We need to hire Peavey as AD right now.

[.S&C.]

I am still waiting on that list of UK AD's that have done more for our athletics then MB has

don't let your hate rule you. put up or shut up

You're evading the issue. I think Barnhart is actually one of the worst. I don't compare generations either. It takes hella ignorance to do that. Are you ignorant? You realize times make matters different yes?

You can't defend his record where it matters unless you give him credit where it's not due.

Next.

 

[Bigblueforever]

Don't get me wrong, I love Cal as the coach, wouldn't want anyone else to be the coach, and couldn't have asked for a better run than he has UK on right now, but I seriously doubt UK would be the worst athletic program if not for Cal. Cal is not bigger than UK basketball. UK basketball always has been and always will be one of the best basketball programs in the country. There's no doubt in my mind that if Cal wasn't hired, UK basketball would have still found a way thrive.

How in this world could make that statement? Kentucky would never be where it is today if Cal wasn't our coach.

 

[Rolf Russman]

HUH?!

Kentucky Softball was in the WCWS like 2 years ago, and a perennial top-25 team right now.

Womens' basketball has made 3 Elite Eights under Matthew Mitchell, perennial top-25 team.

Kentucky volleyball is certainly a perennial top-25 team right now, had a lot of success lately.

Kentucky cheerleading is like 500 times national champions.

Men's tennis singles was the national runner-up like 2 seasons ago.

Kentucky basketball has obviously made 4 of the last 5 Final Fours.

But you're right, without basketball, we'd be the worst athletic program in the SEC

#MORON

Good post Tampa. In addition to the teams you cited above, the Lady Kat track team finished second to perennial track power Oregon in the NCAA Championship meet last June.

Yeah, football still has its ups-and-downs but overall I'd say I'm very satisfied with the direction our athletic program is headed. Doing it with quality kids too.

 

[mebeblue2]

You're evading the issue. I think Barnhart is actually one of the worst. I don't compare generations either. It takes hella ignorance to do that. Are you ignorant? You realize times make matters different yes?

You can't defend his record where it matters unless you give him credit where it's not due.

Next.

still waiting, stop deflecting
with all the deflecting, are you a UL fan? you sure post like one

i am sure you know that MB and Cal have a very good relationship now

 

[.S&C.]

still waiting, stop deflecting
with all the deflecting, are you a UL fan? you sure post like one

i am sure you know that MB and Cal have a very good relationship now

Doesn't matter. He didn't want him. He was forced. It's obvious to anyone with a brain.

You give him credit where it's not due, and you're a basketball only fan obviously. There's nothing more to discuss with ya.

 

[.S&C.]

Good post Tampa. In addition to the teams you cited above, the Lady Kat track team finished second to perennial track power Oregon in the NCAA Championship meet last June.

Yeah, football still has its ups-and-downs but overall I'd say I'm very satisfied with the direction our athletic program is headed. Doing it with quality kids too.

Yea good post. Our row team has never been better, and as Tampa said, how could anyone have a problem with Stoops?

He just admitted he doesn't even watch football with that statement. So no, he's not making good post.

 

[.S&C.]

Bostoncat:

I'm talking about hose schools having less than UK, being in the middle of a wasteland, not having blue chips galore, but still competing depending on the year.

You know what I'm talking about. UK can absolutely compete if they want to. There's zero reasons why Arkansas can be known for decent football but we can't. Same goes for any mid major that does decent.

We don't even compete when it counts. Just an occasional decent year, and the occasional upset every 10 years.

 

[mebeblue2]

Doesn't matter. He didn't want him. He was forced. It's obvious to anyone with a brain.

You give him credit where it's not due, and you're a basketball only fan obviously. There's nothing more to discuss with ya.

"basketball only fan" is the single dumbest thing i have heard
only a UL fan would use that term to divide UK fans
i am a UK fan period

you are one those that will never give MB the credit he deserves
you are correct in that we have nothing further to discuss

 

[BostonCat2001]

Bostoncat:

I'm talking about hose schools having less than UK, being in the middle of a wasteland, not having blue chips galore, but still competing depending on the year.

You know what I'm talking about. UK can absolutely compete if they want to. There's zero reasons why Arkansas can be known for decent football but we can't. Same goes for any mid major that does decent.

We don't even compete when it counts. Just an occasional decent year, and the occasional upset every 10 years.

i think you think they have less, but in reality have a ton more.

 

[UK till Death]

Good post Tampa. In addition to the teams you cited above, the Lady Kat track team finished second to perennial track power Oregon in the NCAA Championship meet last June.

Yeah, football still has its ups-and-downs but overall I'd say I'm very satisfied with the direction our athletic program is headed. Doing it with quality kids too.

Women's track?!?!?!?

