Kentucky’s Will Stein Adds His Own Spin on Dan Lanning’s Influence to Announce Big Change to Spring Practice

Kentucky’s first spring practice has already undergone a change. And it has some Oregon twist in it under first-year head coach Will Stein. Spring ball opened last week with practices leading up to the April 18 spring game at Kroger Field. And the change is that instead of the usual “ones” and “twos,” the Wildcats are set to face something much less predictable. 

“We don’t have a depth chart,” Will Stein told reporters at Kentucky spring practice. “We have a blue and a white squad that’s intertwined. There’s not a ones, twos, threes at all. So that’s really, to me, the big part of development. Everybody says, you want to be developed. Well, how do you do it? Like, don’t have a depth chart.”

The main goal is development. And it works because having a definite guaranteed spot can make anyone complacent. But if that job is up for grabs, everyone’s going to work hard for it. 

“The last thing I want is week six of the season, and we got to have a new person at a position that’s never done it before,” he explained. “So, we intermix the groups. We intermix people at different positions… you want to have a position flexed within your team, and that’s why we do it.”

Will Stein says during spring practice his program doesn’t have a depth chart. pic.twitter.com/T31ktUxtdA

— Cats Coverage (@Cats_Coverage) March 18, 2026

That means QBs like Kenny Minchey won’t always have a clean pocket or a starting O-line in front of them. It means young WRs will get reps regardless of where they stood on day one. It means OLs like Cutter Leftwich will cycle through combinations. But if you look closer, there’s a clear influence here from his time at Oregon under Dan Lanning, where competition was enforced weekly.

Back in October 2025, Dan Lanning made headlines when he elevated former walk-on QB Brock Thomas to the No. 2 spot over scholarship players. The reason was because production beat pedigree.

“We don’t care about your status, the stars,” Lanning said at the time. “You earn reps throughout what you do in practice.”

That’s the mindset Will Stein is adapting at Kentucky now but it’s not just a blunt copy of the Ducks’ style. 

“It is similar to what I experienced with Dan, but put my own spin on it where I see fit based on player workload, based on depth,” he said. “There’s still a lot of moving parts, but I do like to think we practice differently than maybe years past.”

Will Stein is testing players early by stressing the system now instead of waiting for September. And he’s doing it with a roster that has over 30 new faces trying to find their place. But there’s one thing the head coach wants Kentucky to be remembered by.

Will Stein wants Kentucky to play with an edge

Will Stein knows what drives the best out of a player and he’s not being vague about it.

“Playing with an edge, playing with a confidence that resembles me,” he said. “I was never the biggest player but I always play with an edge and chip on my shoulder and that’s what I want our players to embody is a spirit of me but also play smart tough dependable football.”

This locker room still includes 53 returning players who came up under a completely different system. Now the challenge will be about blending personalities.

Take Ty Bryant, last year’s lone All-SEC performer who’s a given on defense. But who joins him? Can Tavion Gadson take over the voice in the trenches? Can Willie Rodriguez evolve from promising underclassman to a dependable target and leader for Kenny Minchey? Like Will Stein said, those answers won’t come from a depth chart. They’ll come from daily hustle. 

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