Will Stein never needed to rehearse this moment. Not when he grew up sitting in Section 128. Not when he stood on the stadium grass as a kid. And not when the dream he never quite dared to say out loud came rushing toward him in a 48 hour blur.
“I am honored is an understatement,” Stein began his introductory press conference, stopping himself as he glanced toward his wife Darby and their two young children. “I really do not know what to say. I thought today was a dream. I thought yesterday was a dream. It has just been an unbelievable last 24 to 48 hours. It is something that a coach can only dream of. To get his first head coaching job. And to do it at the University of Kentucky. It really is truly a dream.”
Stein reminded everyone that this connection is not manufactured, it is personal.
“I have been coming to this place literally since I was born,” he said. “I remember old Commonwealth Stadium. I remember the grass field. I remember the Bluegrass Miracle. I remember when Tebow got knocked out. I remember watching Randall Cobb. Tim Couch. Jacob Tamme. I remember all of it.”
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Then came the turn. The moment when nostalgia became purpose.
“The vision is simple. It is to win,” Stein said. “I did not come here to be average. I did not come here to be mediocre. I came here to win and win championships. Not five years down the road. Not ten years down the road. Do it now.”
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He did not soften the message.
“Success is not free. Rent is due every damn day we are here. We are going to recruit every day. We have to sign great players. It is a players game. I look like a much better coach when I am coaching great players.”
His style will be familiar to anyone who watched Oregon overwhelm defenses.
“Our plan is to light up the scoreboard,” Stein said. “Why not. We are going to take risks. On defense we are going to play relentless from point A to point B. Special teams we are going to change the game.”
And the moment he made the Y at Rupp Arena sealed it.
“I actually blacked out,” Stein admitted. “I know I did a lot of fist pumping and yelling.”
Then he landed the message that Big Blue Nation has been waiting to hear.
“The excuses are done. It is time to get to work. I came here to win.”