 

[hoodro]

How in this world could make that statement? Kentucky would never be where it is today if Cal wasn't our coach.

Umm... probably because I never made that statement. Never once did I say UK would be they are today without Cal. I simply said that UK basketball would have eventually turned it around and found a way to thrive, and wouldn't have fallen to where the football team is.

 

[EvilMD]

Tell me the last time you've been to Morgantown W Virgina? Have you ever been to Fayetville Arkansas?

It's false that UK can't compete. We have an administration that doesn't want to compete.

And why would they? They get the same amount of money being mediocre and the fans can't get enough of it. Win/win.

Smart business.

Got damn they just improved the stadium, the recruiting room, the rest of the facilities...what do you want? Just last year Michigan was interested in Stoops and this year they were mentioning him at Miami.

But by all means defend U of L for bringing back Petrino. Because that's what we want here, Bobby Petrino. How'd HE do in Fayetteville?

 

[63in62]

This has devolved into lunacy. Mitch sucks because we got a lot of SEC money? Do the other SEC teams not enjoy that same benefit? And yes, Gillispie was a bad hire. So was Doherty at UNC, Kragthorpe at U of L, Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson at IU, Most of the football coaches at Duke, Every football coach except Spurrier and Meyer at Florida, Most of the basketball and football coaches at UCLA....show me a university that has made grand slam hires in both sports.

So you are going to make a case that Barnhart is great by comparing him to the worst ADs of all time and the terrible hires they made?

 

[.S&C.]

So you are going to make a case that Barnhart is great by comparing him to the worst ADs of all time and the terrible hires they made?

Just wait. It gets better.

Women's track?!?!?!?

Barhart better treat UK fans good. Where else do you get this kind mindset?

 

[.S&C.]

So you are going to make a case that Barnhart is great by comparing him to the worst ADs of all time and the terrible hires they made?

i think you think they have less, but in reality have a ton more.

How do backward, small, mountain towns have more means than UK?

They don't. They have fans that want to win in football. UK is borderline top 25 in attendance with horrible football teams. It's something to do until basketball season. Our administration is well aware of this. You've already said we can't win in football. I will never agree with that.

 

[MudererofCrows]

Bostoncat:

I'm talking about hose schools having less than UK, being in the middle of a wasteland, not having blue chips galore, but still competing depending on the year.

You know what I'm talking about. UK can absolutely compete if they want to. There's zero reasons why Arkansas can be known for decent football but we can't. Same goes for any mid major that does decent.

We don't even compete when it counts. Just an occasional decent year, and the occasional upset every 10 years.

Arkansas is a very successful football program with tons of history. We have 2 conference titles in all of our history for example (and an overall losing record). Arkansas has 13 conference titles.

 

[.S&C.]

Got damn they just improved the stadium, the recruiting room, the rest of the facilities...what do you want? Just last year Michigan was interested in Stoops and this year they were mentioning him at Miami.

But by all means defend U of L for bringing back Petrino. Because that's what we want here, Bobby Petrino. How'd HE do in Fayetteville?

EVILMD, Calm down.

What do I want?

An administration that demands a competitive football team.

An athletic director that is centered around winning where it matters.

UK fans to band together and demand more.

That's all.

 

[.S&C.]

Arkansas is a very successful football program with tons of history. We have 2 conference titles in all of our history for example (and an overall losing record). Arkansas has 13 conference titles.

I don't care what they've done. It's how they've done it. Holy shit people really?

When some of you actually travel through Arkansas and visit Fayetville, you'll see. There's no reason they can, and we can't

And we have before, so let's stop lying like we can't.

 

[UK till Death]

Just wait. It gets better.


Barhart better treat UK fans good. Where else do you get this kind mindset?

That's the funniest part... the jackass has been disrespectful and even downright hostile to UK fans yet you see how many are still licking his boots.

Battered fan syndrome, IMO.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

I need to visit the football boards more. Kind of feel foolish that I didn't even realize the football fans want to get rid of Stoops? Who do the football fans think we can get to replace him that will do a better job as Stoops has improved recruiting already, right?

I know the football folks want to win badly but if their answer is to fire MB and Stoops then I think they are not objectively looking at the issue and just want to have somebody's scalp vindictively. Stoops deserves at least 2 more years and it would be utterly ridiculous to fire Mitch Barnhart. That is a non-starter. There is nobody logical or rational that thinks MB should be fired. That and this thread are senseless. Sorry. I hope the lynch mob comes to realize nobody on earth outside their small group even thinks any of this is even remotely an issue.

 

[.S&C.]

I need to visit the football boards more. Kind of feel foolish that I didn't even realize the football fans want to get rid of Stoops? Who do the football fans think we can get to replace him that will do a better job as Stoops has improved recruiting already, right?

