People who write such things, i.e., Mitch Barnhart is a poor AD, suffer from the overpowering illness of certainty. Certain they are correct even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Doubts? Real men don't doubt. They forge ahead until the opposition is pummeled into submission.
How in the world is MB still at UK?
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People who write such things, i.e., Mitch Barnhart is a poor AD, suffer from the overpowering illness of certainty. Certain they are correct even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Doubts? Real men don't doubt. They forge ahead until the opposition is pummeled into submission.
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I agree with your post, just think the AD should have started making some baby steps a lot earlier------like about ten years earlier. It might have even been a very opportune time after the 07 season.
I agree with your post, just think the AD should have started making some baby steps a lot earlier------like about ten years earlier. It might have even been a very opportune time after the 07 season.
Nice thesis, but the overwhelming evidence is that mitch didn't spend a cent above the bare minimum on football for about ten years, and then only when the money became plentiful AND we had lost millions of dollars and thousands of season ticket sales. Which of these FACTS do you want to argue with?
I love the minor sports, and think they should be supported as much as possible, but IMO the athletic department had millions LESS to spend on those programs because of his bare minimum support of football, and I have given a bunch of examples ot his bare minimum support, and funny thing is no one has disputed those FACTS. Want me to list them again, nah, don't want to waste my time right now.
But example #1, the atrocious "recruiting room", #2 the recruiting budget MORE for a few basketball players than for 25 football players, when the bb program needs ZERO help and the football program coming off probation had nothing going for it-------ZERO four stars in the 10 class in Kentucky for instance. The same year there were FORTY FIVE in the state of Texas, along with several five stars.
Believe what you want to, people usually do.
That's your preferred narrative because you can't admit Barnhart is succeeding. It destroys your credibility with people who know the truth. Barnhart has been here 15 years, not 20. He has presided over improvement in every UK sport, major and minor. Barnhart sat on a Lexington task force that agreed on improvements at Rupp Arena, negotiated a better agreement for UK, and removed the need for UK to build its own arena. He has remodeled or replaced every single UK football facility. Contrary to what you folks believe, Barnhart actually delayed some basketball facility improvements to divert capital for improvement of our football facilities. He personally stepped in and did what was necessary to keep Coach Marrow here. He has already given a huge raise to Coach Gran. Barnhart has already presided over UK's participation in 6 bowl games, with another coming soon this winter. He is building a new baseball stadium. He has built new facilities for most of our sports and hired coaches who are succeeding. This is easily the best performance record of any UK athletics director. Barnhart's achievements tower over those of CM Newton and Cliff Hagan. Using actual facts, you won't be able to refute that.
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Comparing his achievements with those of newton and hagan is like saying a person with a 75 IQ is a lot smarter than a person with a 50 IQ. As a Football (primarily) fan, I agree that mb has been a decent to good AD. Whether Ky fans want to admit it or not, FOOTBALL is the primary college sport in our country. It's nice to win in bball, baseball,etc... but winning at Football is what gains recognition. Granted, he has made improvements recently in Football but seemingly only after making improvements for other sports. IMO, he just did things backward. He should have poured SEC tv money into Football first with the goal of bringing facilities,etc...up to the likes of Bama, LSU. After that, go ahead and spend it on the lesser sports. What's done is done. IMO, he now needs to start implementing a plan for constant investment in Football with the goal being, as I said before, reaching the level of Bama. Once at that level, commit $ to stay there. Focusing on Football should be never ending.
Good for him that he diverted $ from bball to Football. That is one instance in which he had his priorities correct.
You are right. To the chagrin of some boosters, Barnhart organized our athletics department and created institutional control for the 1st time. Contrary to some of the garbage on this thread, Barnhart has actually helped our football program. Prior to Barnhart's arrival, certain boosters dictated their will on UK's sports programs. When you hear certain people criticize Barnhart's "fundraising", what they really mean in some cases is that they aren't giving their own money anymore because Barnhart isn't granting quid pro quo in return for their money. Just as it should be. Barnhart runs a clean athletics department. Prior to Barnhart, some boosters traded money for influence or special privileges. This is what is meant by "lack of institutional control", which was a feature of NCAA Infractions Committee judgements against UK under both Hagan and Newton. Some boosters are still sore because Barnhart won't let them call the shots anymore. This is the real history behind the most stubborn opposition to Barnhart, but Barnhart is the best thing that has happened to UK sports. I enjoy this board. But anyone (including discredited boosters, people with sour grapes, people who don't understand actual facts and rules) can come here and spread their propaganda. So readers beware.
