Last season, Indiana won the National Championship in one of the most dramatic program turnarounds college football has ever seen. For context, Indiana’s football program is the losingest in college football history. Just three seasons ago, in 2023, the Hoosiers finished 3-9 overall and 1-8 in conference play. Fast forward to last season, and they were sitting at the pinnacle of the college football world.
The SEC has had its share of struggling programs in recent years. Let’s take a look at who I believe could become the next “Indiana” out of the SEC.
I know a lot of fans have mixed feelings about this team, but I think Kentucky is on the verge of a major breakthrough.
For starters, Kentucky has rarely been the bottom of the SEC. They always seem to find a way to put together a respectable season and have pulled off several memorable upsets in recent years. The passion for football is still there among the fan base and throughout the community.
When it comes to resources, however, much of Kentucky’s investment has traditionally gone toward its basketball program. If you know Kentucky, you know it’s one of the premier blue-blood programs in college basketball. That said, Kentucky basketball hasn’t consistently been itself in recent years, which makes you wonder if the athletic department may begin investing even more heavily in football.
On the field, Kentucky’s previous head coach, Mark Stoops, was solid but never quite able to elevate the program to the next level. The identity of his teams was usually the same: strong defenses paired with offenses that struggled to keep pace in the SEC.
That has now changed.
Kentucky recently parted ways with Stoops and hired Will Stein as its next head coach. Stein played quarterback at Louisville from 2008-2012 before beginning his coaching career. Over the past decade, he has worked his way through several programs, most notably serving as Oregon’s offensive coordinator from 2023-2025, where he developed a reputation as one of the nation’s top offensive play-callers.
Overall, I think Will Stein is a young, passionate coach who is finally getting the opportunity to lead his own program.
So what does he bring to the table?
Simply put, offense.
While Kentucky’s defense should once again be a strength after retaining nearly all of its starters, Stein has aggressively rebuilt the offensive side of the ball. He replaced several key starters and, most importantly, landed former Notre Dame quarterback Kenny Minchey through the transfer portal.
I believe Minchey has the talent to completely change the trajectory of Kentucky’s offense, and his skill set should pair perfectly with Stein’s offensive system.
Now, this prediction may seem like a long shot—but wasn’t Indiana’s rise just as unlikely?
College football’s biggest surprises are almost always the ones nobody sees coming. I think Will Stein has the potential to bring Kentucky out of the darkness and build the Wildcats into a legitimate contender in the SEC.
