I mean....he hired Cal....but that came with outside pressure....look at the other coaches hired by him.....laughable
How in the world is MB still at UK?
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It's an embarrassment. He should have been fired 6 years ago. He's the worst AD in a BCS conference.
I've said on here many times that Mitch isn't going anywhere. He is a University President's dream as an AD. Here are things that matter to a President:
1. Run a clean program
2. Have good grades for athletes
3. Share the wealth of athletics with the university
4. Have a good overall athletic department
He gets an A+ in all of those areas. I know people don't want to hear this, but it's the truth. He has the main sport at UK competing every year (reagrdless of how much people think Mitch was/wasn't involed in Cal's hiring). If we had this great history in football, then yes, maybe he would feel a tiny bit of pressure.
1. Run a clean program
2. Have good grades for athletes
3. Share the wealth of athletics with the university
4. Have a good overall athletic department
He gets an A+ in all of those areas. I know people don't want to hear this, but it's the truth. He has the main sport at UK competing every year (reagrdless of how much people think Mitch was/wasn't involed in Cal's hiring). If we had this great history in football, then yes, maybe he would feel a tiny bit of pressure.
BARNHART the Teflon man nothing sticks to him should have been fired 4 to 5 years ago now Kentucky has a 170 million dollar stadioun debt that no way in hell can be paid for unbelievable mess and crisis
How does the guy who just won athletic director of the year still have a job? Really?
Mitch , would not back or help coach Brooks...thats why he reired,hired Joker, watched him , destroy what coach Brooks, built...........Mitch could care less about football..the powers to be at Kentucky,could care less about football , been a fan for over 50 years...its always been the same ole ,song and dance.......hype...then you hear this....give them time .... Or ...wait till next year ...i support basketball, but I'm a Football fan, a ky football fan,,,so you can imagine how disappointed, my life has been ,a ky football fan for over 50 year.......so Don't tell me how great Mitch is,,,,oh and remember, These words ...if your a young fan....you will hear these a lot....Wait till next year,..I've heared that for 50 year...
You mean like Rich Brooks? Do you think Brooks was "laughable"?
A lot of folks seem to forget that was a Mitch hire. They also seem to forget that UK football was in even worse shape before Mitch--at the time he was hired we were coming off back to back 2-9 seasons, on probation, and the program was an all around dumpster fire at that time.
I remember a time when Mitch (and Brooks) was being hailed by our fans as the savior of UK football, now y'all act like it's all his fault. Lot of short memories around here.
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Mitch, yes Hired coach Brooks, but he never truely supported/put money into the football program to be competitive,,,UK has never supported the football program, like the basketballs progrsm, never have at uk ,,, but now football brings in all the money...I'm sure the sec had something to do with putting more money into the football program.. To be more competitive...
The support he gave brooks was laughable to say the least. He does have good ethics though. Ill give him that I'd way rather have him than jurich everyday of the week. No way is he the worst power 5 AD when jurich is right down the road as the least ethical man in all of college athletics outside of Roy Williams, dean smith, and everyone involved with UNCheat, with his win at all costs approach.. I really don't like the hires he made in joker and stoops though. Kinda has us in a really bad spot. Hopefully next time he gets it right, now that money is actually invested into it.
terrible list - you left off the most important item and it's his worst: raise money from donors & sponsors.
Mitch Barnhart has been the best and most honorable AD for football and all of the sports program at UK in my lifetime. While Gillespie was a mistake he did not hire Mumme, nor did he hire Sutton. Gillespie was an embarrassment but we did not have to hire Cal while we were on probation! We no longer are on the cover of SI along with the words "Kentucky's Shame". Only the most stubborn peevish person would try to minimize Barnhart's every success in their hateful effort to discredit the man. To be kind, that is a sign of poor analytical skill, impertinent bombast, and pursuit of an unreasonable agenda.
If I recall correctly, after multiple coaches turned him down, he turned to Brooks who was an old buddy of his from Oregon State days where MB was the AD. So in my mind Brooks bailed him out in that Brooks was wanting to get back into coaching after being away from it for about 3 years. I could be wrong but I don't think so.
And for those who say that MB doesn't care for the football program, didn't he spend a number of years at Tennessee as Asst. AD. Would think that you'd have to care about football if you come from UT....and women's basketball. He does, to me, seem to spend as much or more time upgrading all the sports that nobody cares about, and that don't contribute at all to the bottom line....but that, I guess, is the new world of college PC.
And for those who say that MB doesn't care for the football program, didn't he spend a number of years at Tennessee as Asst. AD. Would think that you'd have to care about football if you come from UT....and women's basketball. He does, to me, seem to spend as much or more time upgrading all the sports that nobody cares about, and that don't contribute at all to the bottom line....but that, I guess, is the new world of college PC.
not on cover of SI!?! that's the reason you use as to why he's a great AD?? there are literally hundreds of schools not on probation. really not much of a claim to fame. open your eyes man.
His biggest supposed success, Cal, requires his own asst AD so he doesn't have to deal with Mitch.
Good administrator though overall. Best attribute has been timing with the new SEC Network cash coming in. That has covered up his mediocre political skills.
Good administrator though overall. Best attribute has been timing with the new SEC Network cash coming in. That has covered up his mediocre political skills.
If you can't see history then your eyes are as defective as your reasoning is.
