'We win the relationships': New Kentucky HC Will Stein explains recruiting approach

Will Stein is the new head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. He's replacing Mark Stoops, who had been in charge of the program since 2013 but cobbled together only nine wins over the past two seasons.

That wasn't good enough, even at Kentucky (a basketball school), so the Wildcats ousted Stoops despite his longevity with the program and hired Stein, who had been Dan Lanning's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the Oregon Ducks for the past few seasons.

Stein now has the unenviable task of trying to turn the Wildcats around in a stacked SEC. He does believe, though, that athletic director Mitch Barnhart has a plan to make Kentucky competitive in the NIL and transfer-portal era, and that's why he agreed to be the head coach.

With that said, Stein, like many coaches, believes that even with the way things are going, it's not just about money on the recruiting trail.

Will Stein believes he can build something with Kentucky Wildcats 

The Ducks have more money than most programs, considering their relationship with Nike's Phil Knight, but even Oregon didn't make it all about money.

“Let me say this. I worked at a place [where] everybody thinks Phil Knight, Nike, these guys got the most money. Yeah, there’s money there. Don’t get me wrong. But we beat recruits because we win the relationships. That’s where it starts," Stein said in his introductory news conference at Kentucky (h/t On3). "Guys still want to get recruited old school. You’ve still got to know mom, grandma, aunt, coach. You’ve got to be completely entrenched in these people’s lives. And when you can do that, you don’t always have to be the highest bidder."

To be clear, Kentucky will absolutely have to put resources into at least being competitive in the NIL space for football. The Indiana Hoosiers and Texas Tech Red Raiders are good examples of programs that put money into bringing in talent through the transfer portal to jump-start a turnaround. There's no reason Kentucky can't follow that model.

Like most good recruiters, though, Stein believes football and character make the most sense. Although it may feel like it, recruiting, whether it's for high school players or potential transfer options, is still not a transaction.

“If the first conversation is about money, probably not the place for you – not because of lack of it. We have plenty of that here. Plenty. I talked to about 10,000 people last night (at) the basketball game, all very, very willing and supportive of the program. So I know we have that. But that can’t be the first thing to talk about. I want guys that love football and want to compete every single day to be the best version of themselves and win," Stein said.