5 Fun Things from Will Stein's Interview with Pardon My Take on KSR

It feels like we’ve heard from Will Stein in some form or fashion every week since he took the job at Kentucky. He’s made the rounds on all the national and local shows, but today, he chatted with the Pardon My Take crew for the very first time as the duo hosted KSR, gifting us with some fun, fresh content.

Stein is a natural in media settings, and his “just a dude” charm was on full display today with Big Cat and PFT Commenter. Not much news was broken in the 17-minute interview — aside from him teasing some changes to Kentucky’s gameday experience — but plenty of fun was had. As someone who, again, has heard a million Will Stein interviews in the past six months, here are the most entertaining parts to me.

1. PMT also “Feeds the Studs”

By now, you know “Feed the Studs” is Stein’s motto. Simply put, it means getting the ball to your best players. To the Pardon My Take crew, it means a heck of a takeout bill. Big Cat said that on Sundays during football season, they’ll order $1,000 worth of food for the staff at their Chicago headquarters, starting with 100 wings, followed by cheesesteak, pizza, Chinese food, etc. to help them get through the games.

2. They asked him about Andy’s tickle scenario

Andy, one of our favorite KSR regulars, stumped Big Cat and PFT Commenter with his favorite hypothetical: what would you do if someone broke into your house, held you down, and tickled you for five minutes? Would you call the police? Stein initially said he would, which got some grief from PMT.

“Let me just jump in and do some PR 101 for you here,” PFT Commenter said. “Can you imagine the headlines that would come out the next day after you filed that police report, ‘Kentucky head football coach held down and tickled tonight, no injuries, called the cops.'”

“Yeah, that’d be a little soft, wouldn’t it?” Stein said. “I can pivot, I can pivot. I’ll have a growth mindset right now, and I’ll fix that thought for sure. I love that. No cops being called. No cops.”

3. He’s not going to try to copy Dan Lanning

Dan Lanning is a character. Oregon’s coach took his shirt off alongside Pat McAfee during “College Gameday,” and actually takes his shirt off before every third-down period in practice. He also has a tattoo of his wife on his ribs and even gets tattoos of recruits when they commit to play for him. When asked about Lanning and his unique traditions, Stein said he loves his old boss but is looking forward to forging his own path as a head coach.

“I think it just started when it was cold outside,” Stein said of the shirtless third-down tradition. “And kind of his deal of like, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter, I’m taking my shirt off, like you guys can act cold and have your hands in your pocket. I’m not.’

“I’m not the guy that’s like, how tough can I be, and brave the weather. If it’s cold, I’m gonna put a jacket on, you know? If it’s raining, I come up and put a rain jacket on. You can call me soft, you can call me the tickle guy, whatever. But, like, yeah, I let Dan do that. I feel like if I do that, and that goes on social media, I mean, that’s like such a copycat deal.”

To be clear, we will not be calling Stein the Tickle Guy.

4. He’s not in the Super Secret SEC Coaches Group Chat — yet

When asked, Stein said he’s in the SEC football coaches group chat — but apparently, he’s not in the super secret group chat with Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, and Eli Drinkwitz. Kiffin told PMT all about that one when they were in Baton Rouge and said he’s not allowing first-year head coaches in, so Stein will have to earn a spot. Maybe after Kentucky beats LSU at Kroger Field in October? 😼

Speaking of Kiffin, Stein also does not do hot yoga after trying it with his wife when they lived in Austin.

“I felt like I was literally just going to pass out every single time I even started it, and then there were people to my left and the right doing like headstands and some crazy stuff, like, how was this possible?”

Went to take a leak in Moncrief and this was hanging above the toilet. Tom Herman's attention to detail is real 😳 pic.twitter.com/FoAMbkf56K

— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) April 11, 2017

5. He explained what “Area 51” is on Texas’ hydration charts

From 2005-07, Stein worked as a quality control assistant for Tom Herman at Texas, which became famous for its over-the-top hydration charts that went viral several years ago. When asked, he explained what “Area 51” on the chart means.

“It was like where the injured guys would go who were trying to get back on the field. They made it to where it was like complete hell going to Area 51. If you had a sprained ankle, you’d go over there and do like 1,000 bicep curls. You know, like you couldn’t even feel your arms anymore. So it was kind of the spot that would make you not want to be injured to get back on the field as fast as possible.”

Yet another reason to drink water, kids. Do it while you listen to the complete interview below.

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