Will Stein is making one thing clear ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Alabama: he wants Kroger Field to be deafening.
Kentucky’s new head coach used Tuesday’s press conference to set the tone for the Wildcats’ first SEC home game of the season, and he wasn’t subtle about the ask. Stein said he wants Big Blue Nation to turn the stadium into the kind of environment that makes life miserable for the Crimson Tide from the moment they arrive.
“We’re excited,” Stein said at Tuesday’s press conference. “This is our first SEC game at home here in Kroger Field.
Really excited about Big Blue Nation. We have to make this the loudest game in the history of Kentucky football.
That’s my goal for our fans, the loudest it has ever been, and we need them to be at their best.”
For Stein, the noise needs to start before kickoff. He wants fans in their seats early, creating chaos during Alabama’s warmups and building the volume long before the opening whistle.
“I want people in the stands for pregame. Let’s have 65,000 watching us warm up. I love to tailgate too, but get in there and be loud, make it disruptive for them as they get here, and then for sure, when the ball is kicked, everybody in their seats, cheering as loud as they humanly can.”
Kentucky introduced a new game-day entrance against Youngstown State, with Stein leading the team from the training center to the stadium, entourage in tow, including a man carrying a boombox on his shoulder. Stein said the biggest benefit of the setup wasn’t the pageantry itself, but the logistics behind it. The new routine lets the team return to its own locker room after warmups instead of being squeezed into a room at the stadium.
“It’s really not that important to me,” Stein said of the entrance. “The most important thing to me was going back to our locker room instead of sitting right over here.
That was the big thing for me. And then we tried to create something just to get our guys going, but the big thing was going back to our locker room so we could reset, we could be in our own space and not be crammed in a room like this.”
Stein avoided making Saturday sound bigger than any other game, and he wasn’t about to hand Alabama any bulletin-board material. Still, his message to the fan base left little doubt about what he’s expecting.
“I want people’s voices hoarse when they leave here, alright? They’ve got to take off work on Monday because they can’t talk; that’s how loud I want this place to be.”
Challenge accepted. Be early.
Be loud. Wear either blue or white, depending on the section you’re in.
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The early part of Will Steins first season at Kentucky is about to meet the kind of barometer fans circle on the calendar. Alabama comes to Lexington in Week 2 as a 10.5-point favorite, with traders giving the Crimson Tide a 78% chance to win and the over/under sitting at 49.5 points, a number that suggests the matchup could still have plenty of movement if Kentucky can make it uncomfortable.
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