SEC FOOTBALL COMPANION GUIDE • ALPHABETICAL 6 OF 16
2026 Season Snapshot • Lexington, Kentucky
5-7 (2-6 SEC)
SEC
Live schedule, lines and results for Kentucky.
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HEAD COACH
Will Stein — 1st season at Kentucky
LIFETIME COACHING RECORD
First head-coaching job
Kentucky native and former Louisville QB; spent 2023-25 as Oregon's offensive coordinator, helping develop Heisman finalists Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel. Also coached at UTSA and Texas. Hired days after Mark Stoops was fired following a 5-7 2025 season.
KENTUCKY ATS RECORD
New hire — no Kentucky ATS history yet
Replaces Mark Stoops, the winningest coach in Kentucky history (82-80 over 13 seasons), fired after finishing 5-7 (2-6 SEC) in 2025, Kentucky's third straight losing season.
HEAD COACH SALARY (2026)
$5.7M (avg.)
TEAM NIL VALUATION (EST.)
Not disclosed
PRIMARY NIL COLLECTIVE
Not publicly named
Coach salary per ESPN (FOIA'd term sheet): 5-yr, $28.5M deal with $100K annual raises plus up to $2.15M in performance incentives. Kentucky is separately paying fired coach Mark Stoops $37.7M in severance through 2031.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Joe Sloan calls plays • Stein's spread/tempo system
Stein won't call plays himself but built the staff to run the same structure he ran at UTSA and Oregon • his quarterbacks have historically posted high completion rates and strong yards-per-attempt numbers (Frank Harris: 69.6%, 8.6 Y/A, 41 total TDs in 2022 at UTSA).
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
New staff • scheme TBD
Kentucky's defensive coordinator hire rounds out a nearly complete staff overhaul under Stein. Both lines of scrimmage were almost entirely rebuilt through the portal this offseason — treat defensive scheme and personnel as an evolving picture through fall camp.
2025 RECORD
5–7 (2–6 SEC)
Stoops's final season; Kentucky lost 22 players to the portal after 2024's 4-8 finish and never found stability. The loss to Auburn (10-3) that helped get Hugh Freeze fired came in this same stretch of SEC play.
HOME FIELD
Kroger Field
Artificial turf, Lexington. A middle-of-the-pack SEC home environment historically; with a first-year coach and a nearly all-new roster, crowd energy and early-season composure at home are worth watching as the new staff finds its footing.
| SLOT | PLAYER | YEAR | HS Stars | NOTES / NFL OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB1 | Kenny Minchey | RS-Jr | ★★★★★ | Notre Dame transfer who lost QB battles there in each of the last two seasons; finally gets a clean shot as a starter in Stein's system. All signs point to him starting Week 1. |
| RB1 | CJ Baxter | — | ★★★★★ | 5-STAR Texas transfer and former five-star signee (2023, one of the highest-ranked players in his class); paired with Oklahoma transfer Jovantae Barnes (4- star) in a rebuilt backfield after Kentucky lost its top two rushers to the portal/graduation. |
| WR1 | DJ Miller | — | ★★★★★ | Four-star signee (Cardinal Ritter College Prep, St. Louis; No. 5 in Missouri, No. 33 WR nationally). Kentucky's leading returning receiver (13 rec, 175 yds, 2 TD in 2025, including a 5-catch, 120-yard game vs. Tennessee); one of the few holdovers in a rebuilt receiver room. |
| WR2 | Hardley Gilmore IV | — | ★★★★★ | Former four-star signee (2024); back at Kentucky after an offseason portal odyssey (Nebraska, then briefly committed elsewhere) — Kentucky's No. 2 receiver in 2025 (28 rec, 313 yds). |
Notre Dame transfer who lost QB battles there in each of the last two seasons; finally gets a clean shot as a starter in Stein's system. All signs point to him starting Week 1.
Texas transfer and former five-star signee (2023, one of the highest-ranked players in his class); paired with Oklahoma transfer Jovantae Barnes (4- star) in a rebuilt backfield after Kentucky lost its top two rushers to the portal/graduation.
Four-star signee (Cardinal Ritter College Prep, St. Louis; No. 5 in Missouri, No. 33 WR nationally). Kentucky's leading returning receiver (13 rec, 175 yds, 2 TD in 2025, including a 5-catch, 120-yard game vs. Tennessee); one of the few holdovers in a rebuilt receiver room.
Former four-star signee (2024); back at Kentucky after an offseason portal odyssey (Nebraska, then briefly committed elsewhere) — Kentucky's No. 2 receiver in 2025 (28 rec, 313 yds).
| PLAYER | POS | YEAR | HS Stars | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full portal rebuild | OL | — | ★★★★★ | Zero returning starters and zero linemen with prior multi-game SEC experience — the line was rebuilt with four projected portal starters. As extreme a trench turnover as any team in this guide. |
Zero returning starters and zero linemen with prior multi-game SEC experience — the line was rebuilt with four projected portal starters. As extreme a trench turnover as any team in this guide.
| PLAYER | POS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Portal-built front | DL | New staff, largely new personnel up front; specific 2026 starters were still being sorted out through fall camp. |
New staff, largely new personnel up front; specific 2026 starters were still being sorted out through fall camp.
| PLAYER | POS | HS Stars | NOTES / NFL OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary in transition | DB | ★★★★★ | Part of a defense being rebuilt from the ground up under a new coordinator; confirm specific starters closer to Week 1. |
Part of a defense being rebuilt from the ground up under a new coordinator; confirm specific starters closer to Week 1.
2025 ATS
5-7
41.7% cover rate — 49th of 82
2025 Straight up
5-7
Point differential -41
Scoring environment
49.4
Combined points per game — 58th highest of 82
Home / road ATS
4-3 · 1-4
Totals 7-5 O/U (4-3 home, 3-2 road)
Points scored / allowed
23 per game scored (63rd) · 26.4 allowed (51st)
Margin & schedule
Margin of victory -3.4 (63rd) · Strength of schedule +1.4
SRS power rating
-1.9
53rd of 82 — projected points vs. a league-average team on a neutral field
Offensive SRS
-2.5
55th of 82
Defensive SRS
+2.4
41st of 82
Points (margin of victory)
-3.4 · 63rd of 82
Against the spread
5-7 (41.7%) · 49th of 82
Totals (combined PPG)
49.4 · 58th of 82
Computed from CollegeFootballData 2025 results and closing consensus lines.
Saved Just J research for Kentucky.
Stein's Oregon/UTSA systems produced elite QB efficiency and explosive numbers — a real departure from Kentucky's recent offensive struggles. Early-season overs/unders should reflect real scheme uncertainty either way.
Zero returning starters and zero linemen with multi-game SEC experience back — a portal-built line from scratch, one of the most extreme rebuilds in the conference.
Kentucky plays one of the SEC's tougher schedules in year one under a totally new system — treat all of Kentucky's markets as high-variance until there's in-season tape.
A completely new offensive line with a first-time head coach and a new starting QB is about as much uncertainty as one offense can carry — treat Kentucky's O-line as a total unknown into the first several weeks of the season.
Notes are maintained in the Admin area — no code changes required.
