Will Stein Believes in his Recruiting Pitch, isn't going to Beg Guys to Play for UK

College football fans are currently consumed with updates from spring practice and the recruiting trail. A few months into his tenure, Will Stein is juggling both as the Wildcats bring talented prospects to watch Kentucky spring practice.

Kentucky has picked up a handful of early commitments in the 2027 class, but the Wildcats’ head coach still hasn’t been able to use his best recruiting pitch yet.

“I do like where we’re at currently with that class. We’ve had some elite players come through here, and not just quarterback-wise, but all positions. Now, it’s our job to close,” Stein said after Saturday’s spring scrimmage.

“It’s hard because there’s not anything going on in college football, besides recruiting right now, and spring ball, obviously. So there’s always buzz. The best way I’ve recruited is on Saturdays and showing a great product on the field. So you’re not going to win or lose recruiting right now, but it does build momentum towards the future.”

The Kentucky head coach noted that they have a star-studded group of visitors on campus this weekend. It includes quarterback Andre Adams. I recently placed an RPM pick for the Wildcat to land the top-15 passer in the 2027 recruiting class. Kenny Minchey shared his pitch for prospective passers.

“You feel like you’re in control, and whenever you receive the coaching points that they’re trying to coach you, and whenever you kind of get on the same wavelength as the coaches, you see it from their point of view, from their lens, and there’s a lot of answers,” said Minchey.

“They allow us to, whether that be us making checks as a line of scrimmage, whether that be built into the play call, it’s a lot of, not free roaming, but it’s a lot of access or different like avenues you can take in order to get us in the right play in order to keep the ball moving.”

[KSR+ Kentucky has a Blockbuster Recruiting Weekend Lined Up]

Will Stein is confident in Kentucky’s recruiting pitch. There’s one thing that won’t be a part of it.

“One thing I’m not going to do is beg and plead. I’m not going to get on my hands and knees and say, ‘Please come to Kentucky.’ No, they better want to be here. They better want to play for the blue and the white. They better want to play in Kroger Field. We have a great product. We have every resource that we need right now to go field an elite ’27 class,” said Stein.

“We’re building the relationships and why wouldn’t you want to play in this offense? Why wouldn’t you want to play for me and for Joe Sloan? I mean, you’re talking about guys that have taken guys to New York (for the Heisman Trophy ceremony) recently, not 25 years ago, right now. I’ve had a league quarterback play, and guys have translated to great play in the National Football League. These players know that, who are coming on campus, and I feel like we are in a really strong position with a handful of guys.”