TAMPA, Fla. — Will Stein delivered Monday’s best quote.
Kentucky rarely moves the SEC needle before March, but the first-year head coach stopped me in my tracks. Asked why he thought he could “win big” at one of the conference’s longtime cellar dwellers, Stein took a swig from his water bottle and attempted to brace the room for what was coming.
“This is going to sound like really… I think because of me, to be honest,” Stein said. “I think ’cause of me. I think I know what it takes.”
Hell yes.
The odds suggest Stein won’t win at Kentucky. The Wildcats are one of three schools to have been in the 12-team league in 1992 and fail to reach the conference title game. They join Ole Miss and Vanderbilt with that distinction. From 1952 to 1982, they went to one bowl game. Since the elevation of the Sugar, Cotton, Peach, Feista, Rose and Orange Bowls, Kentucky has never been to any of them.
Football on the bluegrass passes the time until the ball starts bouncing over at Rupp Arena.
Stein’s answer was precisely correct, though. Head coaches mean everything in college football. Curt Cignetti is responsible for the miracle in Bloomington, and Lane Kiffin sparked the renaissance in Oxford over the last six seasons.
Now, he’s going to try to elevate that in Baton Rouge.
The more I think about Kiffin at LSU, the more I’m convinced it’s going to work. That sounds like mild language, but “working” at LSU means a national championship. Nick Saban did it. Les Miles did it and would have pulled it off a second time if Oklahoma State could have beaten a 6-7 Iowa State team. Ed Orgeron built a juggernaut. Even Brian Kelly fielded college football’s best offense.
Nothing short of a title will satisfy Kiffin’s Ole Miss departure. I, like Stein, believe it will happen based on belief in the head coach.
Kiffin’s offenses ranked 10th, 3rd and 16th in scoring the last three seasons. The 2023 Rebel team didn’t have an offensive plyer drafted. Jaxson Dart was the lone first rounder on that side of the ball over three years. Only De’Zhaun Stribling was picked from last year’s offense.
I’d be willing to wager that Kiffin’s NFL talent pool grows at LSU. That makes it hard to suggest the Tigers won’t field potent offenses during this era. Blake Baker’s SEC track record is rather strong on the defensive side.
Kiffin is going to wear the black hat nationally. The timing of his Ole Miss exit doesn’t sit well with many. The social media antics and Vanity Fair profile didn’t help, either. That’s all on the periphery, not the scoreboard.
The objective truth is that Kiffin won more games over five years than any coach in Ole Miss history. His 50 trumped John Vaught’s 48 from 1958-1962. They put Vaught’s name on the stadium.
Kiffin won’t receive naming rights anywhere near The Velvet Ditch, but he left his mark. I’ll be asked multiple times over the next few days why I believe in LSU. Stein laid out the playbook.
This is going to sound, like really…I think because of Kiffin, to be honest.
