TAMPA, Fla. — Curt Cignetti told people “Google me,” and the rest was college football history. Will Stein hopes he just had his Cignetti moment.
Stein is the new coach at Kentucky, and Monday was his debut at SEC media days. The former Oregon offensive coordinator had given a long opening statement and answered six questions. Then came the seventh, a very direct and simple query:
“You said you came to Kentucky,” a media member asked, “because you believe you can win there. Why?” Stein paused for six seconds.
“This is going to sound, like, really …” Stein began, then paused again. “I think because of me, to be honest. I think ’cause of me.”
There was another pause, as Stein either let the words sink in, or tried to believe he had really said that, or both. Then he went into explanation mode.
“I think I know what it takes,” he said. “I have seen it at the highest levels. I know what it takes to recruit at this level. You just got to believe, man.”
What made the moment so unusual is the same thing that made Cignetti’s famous quote: New coaches almost always point to other things, whether it’s the school, the tradition, the recruiting territory. They rarely point to themselves.
But that’s what Cignetti did, and for what it’s worth, his quote also came after the seventh question (not counting a couple of back-and-forths preceding it) at a national signing day news conference on Dec. 20, 2023, on how he sells the vision of his culture: “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.”
Indiana was a down program, a basketball school that fielded a football team. Kentucky, 170 miles from Bloomington, can fairly be described the same way. Indiana invested in its other sport and was rewarded with a national title. Kentucky has overhauled the business side of its athletic department with its cutting-edge Champions Blue LLC and ponied up to give Mark Stoops one of the largest buyouts in college football history because its all-time winningest coach was no longer winning enough.
OK, before everyone goes too crazy, Stein did not go on to proclaim himself the next Cignetti, or Kentucky the next Indiana. In fact, he said: “Is it going to happen overnight? I don’t know. I really don’t.”
And if you Google Stein, you will see that, unlike Cignetti, he has no head coaching experience. Cignetti had indeed won at three different smaller programs.
But the swagger sounds similar enough; all three players the Wildcats brought to media days said Stein’s confidence was one of the first things they noticed about their new coach. Quarterback Kenny Minchey said he felt it over the phone the first time they spoke. Tight end Willie Rodriguez noticed it during their first meeting.
“Confidence and swagger,” Rodriguez said. “I would say the swagger piece is something you feel with somebody. I walked in the room with him. He sat me down, and I could just feel, he’s a dude.”
Stein saw Cignetti’s turnaround up close as Oregon’s offensive coordinator, losing twice to the Hoosiers last year. When asked what Cignetti did, he pointed to discipline, culture and talent: No. 1 NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza plus seven others drafted.
“When you have great players and you add a great culture and coaching staff and scheme, typically good results happen,” Stein said.
To that end, Kentucky would seem a long way off. Then again, that was the assumption about Indiana.
