Kentucky Spring Game will return on April 18

Cleats will hit the grass next month outside of the Joe Craft Football Training Facility when Will Stein‘s first spring practice begins in Lexington. We now have an end date for those 15 practices. A spring game is returning to Kroger Field.

The Big Blue Nation can now clear their calendars. Kentucky will host a spring game on Saturday, April 18.

SAVE THE DATE 🗓️🏈 pic.twitter.com/YC6WMOK0I9
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) February 16, 2026

“You know the best way to get better at football is? Play football,” Stein said at his introductory press conference in December. “This isn’t like basketball. You can’t just go play five-on-five hoops out in the backyard. You got to put the pads on, you got to hit, you got to tackle. That’s how you get better. That’s how you become tough to win games on the road in the SEC, you got to play football, and that’s what we’ll do through spring. It’ll be a tough camp. Fall will be a tough camp.

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“But what is that going to make us? Gonna make us tough on Saturdays. It’s gonna make us tough to beat. Excited about getting through strength and conditioning this winter, setting up a great plan for these guys to get bigger, faster, stronger, getting ingrained our offense, defense, and special teams, and then moving to spring football.”

That shift to spring practice will occur soon as the 2026 Kentucky football team shifts away from spring practice and puts pads on for the first time as a team. The fans will then get an early look at Will Stein’s first squad in April despite there being stadium renovations currently ongoing at Kroger Field.

2025 Kentucky football schedule

Date	Opponent	Venue
Sept. 5	Youngstown State	Kroger Field
Sept. 12	Alabama	Kroger Field
Sept. 19	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field
Sept. 26	South Alabama	Kroger Field
Oct. 3	at South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium
Oct. 10	LSU	Kroger Field
Oct. 17	at Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Oct. 24	Vanderbilt	Kroger Field
Nov. 7	at Tennessee	Neyland Stadium
Nov. 14	Florida	Kroger Field
Nov. 21	at Missouri	Faurot Field
Nov. 28	Louisville	Kroger Field