines around Alabama after the Tide managed just one sack in each of their last two games, both losses. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has pointed to the same issue showing up again and again, with recent opponents getting the ball out quickly enough to blunt pressure before it can turn into a disruption.
Now the challenge appears to be waiting again with Texas A&M, which could bring a similar approach when it meets Alabama. If the Aggies are able to spread the ball around and keep the quarterback moving through reads fast, the Tide will need to find a way to create heat without relying on a rush that has not consistently gotten home lately. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces Growing Pressure To Stop This Slide Fast
Alabama heads into its matchup with Texas A&M carrying an unfamiliar weight after consecutive losses, the programs first back-to-back regular-season defeats since 2007. For a team used to setting the tone in the SEC, the timing could hardly be worse, especially with offensive issues starting up front and showing up in the passing game. The Tide have little margin to let the skid linger.
Texas A&M brings its own questions, but the Aggies have at least shown signs of improvement on defense, which only adds to the challenge Alabama is facing. Both teams need a response to steady their SEC standing, and for Alabama the pressure is about more than one result. It is about whether the slide gets stopped now, before it becomes something harder to shake. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Finally Has A Real Opening For AK Dear
AK Dear has spent most of the 2026 season waiting for his chance, and so far it has been a quiet one. The Alabama running back has only two carries for six yards, a number that reflects how limited his role has been since the season began, even after he arrived with the kind of recruiting buzz that made him one of the more intriguing young players on the roster.
Now the path looks a little more open. With EJ Crowell dealing with a knee injury and Alabama struggling to get much going on the ground, Dear could be in line for a bigger workload when the Crimson Tide face Texas A&M. He flashed promise in his debut season, but his usage has dipped this year, and this matchup may finally give Alabama a better look at what he can do with real touches. [Read more 🡒]