Kentucky head football coach Will Stein hires Texas A&M assistant Jay Bateman as his inaugural defensive coordinator

Kentucky football has found its new coach. Trinity High School alum Will Stein of Oregon football succeeds Mark Stoops in Lexington.

Trinity High School football players check out the championship trophy following the 48-0 shellacking of Simon Kenton in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Class 6A football state finals in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008. The victory marked Trinity's 19th state football title, beginning in 1968. (AP Photo/Garry Jones) AP

Louisville native Will Stein may be the Kentucky Wildcats football coach, but his time with the Louisville Cardinals and Trinity Shamrocks shaped him.

Among them are Boyle County running back Ji’Dyn Smith-Hisel, who had a breakout 2025 season for the Class 4A state champions. Teammate Darryl Yancey and coach Justin Haddix were also named finalists for lineman and coach of the year, respectively.

A Kentucky high school football team will soon enjoy a new training center and an improved stadium. St. Xavier High School announced that they have begun construction on an 11,000-square-foot, two-story center that will serve their varsity,

Kentucky Country Day School won its first KHSAA football state championship in program history, holding off Raceland at the University of Kentucky.

In a physical, back-and-forth Class 1A state championship at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field, KCD survived a furious second-half rally from Raceland to secure the school’s first-ever football state title, winning 20-16.