Kentucky Spring Practice 101: Early Lessons Learned About Will Stein's Cats

The blooming flowers of spring are a natural symbol of rebirth. That’s what Kentucky football is currently experiencing under Will Stein. It’s our first opportunity to see how the program will operate after 13 years under Mark Stoops. Despite all of Stoops’ early success, things grew stale. We’re learning this spring what life can be like for Kentucky football under different, youthful leadership. While you were locked in on March Madness, here are a few things we’ve gathered from Kentucky Spring Practice.

Fast-Paced Practice

Will Stein’s offense is not known as one that relies exclusively on tempo, but he will roll out GAS, which stands for “Get your Ass Set.” That tempo is not exclusive to the offense.

During previous Kentucky football practices, players got three breaks. This spring? Zero.

“It’s non-stop. Boom! Boom! Boom! The whole practice, no breaks,” said returning linebacker Grant Godfrey. “We didn’t do a lot of contact last year, maybe due to injuries. I don’t know what the deal was, but this year it’s a lot more physical.”

Competition and Energy in Mixed Groups

Will Stein is not the first coach to say, “We don’t have a depth chart.” Even if you don’t have a depth chart, you’ve got a general sense of who’s a starter and who isn’t. Stein mixes up the players with a Blue and White team. Quarterback Kenny Minchey is the only player with a truly defined role, and the starting QB isn’t thinking about who he’s practicing with or against.

“I don’t know if you played last year. I don’t know if you started at your old school, so I’m really just going out, getting the call, trying to see what the defense is in, and just trying to execute. I’m not really worried who I’m going up against or the O-line in front of me,” said the Kentucky quarterback. “Everyone you know is fighting for a position.”

In the middle of a fast-paced practice, the only time when things slow down is right before team periods. That’s when outside observers, like Andre Woodson, who rolled up to practice on Tuesday, can see the difference in energy and competition in practice.

“I feel like there’s a lot more competition,” said Godfrey. “Right before every team drill, we play a theme song and everybody gets hyped. There’s a pep talk and it’s really physical out there.”

Andre Woodson is back home 🏠😼 pic.twitter.com/XYkXqhFXgG

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) March 24, 2026

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A Kentucky WR Stands Out

Shortly after Will Stein was hired, Big Blue Nation quickly discovered his mantra, “Feed the Studs.” The goal of his offense is to efficiently get playmakers the ball and let them create. The next question that followed was, does Kentucky have enough studs to feed?

The Wildcats brought in some transfer portal playmakers, but not guys you’d see at the top of the rankings. While many fans were focused on the new guys, we glossed over an important returner, DJ Miller. Defensive players have described the sophomore as a “monster,” while LSU transfer Nic Anderson noted his growth and maturity.

“Coming in, I heard that he was a little bit more nonchalant, but he’s really stepped into a leadership role alongside with me, and he’s been a real important voice in that room,” said Anderson. “Obviously, a bigger body, very physical, goes up and gets the ball, attacks it, and that’s something we need in this offense for sure.”

Lots of Talented Recruits on Campus

Longtime members of KSBoard have noticed a night-and-day difference in recruiting. Steve Wiltfong appears almost daily with updates about some of the top players in the country. I can’t say it with 100% certainty, but it feels like there’s at least one four-star player at every practice. If you’re a Top 5 quarterback in the class, you’ve probably spent some time in Lexington.

The next big name up is Keegan Croucher, a long-time Ole Miss QB commit. Jalaythan Mayfield, the eighth-ranked linebacker in the country, will also be on campus this weekend. The buzz of a new coach can be felt on the recruiting trail.

Kentucky Utilizing Technology

As you might expect, Will Stein is bringing plenty of lessons learned from Oregon to Lexington. He’s also bringing a ton of new technology. Quarterbacks wear GoPros on their helmets to study film from a first-person perspective. The new Monarc jugs machine allows wide receivers to work on route-running without a quarterback.

New coaches typically bring a new strength and conditioning philosophy. That’s certainly the case at Kentucky. Flexibility is a point of emphasis, with weekly yoga during winter workouts, and speed. They say you can’t coach speed, but Kentucky has a speed coach. Joe Powell, whose mentor worked with the 2012 Kentucky National Championship team, is the Cats’ director of speed development.

“My goals in this role are multifaceted,” Powell explains in the video below. “What’s speed? It’s stride-length and stride-frequency. For stride-length, how much power and how much force can we put into the ground? And then frequency, how many times can we do that, and how fast can we do that?”

Watching Kentucky Throw the Football Vertically is Fun

There is still much to learn about this Kentucky football team. We don’t know who will fill out the offensive line, but we know they’re moving quickly together, in sync. While there are more returners on defense, we still don’t exactly know what Jay Bateman’s scheme will look like. What we do know is that Kenny Minchey doesn’t see much drop-off at all from his pass-catchers, and it’s making life for the defense hard.

“The offense is already looking crazy out there,” said Godfrey. “That’s the best offense I’ve seen.”

And boy, is it fun to watch them let it fly.

That QB and receiver connection 🧬@kenny_minchey ➡️ @CoffmanBrock pic.twitter.com/DAkb92f9yU

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) March 25, 2026