For 13 years, Kentucky football operated under a specific blueprint set by Mark Stoops. But new coach Will Stein is tearing up that tradition. No wonder those changes are already being felt on the recruiting trail.

On February 16, recruiting connoisseur Hayes Fawcett hopped onto his X handle and delivered the massive, discouraging news for year 1 HC Will Stein.

“BREAKING: Class of 2027 QB DJ Hunter has Decommitted from Kentucky. The 6’2 200 QB from Buford, GA had been committed to the Wildcats since April 2025,” Hayes wrote.

The main reason for this split seems to be the coaching change. Hunter originally committed back when Mark Stoops was running the show. However, once Stein took over, things just felt different.

The Buford High QB mentioned that he’s been thinking about this move for a while and feels like it’s finally the right time to reset and see what else is out there. Even though losing a QB is never fun, Coach Stein and his offensive coordinator, Joe Sloan, aren’t sitting around feeling sorry for themselves. The Wildcats are now starting to prioritize five-star phenom Elijah Haven.

When you look at his time in Oregon, you see that Stein always loved high-flying, aggressive offense. He has done wonders with QBs like Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel (Ducks version), and Dante Moore. Needless to say, he’s hunting for a quarterback who can really air it out. If they get their hands on 6’5, the No. 1 QB from the class of 2027, Elijah Haven, we’d have Oregon Ducks 2.0 in Lexington. It’s anything but easy, as he’s already got the final four.

As for Hunter, he isn’t going to be uncommitted for long. He’s already got a list of schools like Florida State, West Virginia, and Maryland circling his recruitment. He’s even planning a trip to visit South Florida this spring to see if it’s a good fit.

At the end of the day, this is just part of the “new look” Kentucky football era. Fans can expect plenty of QB recruits visiting Lexington in the coming months. Will Stein’s new era at Kentucky is bringing sweeping changes. It’s not just on the recruiting trail, where he just lost a key commit. But it’s also in the program’s financial structure, breaking from a 13-year tradition.

Will Stein dismantles Mark Stoops’ traditional approach

Former Wildcats HC Mark Stoops spent 13 years at Kentucky. It’s no surprise that he made loads of money. He also ensured that his top assistants were well compensated. Recently, Jon Hale explained how Will Stein plans to handle the staff budget now that he’s in charge. It’s clear the approach will look different.

Under Stoops, the big money usually went to a few key guys like the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and, at one point, Vince Marrow. He believed in paying top dollar to a smaller group of main assistants. That method worked for him, and plenty of programs around the country use that same structure.

Notably, Stoops prioritized giving larger salaries to a few top coordinators. On the other hand, Stein distributes the budget more evenly across a larger number of assistants. The base salary pool for assistants under Stein appears lower at $6.2 million compared to Stoops’ $7.4 million. Stein’s approach of paying more assistants higher salaries brings his total staff investment to $7.8 million. It ultimately exceeded the previous budget.

Ultimately, the shift isn’t about total spending. It’s a philosophical change from rewarding a few top assistants to investing more broadly across the entire staff.