Will Stein has coordinator hires 'picked out' for first Kentucky staff

Kentucky’s head coach search is over but the search word is not ready to retire yet over at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. New program leader Will Stein now has to fill a staff. That has to get locked in this month before the transfer portal opens in January. The ball must get rolling now. UK’s new head coach has a plan.

Reports have surfaced that UTSA offensive coordinator Justin Burke and Oregon director of recruiting Pat Biondo will be joining Stein’s first staff. However, some other moves need to be made. Will Burke be the offensive coordinator in Lexington? Who will Stein tab to be his first defensive coordinator? That is something we will find out soon. The new college football calendar made signing day a difficult situation for new coaches this year but things will quiet down in December before free agency arrives in January. That’s when you will see the new Kentucky football staff get built.

“It’s a little bit different, the calendar now because signing day is today. So we’re finishing up the class, and then it goes dead. In the old days, you would have about three weeks of truly on the road recruiting. Visits on the weekend. So we don’t have to go warp speed to hire the first guys available,” Stein told “BBN Tonight”. “I have my coordinators really picked out. Not hired or are announced yet. We’re still in that process. But starting there and then building out the rest of the position coaches and our support staff as we go throughout the rest of December.”

Who could those coordinators be? Odds are high that we will find out quickly. Burke played with Stein at Louisville, worked together is support staff roles at Louisville and Texas, and spent three years together at UTSA. Burke replaced Stein as the offensive coordinator for the Roadrunners in 2023 after Stein left for Oregon. There is a long working relationship there. Could other previous relationships determine who fills out defensive coordinator and the rest of the coaching staff? That is certainly possible but Stein is committed to hiring the best man possible for both coordinator gigs.

“I’m going to lose friends in this because there’s a lot of really good coaches out there. A lot of them, but it’s about getting the right fit — the right fit for Kentucky,” Stein told KSR on Thursday. “The right fit for these players, and not necessarily the guys that I might know or I’ve worked with before. So that’s the No. 1 priority for me.”

Kentucky’s new head coach says he’s not going to rush into hires but he has an archetype in place for both offense and defense. The new coordinator hires are perhaps the biggest additions to the program that Stein will make but the 36-year-old remains confident that he will get the right guys to fill these critical roles in Lexington.

“We’re going to create great culture for our guys. We’re going to hire an elite staff. Have some of the best coordinators in the country. They’re going to follow along,” said Stein. “Those won’t be announced just yet, but trust me, everybody want to work with Will Stein, and everybody wants to work at the University of Kentucky.”