Mark Pope shares his thoughts on the job Kentucky football coach Will Stein has done

Mark Pope is very happy about where the Kentucky athletic department is right now.

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts against the Santa Clara Broncos during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It is a really weird time in Kentucky sports right now, as normally all of Big Blue Nation would be shifting their attention to the basketball team. By this time most years, the football season for the Wildcats has gone down the drain, and the fan base is focused on hoops. With Will Stein cooking right now, that is not the case at all.

In all honesty, it seems to be the opposite right now. The basketball team has a ranked exhibition game on Friday night in Rupp Arena, and not many people are talking about it. This is not a bad thing at all, though, because Big Blue Nation is going to buy into basketball; there is no question about that. It just means that this fan base is really excited about the direction of the football program under Stein.

Oct 16, 2026; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks to his players during the first half against the Little Rock Trojans at Rupp Arena Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Today Coach Pope had a press conference to break down the upcoming exhibition matchup with Texas Tech, and one of the questions he was asked was about his thoughts on the job Coach Stein has done.

Here is what Coach Pope had to say about Will Stein: "I'm pulling for Will like crazy. He's doing an unbelievable job. He took on, you know, a huge job here, and he's performing at a great level. I think our athletic department is really unified. I think that's important."

It is great to hear Coach Pope be so vocal about the success of Coach Stein. During the John Calipari/Mark Stoops era, we didn't see this very often, and it was off-putting to the fan base. Big Blue Nation wants to see the coaches all be close, and right now that seems to be what we have.

Kentucky’s Will Stein coaches against LSU at Kroger Field Saturday evening. Oct. 10, 2026 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

We have even heard Coach Stein joke about how Craig Skinner is the goat. The baseball coach at Kentucky, Nick Mingione, talked about how much the success of the football program is helpful to his baseball program. The change at the head of the athletic department, with J. Batt taking over as the AD, seems to be going really well for Kentucky.

We all know that Stein is a die-hard Kentucky fan, and this year he will be in Rupp Arena rooting as hard as he can for Pope's team. It is great to hear that Pope feels the same way about the success of the football program, as they are currently 6-1.

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