'It's not easy;' Will Stein discusses balancing Kentucky and Oregon

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Realistically, outside of the 12 teams participating in the College Football Playoff, attention for college football coaches is on both developing and forming the 2026 roster and beyond, whether it be getting young players reps in bowl game practices or recruiting future classes.

For newly-hired head coaches, that includes putting together a staff, which often includes an extensive research and interviewing process. Now, imagine doing all that while still acting as the offensive coordinator for a team preparing for the CFP.

While the Kentucky Wildcats aren’t playing in a bowl game, as they won just five games, that’s the spot that Will Stein is in right now.

Stein was hired by Kentucky to be their next head coach after they fired longtime head man Mark Stoops in early December, but decided that he was returning to the Oregon Ducks for their playoff run. Stein has served as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, doing a tremendous job in producing high-scoring and efficient offenses.

After Monday’s practice, Stein spoke on balancing the two jobs.

“I mean, it’s not easy,” he said. “Dan has done it before, so I’m leaning on him. Tosh is in it as well. So it is what it is. I mean, we are extremely focused on this game, number one, because this game is the most important thing for us right now, and we have to make sure that we are pouring into these players that have poured so much into this program here in Oregon. So that’s really currently, right now, in this moment where my main focus is making sure that we have a great game plan for James Madison, who’s a phenomenal team.”

Clearly, Stein appears motivated to do the best job he can do for the Ducks — however difficult it may be to bare the responsibility of wearing two hats.

“You know, it’s all noise,” he concluded. “If you let it get to you, it could be an issue. I’ve chosen not to let it get to me and focus on the task at hand. And when I need to delegate to University of Kentucky, I do that, but when I’m here at Oregon in the building, all focus is on the Ducks and winning this first playoff game.”

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Ducks OC Will Stein speaks on balancing Kentucky and Oregon

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos