'None of that crap is happening': Will Stein will not stop fundraising while college sports continues to look for congressional help

College sports leaders are still looking to legislation for help to enforce rules. Kentucky head football coach Will Stein is doubtful this will arrive just like many others.

The Protect College Sports Act was a new bill introduced after the SCORE Act failed to pass. This bipartisan legislation will give college sports antitrust exemption while also providing an opportunity for conferences to pool media rights. The SEC and Big Ten are very much against this. No one can get on the same page. With midterm elections quickly approaching, there seems to be a good chance that this latest move will result in a nothingburger. That means one thing.

“The price of a roster is only going up,” said Stein.

During a speaking engagement at the Lexington Rotary Club on Thursday, Will Stein provided a state of the union on his program and previewed the upcoming football season. During the Q&A session, Stein addressed what is going on in Congress with college athletics and why continued financial support from the community is still needed for Kentucky football to be successful.

“None of that crap is happening…it sounds like a good idea, but I’m in the mindset I’m going to keep pushing the way it is until they literally tell me it’s not happening,” Stein said about the latest bill movement. “It’s got to pass the Senate, then the House, and all this stuff, and it’s a bunch of people making decisions about how football should be played that don’t even play football, and I don’t even know if they’ve ever played football. That’s what’s scary to me.”

So everyone continues to play the waiting game. While playing the waiting game, football programs have to start planning for the future. That means building a bankroll for next year’s roster outside of the rev-share figure that the school will pay. Teams must circumvent the cap. Stein stated that a $25 million roster was a lot two years ago but next year there will be $40 million rosters. The Kentucky head coach believes that $35 million will be needed to field a team that can complete for a conference crown. The 36-year-old is going to continue to wear his fundraising hat to get the Wildcats to that level.

“Next year is not going down. It’s just going to keep going up until they truly stop or manage the salary cap and NIL. Which to me, the only way to do that is to make them employees. That’s it,” Stein said. “Or else it can keep going up. So we have to keep pushing. If y’all want more people at your businesses, invest in Kentucky football. Call the K Fund, tell them I’m going to give money, and I want to go directly to Kentucky football. That’s how you do it.”

Will Stein is one of many both inside and outside of college sports who believe that making players employees — which would include collective bargaining — is the best path forward. However, college leaders have committed to figuring out another solution. While that long process in D.C. is still ongoing, Kentucky and everyone else must keep doing what they have been doing since NIL arrived. That means raising money to build a roster that can win football games. The Wildcats cannot do that without the Big Blue Nation. Stein believes that everyone will win if there is investment in his program.

“Continue to support, continue to show up. Because when we play well on Saturdays, guess what? Y’all are going to get the rewards of that too because everybody’s going to come to Commonwealth or Kroger Field. They’re all going to pack it out, then they’re going to go to your businesses and eat and dine and drink and have fun afterwards,” Stein said.” And more people are going to want to come to Lexington and live because the football team is good. That’s a fact.”

Kentucky’s head football coach will continue to push so that the Wildcats can build a roster that can win SEC football games and compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.