A new era begins in Lexington on Saturday, when coach Will Stein leads Kentucky for the first time as the Wildcats host Youngstown State.
Stein, who guided Oregon’s potent attack as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past three seasons, replaced Mark Stoops, whom Kentucky fired after a 5-7 record in 2025. He gets his first chance to lead a team at the school where his father played during the 1980s. The 2026 roster features 62 new players.
Among the newcomers is quarterback Kenny Minchey, who transferred to Kentucky after playing sparingly at Notre Dame over the past three seasons. Stein understands Minchey may feel nervous before his first career start, but Minchey has shown in practice that he can perform.
“What he needs to do is just go out there and just take the easy money and run the show, run the offense. We don’t need him to go be Michael Jordan or LeBron James or freaking Tom Brady,” Stein said.
On the other side of the ball, Stein and his staff are working to tighten up a defense that ranked fourth-worst in the 16-team Southeastern Conference in points allowed (26.4 per game) last season. The Wildcats gave up 30 or more six times.
While Kentucky’s season starts Saturday, the Penguins (1-0), ranked No. 7 in this week’s Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll, defeated visiting Mercyhurst 43-10 in their opener last Thursday. Quarterback Beau Brungard, who won the Walter Payton Award last season as the top offensive player in FCS, completed 20 of 29 passes for 232 yards and rushed for 119 yards on 21 carries. He threw for three touchdowns and added two on the ground.
The Wildcats are 22-0 against FCS schools since 1998, beating those opponents by 29 points per game. Last season, Youngstown State lost 41-24 at Michigan State.
Doug Phillips, the Penguins’ seventh-year coach, said that while his team has to be prepared for a team with size on the lines, his players also need to focus on execution.
“I want to make sure we’re not putting the ball on the ground, and we’re not giving the ball back and putting our defense in a bad position,” Phillips said.