Keep watching. Someday you will make it all the way to the full truth of what is actually happening here. Every sport has improved under Barnhart. Facilities are improving under Barnhart. He adopts long term solutions, not stop gaps. When our fans foolishly attacked Brooks, Stoops, Mitchell in public, Barnhart was patient. Barnhart kept Vince Marrow here, and he is already taking steps to keep Eddie Gran and Kenny Payne here as long as possible. When you talk about IQ, be careful.
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Agree he has made improvements in every sport. Like I said, IMO, Football should have been and should always be #1. Significant investment must be a constant in order to reach and stay at the top tier of the SEC. If he doesn't already have a plan on the books for the next significant investment in Football/Football facilities, he's getting further behind.
Agree with you, football is the key to every P5 athletics department for basic financial reasons. Especially in the SEC, where huge money flows to UK from conference contracts with networks. But Barnhart has made sweeping football improvements, and he is getting results. While it's true that Barnhart doesn't call a press conference every week to announce his strategic plans to the public, he knows what he is doing. I can give you some core examples. Stoops has been extended through 2022. Gran and Marrow have been given raises that will keep them at UK indefinitely unless another P5 program hires them with promotions (head coach in Gran's case, offensive coordinator in Vince's case which would frankly be unlikely). The transition from Eliot to House has stabilized our coaching staff. Our facilities are as good as any school's, better than most. Our practice/office complex is arguably best in the country. Attention will shift now to baseball and basketball, but more upgrades will be done as necessary. Barnhart understands what must be done. UK has been to 6 bowls in the last 11 seasons, with another coming this season. Barnhart will move forward. But some of our fans will keep complaining without acknowledging his successes.
Be careful with using the "6 bowls in the last 11 seasons" position. While you're right, the truth is also "only 1 bowl in the last 5 seasons". Attention to base/basketball should not distract from commitment to Football. Besides, what more does basketball need? I'll say this for mb, at least he's not a basketball guy. Still, I long for an AD that is a Football guy. Brooks would have been great in that position.
LOL! Be careful rejecting indisputable facts that don't support your confirmation bias. 6 bowls in the last 11 seasons is a fact. You want to get back to Joker? Is that it? Joker was a mistake, but Joker was recommended by Brooks and Holtz. All athletics directors make mistakes. I'll bet you make occasional mistakes too. Jeremy Foley hired Ron Zook and Will Muschamp. Mal Moore hired Mike DuBose and Mike Price. Barnhart has been here for 15 years. The significance of the last 11 years is that it is the period of time after UK got past the impact of the NCAA sanctions Barnhart inherited from Mumme, Newton, Ivy. UK's football program is rapidly headed in the right directions. Results matter. Barnhart's critics will just have to accept this. And if you believe basketball and other sports don't need and deserve continuing financial support, then you don't understand how a P5 athletics department works. Do you actually believe John Calipari would accept your point of view? Not.
Mitch gets all six under his watch. No doubt the Joker hire set us back, but he made right on that by making a quick fair decision and then hiring Stoops. Watching UL take the risks for which you advocate, I choose Mitch.
I will leave it at this: As I've previously said, mb seems to be a good guy and IMO, he has done a decent to good job. No doubt, his superiors are satisfied with his work. I'm sure if his superiors care two squats about athletics, they want all programs to be successful but more importantly (to them) they want to be in total compliance with the rules. I understand how that works.
Wrong. I propose living on the edge while, technically, still obeying the rules. It appears they have clearly crossed the lines.
These things are his job! He has been here 15 years, and he FINALLY gave some upgrades to football, still hasn't for baseball, and painted some ductwork at Rupp.
For a University our size with our resources, that's pitiful for your three main sports. He has done ok at crappy sports, but the main three have been ignored for 15 years. The fact that you mentioned a couple hundred thousand dollar raise to a coordinator, shows you have very little expectations.
In a fraction of time UL has a top notch new baseball stadium, new premier basketball arena, a new football stadium, and has even renovated and expanded that new stadium in the time we did one renovation. Plus new soccer, softball, field hockey, swim facility etc.
You show your ignorance when you claim what Mitch has done for our three major sports in 15 years is anything but poor.
I'll say this for Mitch--a monkey could do better than Cliff Hagan and Larry Ivy
Rupp hosts the largest regular season attendance, annually. I guess the ductwork needed painting, but the paying public wasn't shouting for it.
I think baseball has a new stadium under construction.
