Oregon Coach Linked to Kentucky Job Opening

By Nelson Espinal

Contributing Sports Reporter

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Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein has been an early candidate for the Kentucky Wildcats' head coaching job following Mark Stoops' firing.

Stoops was at the helm of Kentucky for years, though after a brutal 41-0 loss to rivals Louisville, the program decided to move on, marking yet another SEC team parting ways with its head coach.

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Thus far, more than a third of the conference has fired their head coach or seen them move to another job, including LSU, Florida, Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and now Kentucky.

The SEC is one of the Power Four conferences, arguably the biggest in America due to the area's passion for college football, and the standards for football are high.

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The Wildcats' job opens up after a variety of coaches have already moved elsewhere, shrinking the pool of candidates a bit. Names like Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh have already moved to the SEC.

While it is still early in their search, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports that Stein, a native of Kentucky, has emerged as a popular candidate for the job.

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Stein has been the Ducks' offensive coordinator for the last three years under head coach Dan Lanning. He has led high-powered offenses that thrive on using speed and skill players, putting them in the best position to excel.

The Ducks have been known for their offense over the past decade, though Stein's accomplishments are more remarkable given that Oregon tends to hire offensive-minded head coaches.

Lanning, by contrast, comes from Georgia as a defensive mind who has delegated offensive responsibility to Stein.

Kentucky is a school focused on basketball, investing its resources into that branch, while football has always been on the back burner.

If they want to hire a coach like Stein, who has a comfortable job at Oregon, they will need to give him assurances that the football program will be a priority as well.

Stein could very well stay at Oregon and continue building his national reputation, allowing him to parlay his success into a bigger head coaching gig than the Wildcats can offer.

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