Kentucky makes decision on its new head coach

The Kentucky Wildcats have moved quickly to hire a new head coach.

Kentucky is hiring Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein as its new head coach, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. An agreement is in the process of being finalized.

Stein, 36, has plenty of ties to the state of Kentucky, though they are generally to the Wildcats’ rivals. He was a quarterback for Louisville from 2008-12, and started his coaching career with the Cardinals as well. He has also been a quarterbacks coach for Texas and has been at Oregon since 2023.

This will be Stein’s first head coaching job at any level.

Kentucky moved very quickly to land Stein just one day after firing Mark Stoops. There were rumors that the Wildcats might be pursuing another big-name head coach, but those turned out to be false.

After several competitive seasons in the SEC, the bottom fell out on the Wildcats over the last two years. Kentucky went 10-3 in 2021, but have posted four straight losing records in SEC play since then. The Wildcats are coming off a 5-7 campaign in 2025.