Former Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, who pocketed $28.5 million after signing as the head coach for the Wildcats, has finally come clean about Curt Cignetti. After back-to-back losses, Stein claimed that Cignetti’s championship-winning squad did not take shape by accident. It was built through grit, precision, and an unflinching focus on proven production over raw potential.

“It does come down to players and the coaches and the scheme, and you look at Indiana—what they’re able to do in an older roster,” Kentucky head coach Will Stein said on the Andy&Ari On3 podcast. “They were coached as good as any team I’ve ever gone against, and they had elite players. Their quarterbacks gonna be the first pick in the draft, so let’s not confuse it.

“They have elite players and an elite scheme, and their coach is extremely well, that’s what everybody’s striving for; that was the top of the spear this year, and I was a part of two games where they whip my a–, just to be frank, and they play better than everybody that they played against.”

Will Stein is not wrong to talk about Indiana’s dominance, which led them to lose to Indiana twice in the 2025 season. The most heartbreaking one was their semifinal loss, and their offensive struggles added to it. Oregon’s offense imploded from the opening snap, starting with a pick-six by Dante Moore. The collapse continued as two first-half fumbles and constant pressure from Indiana’s defense led to three sacks, effectively handing the Hoosiers short fields and insurmountable momentum.

Then came the worst part: Indiana’s defense sacked Moore three times and was constantly putting pressure on him. Their offense did put up more than 300 yards, but turnovers became their ultimate enemy. On top of that, they just scored 7 points in the first half because of that issue.

Even their running game was ineffective. The Hoosiers held the Ducks to nine rushing yards on 17 carries at halftime. The ineffective running game wasn’t entirely the offense’s fault, as their star running back, Noah Whittington, who led Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was out with an unknown injury, and even Jordan Davison was out because of a collarbone injury. And backup RBs Jay Harris and Dierre Hill Jr. couldn’t do much for Moore.

The same was the situation in their first clash. Oregon’s offense scored just one touchdown and settled for three field goal attempts, including a missed 35-yarder. With those inconsistencies, they only produced 64 yards in the second half. Turnovers were the issue in this game, too, as two of them added up in the loss. It clearly showed Will Stein’s offensive schemes’ major failure against top opponents.

Dante Moore looked uncomfortable throughout the game. Indiana’s defense constantly put pressure on him, sacking him six times. The result? He just completed 21 of 34 passes for 186 yards, with one TD and two fourth-quarter interceptions. So, now you know why Will Stein feels Indiana whipped him. Their running back Dierre Hill struggled, too, with three carries for minus-3 yards.

Ducks fans will be hoping Stein doesn’t let those issues pop up with his new team as he feels the burden of coaching firsthand. These on-field defeats, driven by a talent gap, highlight the very roster-building pressures Stein is now facing as a head coach in the transfer portal era.

Ex-Oregon coach gets real about the tampering issue

Now that Will Stein is diving headfirst into head coaching responsibilities, his first transfer portal hit him hard after losing around 20 players. Speaking about the issues with the new free agency era, Stein gets real on tampering and the growing influence of players’ agents on them.

“There’s a lot of gray, mostly gray, just to be quite frank,” Stein said. “And I think you have to do your best job as a coach, operating within the confines of the rules. I mean, you have to. That’s why rules are in place, but the rules get skewed. They get changed. They change almost weekly, daily, sometimes yearly. So how do you keep up with this? You have to have really smart people around you, and you have to do the right thing.”

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For Will Stein, agents play a major role in shaping the minds of young players, often eyeing them before they make a pivotal move. Then the team gets involved, a move exemplified by Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding contacting Clemson’s LB Luke Ferrelli. But for Stein, it’s the wrong move.

“It’s like the hidden rules of baseball. You know what to do, what not to do,” Stein said.

While some coaches avoid agents altogether, some use them to get a strong grip on the portal. So, until a strict rule comes into play, like Dabo Swinney is urging, things might turn for the worse.