Will Stein Has Said All the Right Things. Now Comes Saturday.

(LEXINGTON, Ky.) — For eight months, Will Stein has been building something.

Kentucky’s first-year head football coach has spent that time crafting a roster, an offense, a culture, and a connection. And, judging from his Tuesday press conference, he’s assembled possibly the most thoroughly prepared football team since Bill Belichick discovered videotape.

Now comes the inconvenient part.

Kentucky has to play somebody.

The Will Stein era officially begins Saturday against Youngstown State at Kroger Field, and for all the optimism surrounding Kentucky football, this will be the first opportunity to find out exactly what Stein has built.

Practice can tell you who knows his assignment. A game tells you who can execute it when somebody across the line of scrimmage is trying to knock him backward. Stein described that distinction Tuesday as the difference between being “accountable” and being “capable.”

“Who knows their job, who can line up correctly, and then who can actually go perform at a high level?”

That may have been the most important thing he said all afternoon.

Kentucky has spent eight months talking about new beginnings—new coaches, new players, new systems, and new energy. At some point, however, new becomes irrelevant.

Can you block? Can you tackle? Can you protect the football? Can you keep a quarterback from running through your defense?

Those questions become considerably more important Saturday afternoon, and Youngstown State has a quarterback perfectly suited to asking them.

Beau Brungard apparently scares the living daylights out of Kentucky’s new head coach. Stein called him elite. Then he called him a game wrecker. Then he said Brungard could start at “99 percent” of Power Four programs.

By the time Stein finished describing him, I was wondering whether Kentucky ought to cover Brungard or simply sign him to an NIL deal.

Stein's concern is understandable. Brungard can throw, run, and break tackles. When the original play breaks down, his ability to scramble essentially creates what Stein called a “second play within the play.”

For a Kentucky defense facing its first real examination under a new coaching staff, he presents exactly the sort of opponent capable of exposing preseason assumptions.

That's part of what makes Saturday interesting.

Kentucky should win. But Kentucky should also learn something about itself.

Stein isn't asking for anything particularly revolutionary. He wants clean football, fewer pre-snap penalties, ball security, takeaways, and relentless effort. He wants 11 players doing their jobs rather than one player trying to do something spectacular.

What caught my attention was how determined he seems to remove emotion from the process.

“Emotions get you beat,” Stein said.

He wants Kentucky to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer—setting the temperature instead of reacting to whatever happens around it.

That sounds excellent in a press conference. We'll see how it works the first time Brungard breaks containment and 60,000 thermostats simultaneously lose their minds.

Stein faces another unknown factor with his own quarterback. Kenny Minchey will make his first collegiate start Saturday, and Stein isn't asking him to become Tom Brady. Or Michael Jordan. Or LeBron James.

“Just go be Kenny Minchey,” Stein said.

Probably wise. Although if Minchey possesses any previously undisclosed Tom Brady qualities, I wouldn't discourage him from displaying them.

Stein likes what he has seen recently. He said Minchey had “some sh*t to him” during practice this week—the competitive edge Stein believes a quarterback needs because the position receives almost as much scrutiny as the head coach.

Around here, just give it time.

Perhaps Stein's biggest adjustment has been learning exactly how much scrutiny belongs to him now. As an offensive coordinator, he could concentrate primarily on his side of the football. As a head coach, nutrition matters. Injuries matter. Special teams matter. Defense matters. The game-day operation matters. Everything eventually lands on his desk.

Stein compared the job to assembling a 10,000-piece puzzle while searching for a final piece you may never find.

There is something appealing about the way Stein has approached that puzzle. He doesn't appear particularly interested in pretending he has everything figured out. He readily admitted Tuesday that Kentucky's running back depth is merely “okay.”

Also, despite his reputation as an offensive whiz, Stein said Kentucky's practices have been structured more around the defense. And he has repeatedly emphasized special teams, insisting that some of his best offensive and defensive players will contribute there, too.

“The best players play,” Stein said.

It's a simple philosophy, but there's also a refreshing lack of mystery to it.

Stein has been equally deliberate about the culture he wants to build. Kentucky has held karaoke nights, a home run derby, Wildcat Olympics, and get-to-know-your-teammate sessions. None of those things will stop Brungard on third-and-six, of course, but Stein believes connected teams play harder for one another when things inevitably go wrong.

Saturday begins the process of finding out whether he's right.

Kentucky even conducted an elaborate mock game last weekend so players could experience the game-day routine before actually experiencing game day. Stein admitted the preparation helped relieve some of his own anxiety because he won't have to spend Saturday teaching players where to stand or what comes next.

But there are limits to rehearsal. A busted assignment isn't scheduled. A turnover isn't scripted. Neither is adversity. That's why Saturday matters.

Not because Kentucky needs to prove it belongs on the same field with Youngstown State. It does. And not because one September afternoon will tell us whether Stein ultimately succeeds at Kentucky. It won't.

But for eight months, almost everything surrounding Kentucky football has existed in the realm of possibility.

The energy feels different. The preparation appears impressive. The optimism is genuine.

Stein has given Kentucky fans plenty of reasons to believe something better might be coming without pretending that he has already accomplished it.

Now it’s time to turn on the scoreboard and find out.

For the first time in eight months, Will Stein doesn't get to tell us what he's building.

We get to see it with our own eyes.

I can’t wait.

Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist, military veteran, and award-winning author. Currently serving as a columnist for Nolan Group Media, he invites readers to follow him on social media @KYHuangs. Explore his latest, Whining for Posterity, Name Image and Murder,  and all his books at Amazon.