Will Stein and the Perils of a Swollen Head

(LEXINGTON, Ky.) — Somebody needs to check Will Stein's hat size.

I'm serious. Kentucky's young football coach is 5–1, has beaten two top-10 teams, and just knocked off LSU 35–34 in overtime before a delirious Kroger Field crowd that stormed the turf like somebody had announced free chicken at midfield.

For a program that has spent much of its existence searching for the promised land, this is dangerous territory. Winning is one thing. Winning enough to make people believe you've discovered the second coming of Bear Bryant is quite another.

“There’s no way in hell I’d compare myself to him,” Stein said, when asked about similarities to Kentucky’s legendary coach.

Although that was a great answer from Stein, I’m still worried about him.

Not because he can't coach. Goodness knows he's demonstrated that he can. I worry because success can do strange things to a man's head, especially when thousands of adoring fans are chanting your praises and the entire Commonwealth is ready to anoint you with their firstborn.

I've seen what happens when Kentucky fans fall in love with a coach. We don't merely appreciate him. We canonize him, erect a statue, and name a racehorse in his honor.

Then, after a couple of disappointing Saturdays, we start looking for his immediate replacement.

Stein, to his credit, doesn't appear particularly interested in his own coronation. Following Saturday's victory, he was emotional, appreciative, and quick to acknowledge the players and people who helped make it happen.

The emotion, apparently, wasn't manufactured for the television cameras.

Linebacker Bo Barnes acknowledged afterward that Stein gets emotional with his team all the time. The players love him for it, he said, because they know how much he cares.

Imagine that. A football coach who can wear his heart on his sleeve without wearing his ego on his helmet.

Perhaps even more encouraging is that Stein's players seem to have absorbed his favorite sermon: Play the next play.

We've heard that expression so often that I'm beginning to suspect it's printed on the toilet paper at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. Every mistake, every setback, every unexpected turn of fortune gets the same response.

Next play.

It sounds wonderful until you're the poor kicker who has missed two field goals in a game against LSU.

Adam Zouagui could have crawled into a hole somewhere beneath the Power K at midfield. Instead, his teammates encouraged him to move on, the defense kept battling, and Zouagui eventually delivered the kick that sent Kentucky into overtime.

That’s the perfect example of playing the next play.

Barnes said the next-play mentality had become the team's motto. More importantly, he insisted the Wildcats needed to demonstrate it rather than merely talk about it.

Quarterback Kenny Minchey appears to have received the same message. Asked about Kentucky's 5–1 record and its two victories over top-10 opponents, he talked about trying to go 1–0 each week and enjoying the moment with his teammates.

No championship guarantees. No proclamations about destiny. Just another game, another opportunity, and another chance to celebrate with the guys who helped make it happen.

Which is admirable, although I suspect half of Big Blue Nation has already checked hotel rates in Atlanta.

And therein lies Stein's greatest challenge.

Winning football games is difficult enough. Managing expectations in a state where fans can turn a two-game winning streak into a national championship forecast requires an entirely different skill set.

The same people who were questioning the direction of the program after the second half versus Alabama are now wondering whether Kentucky can run the table.

I understand the excitement. I share it. Heck, I was ready to storm the field myself Saturday night, except I realized that jumping the three-foot fence at my age would result in at least six weeks of physical therapy.

But Stein has to resist the temptation to believe everything being said about him. The adulation will eventually subside. Adversity will return. Somebody will throw an interception, miss a tackle, or call a play that makes the entire Commonwealth question his ancestry.

That's when we'll discover whether this next-play philosophy can sustain Kentucky through the inevitable ups and downs of a long season.

For now, Stein's head appears to be fitting comfortably inside his headset.

Which is more than I can say for mine after somebody compliments one of my columns.

Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist, military veteran, and award-winning author. He currently serves as a columnist for Nolan Group Media and invites readers to follow him on social media @KYHuangs. His latest book is Whining for Posterity, available on Amazon.