As to his 15 years, I think the internal politics he inherited would have prevented a football focus the first 5 to 10 years. UK sports is a pretty big ship, and he and the new (then) powers had to jettison lottsa' dead wood, early on. This jettisoning earned Barnhardt a whole lot of loud negativity his first 5 years, some of which still shows up in these perpetual threads trashing him.
And as some have asked whether a complete stranger could have done as much or more, I think Barnhardt has elevated Kentucky Football support to the level, or close to the level of support UK basketball receives. I never thought that would be possible at UK.
Did his accomplishments take time?
Yes.
Jauk loves to point to the time period of 2007. A year that a long-term 750 million dollar plan was announced, only to fall on the scrap heap of the Great Recession . . . . just as the planned new law school at Kentucky was lost (or at least still delayed) to the down turn.
Rob asks what did Barnhardt accomplish in his 15 years . . . . a pretty easy question to answer. He has accomplished the longest tenure of Kentucky athletic modern history without the "shame" of NCAA penalties or sanctions, and at long last, brought UK sports into the 21st Century.
He came here battling an established system that would (then) have rivaled the questionable business model of U of L (now), and has slowly turned the ship of UK strongly toward the future, and has done so, by all accounts, ethically.
Could he have done it quicker? Sure, just look at U of L's recent forensic accounting to show you how short cuts can be taken, to deceive a city, a state, donors, and students to achieve tons of brick and mortar on a foundation of greed, self-dealing and filth.
Thank you Hack for a voice of reason and truth in the evolution of UK sports to the level we witness today.
![[cheers]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/5628.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
When I see posts, especially from those I respect, such as Jauk11 and UKRob 73, I wonder how close they have been to some of the "dealings" back in the 70's and 80's.
I know (or I'm pretty sure UKRob 73 played football at UK), but being on campus from the early to the mid-eighties taught me a whole lot about how things used to work.
I was there prior to my professional career, and got to meet and even befriend some folks who were in the know, in the system, and some who took it upon themselves to provide massive financial assistance, both on and off the books for UK athletics.
I once made a post on a roundball forum that UK athletics (primarily basketball) in the early 1980's was the closest thing to organized crime that I had personally observed in my life . . . . and that includes 16 years as a prosecutor.
That went over on the forum like a lead balloon. I had moderators privately messaging me, thinking I was a Card fan, etc. They quit questioning me when I gave them the details of who I once knew, some of the stuff I observed, and my modest credentials from long-ago, and today.
Those of us who are primarily football folks cheered Barnhardt's hiring, and the end of Ivey's days, because I think we all felt that an watershed moment had occurred.
I seriously doubted that Barnhardt could long survive in his position, or force the broadening of the athletic focus of the University, or ever elevate UK Football to near the status of the roundball program.
Oh, I've had my moments of frustration . . . . cancelling my season tickets a year prior to the general strike that brought about Joker's demise, and refusing to attend UK functions for two years. My wrath came at a Spring game, where only two concession stands were open, the restrooms were locked 10 minutes after the game, and my party damn near got arrested for moving into the upstairs covered portion of the stadium during a rainstorm.
I blamed Barnhardt, then, for shoddy treatment of football fans, but realistically I must credit him for weathering the Great Recession, the hatred of the Old Guard that he and University President pushed aside, and the slow but certain redirection of the University sports endeavors to balanced and sustained success.
Some claim our AD has been lucky to land Cal and Stoops.
Maybe.
But if he has been merely lucky, he is following in the footsteps of our greatest football coach, Bear Bryant, who decades ago declared he'd rather have luck than talent on his side (but recruited youngsters who were "agile, mobile and hostile" to foster his "luck.").
Mitch's greatest error was sticking his foot in his mouth in Joker's dying days. But even that massive error might have helped in the long run.
Stoops thought Kentucky looked like a promising landing place, at about the same time we were dropping a home game to Western.
You think Stoops might have been a little impressed with an AD with nads enough to go to bat for a head coach under fire?
I know (or I'm pretty sure UKRob 73 played football at UK), but being on campus from the early to the mid-eighties taught me a whole lot about how things used to work.
I was there prior to my professional career, and got to meet and even befriend some folks who were in the know, in the system, and some who took it upon themselves to provide massive financial assistance, both on and off the books for UK athletics.
I once made a post on a roundball forum that UK athletics (primarily basketball) in the early 1980's was the closest thing to organized crime that I had personally observed in my life . . . . and that includes 16 years as a prosecutor.
