Kentucky may have just outwitted the rest of the SEC in the coaching carousel

The college football coaching carousel appears to be at its peak with multiple high-profile vacancies being filled and others with top targets in the crosshairs. One such vacancy that recently opened up is in Lexington. The Kentucky Wildcats fired head coach Bob Stoops after 13 seasons, accruing an 82-80 record and posting seven winning seasons in that time. It was odd timing for the SEC bottom feeder to let Stoops go when several other conference foes had snatched high-quality candidates. But maybe there was a method to that madness.

While LSU got Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss replaced him with defensive coordinator Pete Golden and Florida snagged Tulane's Jon Sumrall to take the reins from Billy Napier. Elsewhere in the conference, Arkansas chose Memphis' Ryan Silverfield and Auburn selected South Florida's Alex Golesh. Of those five openings, three of them went to up-and-comers from the Group of Five. Somehow, none of the biggest coordinators in the game were poached and now are ripe for the picking. Kentucky is already closing in on one of them in Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

Kentucky landed a big fish in Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein

While the rest of the conference waited with bated breath for Kiffin's decision and then the seemingly panicked rush on filling their vacancies with their backup choices, Kentucky bided its time and played 4D chess.

Stein has spent the last three seasons under Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, heading up some of the nation's best offenses in that time. He's had the privilege of coaching quarterbacks like Dillon Gabriel, Bo Nix and now Dante Moore, producing consistent College Football Playoff contenders and Heisman trophy candidates.

With Kentucky landing him as its head coach, there is likely a significant number of recruits that may flip for the opportunity to play in the SEC and develop under a coaching talent such as Stein.

Just three seasons ago, the Wildcats were a threat in the conference and now if you add Stein's RPO-heavy scheme there's a significant opportunity for Kentucky to reemerge as a seven-plus win contender.

On top of that, Stein is a Kentucky native with a soft spot for the program in his heart. He told On3 Sports' Andy Staples ahead of the season that he's "a die-hard Cats fan" despite having played his own college ball at in-state rival Louisville. Stein's father, Matt, played for the Wildcats in the 1980s.

"My dad played there, so I went to every game at Commonwealth Stadium. I grew up in really SEC football," he added.

Kentucky really may have just landed their own Kenny Dillingham. The current Arizona State head coach was Stein's predecessor in Eugene and led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 title and CFP berth in just his second season. Wildcat fans will be hoping for the same trend in Lexington.