Mitch Barnhart wins AD of the year

[JFCats22]

Good for him and congrats! I know there are some that don't like him but not really sure why.

He has done a tremendous job while at UK.

http://www.lex18.com/story/29041872/barnhart-chosen-for-athletics-director-of-the-year-award

 

[kyfan606]

He has made a few mistakes with hires, but over all has done a great job with the over all program not just the basketball team.

 

[MWes11]

Congrats Mitch. Great job.

 

[8XCHAMP]

He didnt do "a great job w the basketball team"....the hiring of Cal was done over his head.....

 

[HICATFAN]

He didnt do "a great job w the basketball team"....the hiring of Cal was done over his head.....

How do you know this? What is your proof? Thanks

AlohaCat

 

[8XCHAMP]

Mike Pratt lead a search team that brought Cal to UK...2 yrs earlier Mitch didnt want Cal and hired billy g....

 

[kyfan606]

Yes he got it wrong with Billy G but got it right 2 years later.

 

[Cats78]

He didnt do "a great job w the basketball team"....the hiring of Cal was done over his head.....

You're really on a roll lately with negative, goofy posts. Either way, he still made the hire, but did make some mistakes in Gillespie and Joker. He's still been a good AD and thank god he's kept us out of trouble and got rid of the good ol boy redneck booster system from the past. Just curious, since you and several others probably think he's a terrible AD....how did he manage to get this award if he's so bad??

 

[ORCAT]

Congrats to Barnhart. I know many are still critical of him as we can see already in this thread, but he really has done a fine job at Kentucky and we have been very competitive in sports across the board. He deserves credit for much of that success and for the current advances being made in the football program including all the improvements in facilities. I can't say I've always agreed with his moves but he has done a fine job and is deserving of this honor.

 

[mebeblue2]

well deserved
MB is the best AD UK has ever had

 

[ThroughBlue]

Got it wrong with Billy G and Joker. Congrats on the award. He has made up for those mistakes in my eyes.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

Suck it Jurich!

 

[bthaunert]

Mike Pratt lead a search team that brought Cal to UK...2 yrs earlier Mitch didnt want Cal and hired billy g....

False. Lee Todd wouldn't let Cal anywhere close to UK when Tubby left.

 

[3rex]

Congratulations, Mitch. Sign the check the award comes with over to Cal, and your Karma will be in balance.

Yes, Mitch, always remember that all good things that come to UK are a result of Cal, and Cal alone...

lol

 

[8XCHAMP]

He kept Tubby longer than he should have, hired and kept joker longer than he should have, hired a drunk as a basketball coach without fully investigating him. and thank god Stoops called mitch , not the other way around , lord knows we would have ended up with one of mitch's buddies. Henderson has done what with the baseball team? And i fully believe the new facilities are not of his doing.

 

[3rex]

Unsurprisingly, given your history, you have falsely characterized my post.

So I'll make it easy for you: Subtract Cal and the basketball program's success for the past six years from the equation. Add the more modest level of success UK would have had under most other coaches hired to rescue the program from the NIT-level produced by the disastrous hire of BCG. Then try to imagine that the result, minus Cal, adds up to "Athletic Director of the Year."

seems like I characterized it exactly right.

Subtract Cal, and Mitch doesn't have his award. At least that sounds like what you're saying.

Might be true...then again, you have no way of knowing that.

Its ok to worship Cal. Certainly anyone's right.

 

[Cawood86]

MB has done a good job with the sports programs overall at UK. Has he swung and missed on a couple of high profile hires? Yes. But a lot of AD's have done that. UF hiring Muschamp, Bama hiring Mike Shula, UT hiring Derek Dooley, etc. So it happens.

 

[cat_in_the_hat]

Mike Pratt lead a search team that brought Cal to UK...2 yrs earlier Mitch didnt want Cal and hired billy g....

If you are interested in the truth and not just bashing our AD, read Lee Todd's account of what happened with the hiring of Cal. Mike Pratt has corroborated Todd's version of the story as accurate.

 

[bthaunert]

He kept Tubby longer than he should have, hired and kept joker longer than he should have, hired a drunk as a basketball coach without fully investigating him. and thank god Stoops called mitch , not the other way around , lord knows we would have ended up with one of mitch's buddies. Henderson has done what with the baseball team? And i fully believe the new facilities are not of his doing.

He might have kept Tubby 1 season too long, if that. Tubby was successful 2002 - 2005, and then struggled his last 2 seasons. He screwed up with Billy, knew it and pulled the plug after year 2. It was a bad hire. Joker was a good hire when made, but that went south quick. Maybe a year too long.