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Which AD has been better for Kentucky's sports program? How many times have we had to dig ourselves out of a cheating scandal? Before Barnhart it was a common occurrence. If you have no moral or ethical standards you can make a case against Barnhart possibly but that has proven to be a big problem for Kentucky that Barnhart has thankfully put in our past.
Well thank Gaia that you put it that way. I'd hate to oppose Barnhart knowing that you might accuse me of having no moral or ethical standards. I thought you were interested in a discussion, now I know you just want to shut it down. Well done, A++++.
I absolutely love when people say he hired cal! What a crock of crap! Mike Pratt will tell you the complete opposite. An outside team was hired to get him because the boosters thought Mitch was too much of a blockhead to make the right hire. Mitch didn't want cal. Instead the first time he hired a drunken lunatic. Mitch does not know a damn thing.
Actually according to the Herald-Leader the "outside search team" was used select Gillespie. Mitch then asked Pratt for advice on who to hire to replace Gillespie. That is good management whether you think so or not. Mitch mistakenly trusted a search firm, was disappointed and corrected his mistake quickly. The pastime in America and especially this forum is to belittle somebody whether they deserve it or not while ignoring any success they have had.
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Thank God the Cal hire was taken out of Mitch's hands. Travis Ford would be our coach right now.
That's not a terrible list from the perspective of of a University President. Trust me, raise money from donors and sponsors are below the top 3. Number 4 maybe. What would be your top 4?
Yeah I'm sure it had nothing to do with Mitch insulting the 'microwave' fans...
Hey get off Mitch's back now guys. So what if he hired the drunk and Joker and had the football program flatlining on the operating table, wouldn't make a coaching change, and insulted his paying customers in the basest ways multiple times causing an all-out fan revolt. Call it a bad run. Some of you just don't appreciate new volleyball nets.
Considering that they just put $110 million into the football stadium, my guess is that the increased difficulty in getting people to buy tickets and eventually suites will become a major problem.
Honestly, what fool would agree to a rent one of those suites next season to watch this train wreck?
I guarantee you that he'll be feeling pressure when trying to please those who have been increasingly asked to chip in to "upgrade" the football program. Hard to keep coming back to those people when you see that your latest attempt to resuscitate the football program from one of your horrible hires has UK right back to being the worst team in the SEC in year 3.
You're basically correct, but I would say that's an indication of what a horrid mess Mitch inherited when he took the UK job (facing NCAA sanctions/probation, coming off two straight 2 win seasons, no talent in the tank, etc.), rather than an indictment of him. SUCH a horrid mess, in fact, that it seemed NO coach was willing to take the job, as all the coaches on our original wish list turned us down. It was one of the most embarrassing coaching searches ever ..we couldn't find anyone to take an SEC head coaching job.
But Mitch then saved us from further humiliation by convincing his old friend Brooks to come out of retirement and take the job. And, since the reason Brooks did so was because of his long friendship with Mitch, I think Mitch deserves credit for that one. He managed to get the best possible result out of an absolutely awful situation, a result that not many other ADs could've gotten in that situation.
If we're gonna bash the man for things we think he did wrong, shouldn't we also credit him for things done right? Brooks he did right.
It's not "every" presidents dream. It's our presidents dream.
MB would have absolutely been fired by now at a program with a winning attitude. No program that has fans who demand excellence in football (what matters) would put up with this. People need to stop speaking for other programs IMO. Not even Louisville would deal with this.
It's clear at UK Mitch didn't hire Calipri. Unless some big brass at UK are complete liars which I know they're not.
If UK had a win first attitude like most of these schools, he wouldn't last. A's for canned ham sports aside.
Brooks ended up being a good hire at the last second. I gave Mitch credit for that, in 2007. Then he threw all of that successs away and hired a man EVERYONE knew wasn't going to be able to continue it. Then he hires Gillispie. The worst basketball coach in our history. He steps away from the Cal hire, then hires Stoops, who's the worst on field coach and manager I've ever seen. Barnhart doesn't just "miss". He throws the ball over the backstop. He's terrible really.
Brooks is capital long since spent.
I've met Mitch and spoke with him briefly and he was very polite. Overall, I think he is a pretty good AD, but I wonder how he does with fund raising. He isn't Mr. Personality and I wonder how he is with big boosters.
Just make a few poster's point that you was arguing with.
(Know it was a typo...the fingers on the keyboard sometimes don't keep up with the brain...happens to all us.)
I tend to give Barnhart credit for the Brooks hire in the same manner that I'd give credit to Arkansas for converting on that 4th and 25 play in overtime vs Ole Miss.
Not everyone, but many of us were quite happy with the hire of Stoops. Then he began up the recruiting. We got happier. It was a risky hire, since Stoops had never been a HC. It's been disappointing, yes, but I think a lot of ADs would have taken that risk. Stoops had proven himself quite capable as a DC and has the family pedigree. So while Mitch has made some bad choices, I don't fault him for having hired Stoops. It may prove to be a very bad hire before all is said and done, but it looked pretty good at the time. It certainly caused a lot of excitement among the fan base.
This legend is like Bigfoot or the Lochness Monster. It just refuses to die, and the true-believers are extremely passionate. Even without any evidence.
Any of you have anything approaching proof for this conspiracy theory you have that the Athletics Director didn't hire the basketball coach?
And "Mike Pratt will tell you the complete opposite." is a bald-faced lie....
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