Mitch Barnhart believes Will Stein is the 'risk taker' that Kentucky football needs

A new era of Kentucky football is officially underway. Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart just pulled off one of the fastest coaching searches in recent memory. The quick search ended with Will Stein returning home.

The Oregon offensive coordinator grew up going to Kentucky games at Commonwealth Stadium, has posted three consecutive top-10 offenses in Eugene, and understands the quarterback position. All of those stood out as factors to Barnhart.

In an interview with Maggie Davis and Keith Farmer on “BBN Tonight” ahead of Kentucky’s basketball game at Rupp Arena against North Carolina, Barnhart was interviewed about his latest hire for the first time. The long-time administrator pointed out the connections that he had at the Oregon athletic department and how important he believes it is in modern college football to score points.

But the biggest selling point might have been something else. It sounds like Mitch Barnhart wants to see a more aggressive version of Kentucky football.

“The last piece I thought that was unique — maybe to Will — and that undoubtedly he call himself a risk taker. And I sort of like that because I’m certainly in that same zone. What I mean by that is he tends to bet on himself,” Barnhart explained. “He’s a guy that if you look at his resume, actually jumped out of college football and got into high school football so he could learn how to be a signal caller. That tells me you’re pretty confident in who you are. You bet on yourself.”

I’m not sure many in Big Blue Nation would classify Mitch Barnhart as a risk taker, but he is an administrator that tends to trust his gut. That has led to him making some assertive hires and perhaps keeping coaches longer than expected. In some cases (Nick Mingione) that has worked. In others, it hasn’t. But it seems crystal clear that Barnhart thinks Kentucky needs a more aggressive style of football to move forward in this new era.

“I think you’ve gotta be willing to take some risks. There’s an old adage that says coaches that play it conservative can win. Sometimes they just can’t win enough,” Barnhart said. “Risk takers tend to have a chance to win it all. Now you can lose a lot, but you can also win it all.”

“I think he has the calculated risk factor in his DNA that I think we need if we’re gonna take a step forward.”

Kentucky is coming off an era where they played a conservative brand of football under Mark Stoops. That likely won’t be the case moving forward. Whether it’s rolling the dice on fourth down, utilizing more trick plays, doing fakes on special teams, or just sending more pressure on defense, the leader of UK’s athletic department wants to see the football program let it ride on the field.

The plan is for Will Stein to bring the aggressive sauce that the Wildcats need to move forward in college football’s new era.