Will Stein has spent his first four games at Kentucky showing the kind of sideline control plenty of coaches preach but don’t always practice. The Wildcats’ coach has kept his cool when things have gone sideways, avoiding the kind of outbursts that can turn a rough series into a full-blown meltdown.
He has not gone after officials, ripped into players after mistakes or unloaded on assistant coaches when a play breaks down. That restraint fits the way Stein’s father, Matt Stein, described him on WPBK-FM.
“He doesn’t overreact to mistakes. He has been in those situations on the field in big-time games,” said Matt Stein, Will’s father, on WPBK-FM.
“He knows what it is about as a player. He gets how you have to move on to the next play.
You take it and do what you can with it and make the play the next time.”
It’s a simple idea, but one that can separate a steady team from one that spirals. Stein expects a lot, and he’s not shy about speaking his mind, but he also understands that football has a way of punishing coaches who let one bad call or one bad snap hijack the next series.
He said his time working for Jeff Traylor at UTSA and Dan Lanning at Oregon reinforced that lesson.
“Playing or working for Jeff Traylor and Dan Lanning really stressed the importance of one-play focus, not getting emotional, not taking things personal, and focusing truly on the very next play,” Stein said Tuesday.
That mindset will matter again Saturday when Kentucky visits South Carolina. The series has turned heated at times, and the Gamecocks are riding a four-game winning streak over UK. Stein, though, isn’t interested in leaning on history or leaning into the temperature around the matchup.
“I think it’s just an SEC football game. They’re all big games.
I told my guys this is. This is the closest thing to the NFL.
It really is. It’s any given Saturday you can beat anybody, and anybody can beat you,” Stein said.
“So if you don’t have that type of edge in practice, don’t expect that edge just to show up miraculously in the games.
“We have to continue to practice at a rate that to me is winning football. Today we had a really good practice.
We have an opportunity to go to Columbia, South Carolina, and play a really good opponent on the road. I think that’s what gets us motivated, not necessarily bad blood or any past rivalries.”
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