A new era of Kentucky football is bringing a new rhythm to the week, and Will Stein is wasting no time changing the routine in Lexington.
For years, Mondays were the launch point for game prep under Mark Stoops. They came with the weekly press conference, injury updates and an updated depth chart, then later in the day the Mark Stoops Show with Tom Leach, where Stoops would take fan calls and clear out anything left from his earlier media session.
That’s not how it works anymore.
Starting this week, and continuing through 2026, Kentucky’s Mondays are completely clear. No press conference.
No call-in show. Stein’s first weekly media availability will come on Tuesday at 12 p.m.
ET, when he previews Youngstown State as the Wildcats open preparation for the Penguins.
The schedule keeps moving from there. Player interviews are set for Wednesday morning, followed by Stein’s first appearance in the SEC Head Coaches’ Teleconference in the early afternoon.
Later that night, he’ll wrap up the day with the first UK Healthcare Will Stein Show of the season, live with Tom Leach at 6 p.m. ET on the UK Sports Network’s radio affiliates.
Another notable shift: Kentucky is done making coordinators and position coaches available to the media. Those interviews used to happen during the week and after games, but Stein and the program have decided to go with player-only access going into 2026.
The changes make one thing clear: fall in Lexington is going to look different. Kentucky opens the season Saturday against Youngstown State at Kroger Field, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
ET on SEC Network+. It will be a White Out for fans in attendance.
The first year of the Stein era starts there, with the hope that the new setup leads to better football and a return to bowl eligibility.
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For Kentucky, the interest is obvious because Mitchell would fit the kind of frontcourt help the program always has to monitor closely. The wrinkle is that his next step is tied to a broader eligibility question, leaving the situation in a holding pattern for now and giving the Wildcats another thread to follow as they keep piecing together their roster picture. [Read more 🡒]