Who do you believe spearheaded the facility improvements?

Look, do I think Mitch is perfect, far from it. He's made some mistakes, and luckily, recovered from them, But the idea that anything that has been successful under his watch has landed on his lap, I disagree with.

 

[8XCHAMP]

Mike Pratt met w Cal in Memphis...i think that is a little more than recommending it...and do you see tom jurich sending out darrell griffith to find a basketball coach?

 

[bthaunert]

If you are interested in the truth and not just bashing our AD, read Lee Todd's account of what happened with the hiring of Cal. Mike Pratt has corroborated Todd's version of the story as accurate.

Posters always say it was Mitch that didn't want Cal when it has been proven over and over again that is inaccurate.

 

[8XCHAMP]

Why was joker a gd hire? No head coaching experience and you give him the keys to an SEC football program? Tubby lost his mojo about 3 seasons before he left. (How many yrs did Minny allow him to hang around)? As far as letting BCG go, he had no choice, it was a disaster of a hire. And how about Henderson? The guy has done nothing w our baseball program. As far as the new facilities, i fully believe w all the conference realignments that the SEC forced Mitch's hand in this one.

 

[DrH. Lecter]

Congrats to MB. Long overdue. He has done a fantastic job. And he doesn't try to hog the limelight or make everything about him like the egomaniac at lilBro. He doesn't attempt to control the media with threats. He doesn't employ everyone in his family and make the Athletic Dept his little personal piggy bank/kingdom. He hasn't screwed the taxpayers of Fayette County by negotiating illegal deals.

He does his job ethically, efficiently and obviously very well.

 

[bthaunert]

Why was joker a gd hire?

When Joker was hired as HCIW, UK was coming off back-to-back 8-5 seasons where the offense averaged 37ppg in the season leading up to his promotion. At the time, it was a good hire.

 

[Kycatspaws]

Congrats to M. B.

 

[8XCHAMP]

No it wasn't...NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE...why do people still think joker was 'a good hire' that is laughable.

 

[bthaunert]

No it wasn't...NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE...why do people still think joker was 'a good hire' that is laughable.

Thank god teams like Florida State, Oregon, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Mississippi State didn't require head coaching experience when they hired their coaches. By the way, does the name Mark Stoops ring a bell?

 

[Comebakatz3]

I am a Barnhart defender, but one thing I do not like about him is that he seems to move pretty slowly. I think the writing was on the wall for Joker and Barnhart could/should have pulled the plug earlier. I don't think that he did anything wrong with Tubby, that was a difficult situation no matter when he fires him. Now, with the baseball team we are in another situation where the writing is on the wall and Barnhart is going to stick with Henderson for quite a while. I knew basketball and football would make changes soon enough, but with baseball I worry Barnhart will continue to let things play out and won't make the necessary changes to both the facilities and the head coach until well down the road.

 

[DDS62]

How do you know this? What is your proof? Thanks

AlohaCat

The proof is the FACT that Lee Todd formed the Selection Committee. There had never been a Committee convened for the purpose of hiring a basketball or coach until the aftermath of the Gillispie hire. Stick your heads in the sand if you wish, but Barnhart did not make the decision to hire Calipari.

 

[8XCHAMP]

Mitch walks on water.......

 

[bthaunert]

Mitch walks on water.......

I don't think anyone says Mitch walks on water. I think Mitch has some issues..mainly that he is not a risk taker, is too much of a company man, and just doesn't have great PR skills. But to say he is a horrible AD is ignoring what he has accomplished since being here and only focusing on the bad.

 

[8XCHAMP]

Who said he was horrible? Just dont think he's as great as some make him out to be..

 

[DDS62]

I am a Barnhart defender, but one thing I do not like about him is that he seems to move pretty slowly. I think the writing was on the wall for Joker and Barnhart could/should have pulled the plug earlier. I don't think that he did anything wrong with Tubby, that was a difficult situation no matter when he fires him. Now, with the baseball team we are in another situation where the writing is on the wall and Barnhart is going to stick with Henderson for quite a while. I knew basketball and football would make changes soon enough, but with baseball I worry Barnhart will continue to let things play out and won't make the necessary changes to both the facilities and the head coach until well down the road.

And not only did Barnhart NOT make the decision to hire Calipari, he also did NOT make the decision to fire Gillispie. Just like Tubby and Henderson, he was sitting on his hands content with status quo while the programs were falling apart. Tubby saw the problem much clearer than Barnhart and made the decision for him, and walked away. But it was, once again, Lee todd that stepped away from his duties in the he Administration bldg and walked into Memorial and told Barnhart to fire the bum.