That went over on the forum like a lead balloon. I had moderators privately messaging me, thinking I was a Card fan, etc. They quit questioning me when I gave them the details of who I once knew, some of the stuff I observed, and my modest credentials from long-ago, and today.
Those of us who are primarily football folks cheered Barnhardt's hiring, and the end of Ivey's days, because I think we all felt that an watershed moment had occurred.
I seriously doubted that Barnhardt could long survive in his position, or force the broadening of the athletic focus of the University, or ever elevate UK Football to near the status of the roundball program.
Oh, I've had my moments of frustration . . . . cancelling my season tickets a year prior to the general strike that brought about Joker's demise, and refusing to attend UK functions for two years. My wrath came at a Spring game, where only two concession stands were open, the restrooms were locked 10 minutes after the game, and my party damn near got arrested for moving into the upstairs covered portion of the stadium during a rainstorm.
I blamed Barnhardt, then, for shoddy treatment of football fans, but realistically I must credit him for weathering the Great Recession, the hatred of the Old Guard that he and University President pushed aside, and the slow but certain redirection of the University sports endeavors to balanced and sustained success.
Some claim our AD has been lucky to land Cal and Stoops.
Maybe.
But if he has been merely lucky, he is following in the footsteps of our greatest football coach, Bear Bryant, who decades ago declared he'd rather have luck than talent on his side (but recruited youngsters who were "agile, mobile and hostile" to foster his "luck.").
Mitch's greatest error was sticking his foot in his mouth in Joker's dying days. But even that massive error might have helped in the long run.
Stoops thought Kentucky looked like a promising landing place, at about the same time we were dropping a home game to Western.
You think Stoops might have been a little impressed with an AD with nads enough to go to bat for a head coach under fire?
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That was a great post The-Hack. I cannot claim to know the inner workings of Kentucky athletics now or anytime in the past. I can say that I remember when the trustees toured the campus years ago and were flabbergasted at how run down the entire university was, not just the athletic department. That was when plans were put into place for a total campus wide face-lift starting I believe with the dorms. When I think about that I tend to think that maybe the problem with funding was much larger than what Mitch Barnhart could deal with by himself. I see a bright future for the entire university now and simply think that is something the entire state should be proud of and grateful for. Maybe I'm wrong.
You are not wrong Levi. There is a bright future. And, we of a certain age have lived to see it.
I've followed UK athletics since the late 60's, and currently the entire athletic department is in better shape from top to bottom than it has ever been by a long shot, and it's been achieved cleanly.
"Jauk loves to point to the time period of 2007."
No, jauk points to every year from the time mitch got here until he caused UK football to lose so much money and so many fans he literally had to do something because fans took the unprecedented action of going on strike. Fortunately about then the MILLIONS started rolling in, (a LOT had already rolled in, sold out every game in 07 and the SEC started giving out $5,000,000 bonuses-------NONE to speak of went back to football) the money mainly became available because OTHER SEC teams didn't have their heads in the sand and caused a huge influx of money from THEIR bowl games and TV contracts (NONE of our bowls generated much profit for us after expenses, in fact I think I have read that some of the lesser bowls the participating teams lost money, although they did contribute some to the SEC pot) AND we didn't even manage to break even for FIVE years in a row so we weren't bowl eligible even with four OOC games, couldn't even beat some teams just stepping up to the big leagues.
About this great depression, isn't that about the time Thug U spent $80,000,000 on their football exercise room, they already had their 100,000 seat stadium. Isn't this the time period when Thug U, with every conceivable football advantage in the world had a football recruiting budget THREE times ours, when ours was LESS for 25 commits than our basketball programs budget (when our basketball program had EVERY advantage) for four or five players, at the time? Isn't that about the time that Transfer U went from small college to major league, and then started beating us every year? Didn't minor league WKU beat us two years in a row?
The first and ONLY thing out of the ordinary mitch did for football that I know of in well over a decade was redoing the video screens, with a projected useful life of ten years when they were built, and how much do you think video systems progressed in those ten years? They were still stretched to 12 years IIRC, and the funny thing to me is that the money that couldn't possibly be raised any sooner was replaced in a day or so when the profs objected to LOANING football some of the MILLIONS it had given them over the years.
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I've not been a fan of MB... He lost me... But of late he's had a good run. He seems a good man and it's nice to see good things happen to a good guy...
But his success after 20 years might also prove that if you stand on the street long enough the bus might someday stop and pick you up........
But his success after 20 years might also prove that if you stand on the street long enough the bus might someday stop and pick you up........
