Will Stein is Shaking Up the Kentucky Football Game Day Experience

It’s a new era of Kentucky football. With each changing of the guard, the new head coach adds his own spin to how the team operates, particularly on game days.

When Hal Mumme arrived, the air raid siren blared across Commonwealth Stadium. Guy Morriss rode a motorcycle into the stadium. When Mark Stoops hired Neal Brown, the air raid siren returned. Now, Will Stein is ready to put his own spin on the Kentucky football game day experience.

“I’m in the mix of working through with our marketing team. How do we get this thing rocking? So, I got a couple ideas for a walkout song,” he told the Pardon My Take duo on KSR. “For third down, I’m thinking like the Purge Siren. It’s kinda creepy, something different.”

For the last 10 years, the cue for fans to get on their feet was a toot from a coal whistle. Kash Daniel helped introduce the concept back in 2016, and it’s generally been embraced. It’s not so different than the eerie sound effect from The Purge movie franchise.

Stein also suggested a new walkout song. If you recall, fans were frustrated when Grove Street Party did not play during Stoops’ final season opener. The Waka Flocka song became the unofficial anthem of the Stoops era during his first signature win, a comeback at home against South Carolina back in 2014. Even though it was beloved by BBN, I think most fans would happily turn the page to something new in the Stein era.

There’s no guarantee what’s next for Big Blue Nation on Kentucky football game days in Lexington, except that the head coach has spent plenty of time thinking about it. It’s Will Stein’s first head coaching job at his father’s alma mater. No small detail is being overlooked. He shared his thoughts after the spring game about changing up Kentucky’s entrance, and had to pull back slightly this morning on Kentucky Sports Radio.

“Whenever people ask me that, I just kind of word vomit what I’m thinking. And then our marketing team is probably right now just going crazy, like pissed off that I’m putting all this stuff out there.”

A Kentucky Football Entertainment District Feels Inevitable

Champions Blue LLC. began exploring an entertainment district outside of Kroger Field long before Mitch Barnhart announced his retirement. His successor, J Batt, has experience creating similar venues at his previous stops. While some are skeptical that something like this could work, Batt shared his thinking behind it.

“Extending game-day experience is really important. Extending the time that our fans are here in Lexington is really, really important,” Batt shared with the media on Monday. “I can’t wait to get to work, I can’t wait to look at what’s been done, and it’s really exciting.”

There’s been a significant change in leadership around the Kentucky football program, and it’s clear the new guys want to improve the game-day experience for Big Blue Nation.