Will Stein calls out coaches tampering in college football: 'Follow the rule'

Will Stein can’t believe how tampering still goes on when it’s so simple to follow the rules. The new Kentucky head coach agreed with Dabo Swinney after the Clemson coach recently called out tampering head on, calling out Ole Miss’ Pete Golding.

Stein said to simply follow the rules and it really isn’t hard to do so. But tampering lives in the grey area of college football, unfortunately.

So until there are clearer rules, that are at least enforced, and calendar changes, this won’t stop per Stein. Perhaps he’s already bracing for that challenge as he takes over Kentucky.

“There’s a lot of grey, mostly grey, just to be quite frank,” Stein said on Outkick Hot Mic. “And I think you have to do your best job as a coach operating within the confines of the rules. I mean, you have to, I mean, that’s why rules are in place. But the rules get skewed. They get changed. They change almost weekly, daily, sometimes yearly. So it’s like, how do you keep up with this? 

“You have to have really smart people around you, and you have to do the right thing. It’s really simple. I got one rule, like, accountability is huge in our program, be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, doing what you’re supposed to be doing with perfect effort, like take care of that.”

Stein will maintain his rule following, and plead others to do so, but it’s hard to just say it out loud. There are still hurdles to get over moving forward.

“You can’t text or call guys. You can’t do that, so don’t do it,” Stein said. “You know, it’s not that hard. I don’t understand why it can be so difficult for coaches, and that’s the rules, and that’s what Dabo said. If that’s the rule, then follow the rule. Until they establish clear, concise rules and get the calendar fixed to where people don’t have to do this, it’s going to happen. I mean, it’s going to happen.”

Stein will be in charge of rebuilding a Kentucky program that ushered in a new era following the dismissal of Mark Stoops. Over the last three seasons, Stein was the Oregon offensive coordinator under Dan Lanning and began coaching in 2013 at Louisville, his alma mater, as a GA.

Stein played quarterback for the Cardinals from 2008-12. His best season came in 2011 when he completed 52-of-84 passes for 620 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.