As for Joker keep in mind that Barnhart was our AD for four years prior to making the decision to appoint him CIW, and for all four of those years Joker was one of our top assistant coaches. Barnhart had years to evaluate him and still made an absolute stinker of a decision.

 

[8XCHAMP]

^^^^AMEN!^^^^

 

[catfaninsc]

Congrats Mitch. Well deserved.

 

[fuzz77]

And not only did Barnhart NOT make the decision to hire Calipari, he also did NOT make the decision to fire Gillispie. Just like Tubby and Henderson, he was sitting on his hands content with status quo while the programs were falling apart. Tubby saw the problem much clearer than Barnhart and made the decision for him, and walked away. But it was, once again, Lee todd that stepped away from his duties in the he Administration bldg and walked into Memorial and told Barnhart to fire the bum.

As for Joker keep in mind that Barnhart was our AD for four years prior to making the decision to appoint him CIW, and for all four of those years Joker was one of our top assistant coaches. Barnhart had years to evaluate him and still made an absolute stinker of a decision.

Dude, Joker was named HCIW at the request of Rich Brooks who didn't want to lose Joker to Oklahoma who wanted Joker as OC. Who knows more about football coaches...other football coaches or administrators? Brooks had hand picked Mike Bilotti when he left Oregon...Oregon hasn't performed an outside coaching search since Brooks was hired there in 1977. The "plan" was to copy the Oregon plan and build continuity within the program, not hire a coach who would come in and completely change the system and requiring a transition period while the roster rolled over to a adapt to a new style. Nobody was unhappy when Joker was named HCIW, there was no way in hell that once being named the first African-American HC(in waiting) in the SEC that Joker wasn't going to be allowed to prove if he was up to the task.
Joker was given the rope and he proceeded to hang himself.

I'm not sure where you get your information but you need to find a new source because I know with 100% certianty that the only thing that Lee Todd had to do with Billy Clyde's firing was not objecting when he was informed of the plan to do so. Mitch was also deeply involved with the hiring of Cal.
FYI, a good manager and administrator is someone who surrounds themselves with those who have strengths and knowledge in areas where they may be weak. It isn't an athletics director's job to be an expert in all sports, they are ADMINISTRATORS who know how to form budgets, raise funds, and make hiring and firing decisions...often with the input of the people with whom they surround themselves.
Pratt was brought into the process of hiring Calipari because Mike knew Cal and because Mitch had trust in Mike's assessment. I'm not sure how that's supposed to be a knock on Mitch. Pratt isn't involved in the hiring unless Mitch asks him to be there.

When Barnhart was hired UK's athletics program was in trouble with the NCAA because of several rouge boosters who refused to comply with NCAA regulations. Mitch was forced to disassociate those boosters from the university removing all access they had to the program. To this day they are not allowed to attend any UK home games. Those former boosters have tried to smear Barnhart ever since by spreading lies and trying to discredit Mitch from any successes at UK. You've obviously bought into those lies because those of us who actually know a little about what goes on inside the offices at UK know the truth.

 

[Cats78]

Who said he was horrible? Just dont think he's as great as some make him out to be..

Who makes him out to be great and says he walks on water??????

I see a ton of the opposite on this board and you seem to have listed a ton of things you won't give him credit for in addition to negatives. I think he's been a fine AD but recognize some mistakes he's made. Nothing more than that. I'm not sure about the over the top negative stuff though. Doesn't make sense. Guess everyone wants him to be Jurich who has made mistakes too and is generally a scum bag? Personally, he's fine and is a little goofy, but I'm glad we don't have the old network we had back in the day, that's for sure.

My question is....if he is how you describe him (which is clearly very negative), how did he win this award?

 

[Kybluedude]

I think he has improved but is a terrible PR guy n and and lousy fund raiser because if it. Luckily he has the SEC money to work with. If he was at different school that needed a AD to mingle and draw contributions ... Not gonna happen

 

[crestcat]

------- mitch and his microwave

 

[UKWildcats#8]

8xChamp was posting revisionist history about Chuck Hayes rape allegation on the football board just the other day. He is not an expert on UK sports history guys. He seemed to insinuate Chuck Hayes was Allowed to keep playing "because he was a basketball player" as if Tubman was not because he plays another sport. The problem with his theory (other than the obvious) is Hayes issues came after he had left UK and played his last game.

So, take what he says with a grain of salt. Good for Mitch...although I'm not sure I'd have voted him #1 overall as the top AD of the year. He has done a solid job overall though despite some early mistakes.