Feed the Studs: Explaining Will Stein's simple but effective offensive philosophy

Kentucky’s new head football coach has been a college football offensive coordinator for four years. Each season at UTSA and Oregon, Will Stein has a top-25 offense that has finished ranked inside top-20 in points per drive every season. How has he done it? With a very simple philosophy.

Feed the studs.

Like any play caller, Stein has core tenets to his offense. They are not much different than everyone else. At UTSA and Oregon, the former Louisville (Ky.) Trinity quarterback runs a multiple offense with spread elements that wants to establish the run first, chase completions in the short passing game, take explosive plays swings, and mix tempos in an effort to control the pace.

This is not groundbreaking stuff on offense. Neither is the biggest element but it is easier said than done. Football can be a complicated game but individual players can tilt games. For that to happen, they need touches. Will Stein’s entire offense is about getting his best players the ball as many times as possible.

“Get your best players the ball as many times as possible. We say “Feed the Studs”. That’s our way to say it. It’s not rocket science,” Stein said at a coaching convention a few years ago. “Coach said it earlier — plays are highly overrated. I’m gonna talk spacing, they’re great plays, but they’re overrated. If we got trash players they don’t look as good. We have really good players at UTSA. So get your players the ball as many times as you can.”

Stein explains how his offense goes about that in the video above. His playbook is one that is formation-driven to help create matchups for his best players in space. The scheme is built to be adaptable to maximize the personnel available on the roster. This is an offense that will value gadget plays and any other ways to allow the best skill talent players to change the game. It could also be in trenches by making sure you are using a very good puller at offensive guard as much as possible if you have a very good puller. It could also mean getting run-heavy if you need to be run-heavy. It could mean playing your best wideout in slot to create matchups against linebackers and safeties. There has been heavy tight end utilization this year at Oregon. Stein has also utilized motions, shifts, and bunch formations to help create free easy access releases for wideouts if they struggle to beat press coverage.

Kentucky’s newest head coach will be the program’s first play-calling head coach in a very long time. He will be bringing a system that is very familiar to college football, but its simplicity is also its biggest strength. UK will not try to be complicated. They will be aggressive and create ways to get the best players the football on game day.

Everything will be done to help create advantages after the ball is snapped. This is a game for players that is won by players. Kentucky’s new offensive philosophy will be all about unlocking those players by using pre-snap design and movement to create post-snap advantages.