'I grew up a die-hard Cats fan': Will Stein is one of us despite playing at Louisville

Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein has emerged as a name to know in Kentucky’s search for a next head football coach. However, this is a former Louisville quarterback. How would that fit for everyone involved?

This is a unique case.

Will’s father, Matt Stein, played defensive end at Kentucky in the 1980s under Jerry Claiborne. The older Stein was on the last Kentucky team to beat Tennessee at Neyland Stadium until the Cats ended that long losing streak in 2020. His mother also graduated from the University of Kentucky. Stein and his brothers grew up making the drive down I-64 and going to games in Lexington.

“I grew up a die-hard Cats fan, actually. My dad played there, so I went to every game at Commonwealth Stadium. I grew up in really SEC football,” Will Stein told On3’s Andy Staples prior to the 2024 season.

During his playing career, Will Stein became a starting quarterback for Louisville during the 2011 season. Entering a Week 3 contest against Kentucky, Stein was going to get to play at a stadium he grew up playing. That was a special moment both for him and his dad.

“So this is definitely special to me, going back to Commonwealth (Stadium). I spent a lot of games there,” Will Stein told the Lexington Herald-Leader back in 2011. “I still know I was in section 128, row 13.”

Family of Louisville QB bleeds Blue — most of the time (Lexington Herald-Leader)

Matt Stein was even still attending Kentucky games while his son played at Louisville. The family maintained their season tickets even while Stein was playing for Louisville. The Steins had a life-size poster of basketball star DeMarcus Cousins hanging up inside their house. So why didn’t the All-State quarterback who threw for 3,697 yards and a Trinity record 54 touchdowns as a senior not go to Kentucky?

Well, that depends who you ask.

Former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips and Matt Stein played with each other at Kentucky. When Will Stein was a high school player, his father reached out to his former teammate to see if his son could get a walk-on spot in Lexington. Phillips claim he had one. Stein disagrees. This was a situation that seemed to get lost in translation.

But just over 15 years later, Will Stein could return to the program he grew up cheering for. If Mitch Barnhart decides to hire the Oregon offensive coordinator, Stein will get to run out of the tunnel at Kroger Field with a Kentucky logo across his chest for the first time.

“When I walk into Commonwealth, it’s really going to hit me,” Matt Stein said back in 2010. “And when I see him out on the field, it’s just going to hit me — be pretty special, I think.”