Will Stein Showed Dan Lanning's Influence in his Intro Press Conference

In the furor of Kentucky’s 24-hour coaching search, I overlooked something critical, something that ultimately may be what makes Will Stein a success at Kentucky. To steal a line from Shaq, “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game.”

The focus of BBN’s initial research was all about Stein’s quick ascension up the coaching ladder and his offensive identity, feed the studs. It’s exciting to see those outstanding offensive numbers and his quarterbacks in Heisman Trophy ceremonies. The part we overlooked was who he worked for at Oregon, Dan Lanning.

Dan Lanning is the college football version of Dan Campbell, and it’s not just because they share the same first name. Yes, the latter is an offensive guy, while the former built his brand on outstanding defenses at Georgia. But what makes them similar is how they use a meathead approach to disarm the masses. Lanning ripped his shirt off on College Gameday. Campbell said he wanted his players to bite kneecaps. They Coach O vibes, yet they’re incredibly intelligent.

For example, in 2024, Oregon led by only one point with seconds remaining in the game against Ohio State. Lanning intentionally put 12 men on the field. He was willing to sacrifice five yards in order to prevent a big play from the Buckeyes and shave a handful of seconds off the clock. During the offseason, college football officials made a rule change to close the loophole.

I digress; back to the original point.

Stein is Instilling Toughness as a Top Priority

Big Blue Nation has been infatuated with offense, but Stein made it clear to fans, and more importantly, his players, that he is not just an offensive wunderkind who wants to dial up plays. Toughness is the most important quality he must instill in this Kentucky football team. It starts with the quarterback, and it trickles down to everyone.

“My goal is to make it the hardest off-season we’ve ever had here. The hardest,” said Stein. “It has to be. If we want to beat the people that we want to beat, I’m not just talking about people down the road; I’m talking about the real people we got to beat. It takes freaking work. It’s a grind. If you don’t want to wake up in the morning, you got to wake up. You got to show up and show out. That’s what I’m excited about to get with this group, to see them strain, to see their toughness, their desire to get better. I’m ready to do it with them.”

That rhetoric was common throughout his introductory press conference. Stein was asked about a spring game, and it was a complete philosophical 180 from the last regime. Kentucky is going to play a football game, because if they want to get better, they gotta play football.

“You got to put the pads on, you got to hit, you got to tackle. That’s how you get better,” said Stein. “That’s how you become tough. It’s how you win games on the road in the SEC. You got to play football, and that’s what we’ll do through spring. It’ll be a tough camp. Fall will be a tough camp. But what is that going to make us? Gonna make us tough on Saturday. It’s gonna make us tough to beat.”

Will Stein is going to inject offense into the Kentucky football program, but he will not do it by sacrificing toughness in the toughest league in college football.

For the lack of a better term, Will Stein has some shit to him. That’s the Dan Lanning effect.