Will Stein has officially stepped into the spotlight. After three seasons dialing up the Oregon Ducks’ offense, he’s sitting right at the top of the Kentucky Wildcats’ wishlist. Stein is their preferred pick for head coach, and Kentucky’s opening holds a deeper pull for him. After all, Kentucky was once his dream school.

“Per a source, Stein is expected to call Oregon’s offense throughout the College Football Playoff. He’ll juggle both jobs until the Oregon season ends,” analyst Pete Thamel wrote on X on December 1, in a tweet responding directly to Stein’s head coaching buzz.

“Sources: Oregon OC Will Stein is the target to be the next coach at Kentucky and the sides working toward a deal. He’s a Kentucky native who has emerged as one of the country’s top offensive coordinators and play callers,” read the original tweet.

A move to Lexington would be Stein’s first shot at the big chair. The next leap in a meteoric rise for the 36-year-old Kentucky native. He cut his teeth at UTSA Roadrunners as the passing-game boss and wide receiver coach. He was then promoted to the co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in 2022.

During this stint, he helped to build one of the nation’s best offenses- No. 12 in yards, No. 15 in scoring. By the end of that year, Dan Lanning scooped him up to replace Kenny Dillingham as the Oregon Ducks’ offensive mastermind. 

Just like Dillingham, who bounced from Oregon to his hometown job at Arizona State, Stein would be making his own full-circle move back to his roots. If this happens, we can get a fair idea of the mounting pressure that awaits him. 

After 13 years, Kentucky officially moved on from Mark Stoops. The Wildcats stumbled to 5-7, missed another bowl, and dropped a key matchup to the Vanderbilt Commodores on the way down. Stoops departs with an 82-80 mark and still has the most wins in program history.

After a rough 12-24 start, Stoops turned Kentucky around, delivering eight straight bowl seasons. It included two 10-win campaigns, both crowned with Citrus Bowl victories. Known for strong recruiting in neighboring Ohio, his teams embodied the hard-nosed, defensive-minded style of their coach.

Having so much on the plate, what makes Kentucky pin their hopes on Stein? 

Stein’s magic with quarterbacks is real. In 2023, he helped Bo Nix shatter records, completing 77.4% of his passes and finishing third in Heisman voting. Since then, he’s molded Dillon Gabriel and now Dante Moore into Ducks’ offensive stars.

Oregon’s offense under Stein has been a juggernaut. Program-record 81 points in his first game, 43.7 points per game that year (FBS No. 2 behind LSU Tigers), 2024 College Football Playoff No. 1 seed, and over the last three seasons, 37.7 points per game with a nation-best 7.1 yards per play.

Stats aside, Stein’s Kentucky roots make him a natural fit.

Will Stein revisits his Louisville quarterback days and the dream of Kentucky football

One of Stein’s interviews on the Y-Option podcast has been doing the rounds. In that podcast, Stein took a down the memory lane ride from his walk-on quarterback days at Louisville.

“We actually reached out to Kentucky and their staff. My dad did, Stein revisited the old times, sharing how the Wildcats had shut the door. “Stuff was lost in translation. I wanted to go to Kentucky. That was a dream school of mine.”

Kentucky runs in Stein’s blood. His dad, Matt Stein, played defensive end for the Wildcats in the 1980s under Jerry Claiborne. He was part of the last Kentucky squad to beat the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium until 2020. Stein’s mother is a Kentucky grad, and he and his brothers grew up cruising down I‑64 to catch games in Lexington. 

Former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips and Matt Stein were college teammates. When Will Stein was in high school, his dad reached out to Phillips about a walk-on spot. Phillips says he had one; Matt said otherwise. Somewhere along the line, wires got crossed.

If his résumé didn’t already have Oregon fans sweating, his Kentucky roots now make the thought of him leaving feel inevitable. The question that now looms is, who is going to step up?

Oregon has backup plans if Will Stein bolts. One option is to promote from within, with running back coach and assistant head coach Ra’Shaad Samples wrapping up his second year in 2025. Now, can Dan Lanning sweeten the pot enough to keep Stein from chasing the dream-team? 

The Ducks faithful hope Kentucky skips Will Stein and lands on Brian Hartline or Dan Mullen.