Is there anything that can happen with football that will let you get over your unhappiness with MB? Damn, we are finally starting to see a coach turn things around with our football program and all you want to do is bitch about how MB didn't do enough fast enough.
Sure, it would have been great to carry over Brooks' momentum as opposed to the Joker fiasco, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. Some on here just seem like they don't want to be happy, even when things are going well.
Mitch Barnhart is the best AD we have had since Bernie Shively and you naysayers need to grow up and quit bitching..Would you be happy if we were in the shape and situation UL is in? they are getting ready to be fried. Good grief.
Or his success might prove he is a man of character that methodically worked through an old boy network and a total rebuild of a crumbling infrastructure through a dysfunctional general assembly with archaic rules for bonding projects instate despite all the bile and insults from fans. These fans remind me of the very same ones who use to hurl insults toward Mike Hartline from the stands. They somehow find comfort in the mob-think that is so often found off the rails of intellectual honesty.
I haven't always agreed with his ways but the bottom line he hs done a good job, lifting UK in the SEC in football, baseball, women's softball. He has made a couple of bad decisions in hiring a drunk Billy Gillespie, hiring wanderiing eye Joker Phillips and keeping a tyrantical Matthew Mitchell.
MB > anyone else we could have at AD. Cal, Stoops, and Mingione. Hard to find a stronger trio in the SEC.
jauk has told and retold himself this narrative so many times he actually believes it...#alternativefacts.
Hey jauk, there has never been a $5,000,000 SEC bonus.
The AD doesn't set a recruiting budget. Add that every coach who has coached since MB has been at UK has stated that they were given whatever they asked for with regards to the recruiting budget they set for themselves.
You continue to obsess about video screens that weren't being replaced because they were trying to get major stadium renovations approved. You also obviously forget that the stadium had just been expanded 2 years before Mitch's arrival.
No, not all of the 2007 season home games were sellouts. 3 in fact were not.
3 of those 5 years without a bowl were under the current coach. Are you suggesting the Mitch should have fired Stoops and hired someone else?
He only stood on the corner about 12 years as far as football is concerned, IMO, LOL. But the SEC sure drove a nice new shiny bus for him to jump on.
Where do all you all come up with this garbage that I am unhappy with Stoops or where the program is now, I have always been an optimist and have believed in Stoops since he started fixing our major problem, a man with a plan, that recognized that our fans weren't just bb fans (Ever since Curci cheated, TALENT, not coaching, has been our biggest problem, and a lot of the talent problem has been due to the sorry support for football-------Joker went to Florida his first year with TWO four stars playing, offset by TWO walkons starting, with more two stars starting than three stars against a TWO DEEP on offense AND defense that AVERAGED over a 5.9 as commits-------and some fans expected us to beat them)-------LOL.
I am just unhappy with the ten or twelve WASTED years when any good business man would have invested in the money cow instead of milking it dry. He would have had a lot more money to invest in OTHER sports if he hadn't had football on a starvation diet, and I have given a lot of FACTS that prove that was the situation.
I just object to ANYONE making mitch out to be a football hero when for about a dozen years the opposite was true, in fact I refuse to let those dumb posts go unchallenged.
Sure we landed in a good place IMO, but what the hell else could mitch do with all the money rolling in and after losing millions and about a third of our season ticket holders, and a lot of his hiring has been just good luck-------AND his bad hiring has been very bad. And I do give him a lot of credit for being lucky. And how about writing a contract on a piece of toilet paper (someone else said that, not me) which cost UK a million or so. And the "microwave fans" comment was terrible, and he never backed off from it that I know of, that also cost us millions, although most football fans had already said they would never donate a penny to football as long as he could spend it as he pleased. And if that is inaccurate then he did NOTHING to correct the impression.
Have to leave for my blackjack tourney, my social club. They actually give away money-------IF you are smart enough not to gamble while you are there.
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Really? Are you seriously using UL as a standard to assess Barnhart's performance? Do you have any clue at all what is going on at UL? Their basketball program is under investigation for using prostitutes to recruit players. Soon, the NCAA will penalize their basketball program. Their corrupt financial relationship with their basketball arena is under investigation. Their Foundation is under investigation for corruption. Their President and their Board were just forced to resign in disgrace. So with all due respect, if your case against Barnhart is that he doesn't do business like Jurich, then you must have gone off the deep end. LOL!
Jauk will never allow facts to get in the way of his entrenched confirmation bias. He believes he is on a mission from God.
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