I know the football folks want to win badly but if their answer is to fire MB and Stoops then I think they are not objectively looking at the issue and just want to have somebody's scalp vindictively. Stoops deserves at least 2 more years and it would be utterly ridiculous to fire Mitch Barnhart. That is a non-starter. There is nobody logical or rational that thinks MB should be fired. That and this thread are senseless. Sorry. I hope the lynch mob comes to realize nobody on earth outside their small group even thinks any of this is even remotely an issue.

No realistic football fan would fire stoops yet. But he's failing and failing big time. The fact a huge portion of rafters doesn't even realize this is the funniest part (they seem to be his biggest supporters too) yet they defend Barnhart Knowing very little about what's actually going on. They even credit him for cal. It takes a special kind of stupid.

I'm a KENTUCKY FAN. I'm die hard in both main sports. It appears this board has some bandwagon basketball fans. if you don't even understand the situation with the money maker sport, you need no opinion at all on Barnhart. It's ridiculous to think otherwise.

 

[MudererofCrows]

I don't care what they've done. It's how they've done it. Holy shit people really?

When some of you actually travel through Arkansas and visit Fayetville, you'll see. There's no reason they can, and we can't

And we have before, so let's stop lying like we can't.

I've been to Arkansas.

Arkansas fired Lou Holtz (a coach who went 60-21-2 and would later win a National Championship at Notre Dame) because the fanbase (and Frank Broyles) was unhappy.

You ignore years of historical, cultural and demographic data to make your points. A more apt comparison would be a school like Mississippi State.

You know what's really funny to me? If Mitch is so "horrible" why is it that the team he assembled to turn around the UKAA (which they have. Even though football is still a mess) keep getting high profile jobs? Greg Bryne, Scott Stricklin, Rob Mullins, etc. etc.

Kentucky Football is a graveyard. Only two HC's have survived here to do anything post-UK: Bear Bryant and Blanton Collier...and we fired Blanton. Kentucky Football is a bigger mess to fix into what you and I want and everyone else than people realize. I'm unhappy with Stoops but I also take the longview.

 

[EvilMD]

So you are going to make a case that Barnhart is great by comparing him to the worst ADs of all time and the terrible hires they made?

Tom Jurich and Jeremy Foley are the worst ADs of all time? Jurich (who hired Kragthorpe) is generally regarded as one of the top ADs in the country, scandal or no. Foley (who hired the coach before Meyer and after Meyer), was there when Florida sandwiched two basketball titles around a football title.

You guys think Cal was a no brainer hire and the football team somehow can attract the next Nick Saban. Wake up. Maybe Mitch isn't Calipari's best friend. He shouldn't be. He's there to look out for the best interests of every athlete that wears a Kentucky uniform. Period.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

No realistic football fan would fire stoops yet. But he's failing and failing big time. The fact a huge portion of rafters doesn't even realize this is the funniest part (they seem to be his biggest supporters too) yet they defend Barnhart Knowing very little about what's actually going on. They even credit him for cal. It takes a special kind of stupid.

I'm a KENTUCKY FAN. I'm die hard in both main sports. It appears this board has some bandwagon basketball fans. if you don't even understand the situation with the money maker sport, you need no opinion at all on Barnhart. It's ridiculous to think otherwise.

Running around calling people "stupid" because they realized going in that it is going to take a few years of quality recruiting to get UK football competitive does not help your arguments. Matter of fact, to me, you look like somebody that is stark raving mad and just throwing vitriol around because you are not happy and want to find a scapegoat and since any rational person would not condone firing Stoops already you've decided MB must be the problem.

On the other hand the "stupid" people think Stoops is bringing in better players and that with another couple of classes he'll have UK poised to not just have a good year, but rather annually be a competitive SEC team. That, on top of the other results in the non-revenue sports plus basketball being in the stratosphere and it is just silly to think MB's job should be in jeopardy.

So what is left for you to do? Right. Call posters that disagree with you "stupid" because you really have no other argument to make.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

Tom Jurich and Jeremy Foley are the worst ADs of all time? Jurich hired Kragthorpe. Foley hired the guy between Spurrier and Meyer (Ron Something) and the guy they just fired. Let's see how Donovan's replacement does.

Jurich is generally regarded as one of the top ADs in the country. Foley was there when Florida sandwiched two basketball titles around a football title.

You guys think Cal was a no brainer hire and the football team somehow can attract the next Nick Saban. Wake up.

Jurich has turned a fine university into a cesspool. I would take MB and UK's results over that embarrassing mess any day. If you find that your university has devolved into what UL's has then you need to recalibrate what it is that you find important and get your priorities straight. UL is a mess and they deserve Jurich and what he has done to them.

Pitino and Petrino with a whorehouse right in the middle of the campus under their noses. Schemes left and right with Jurich running roughshod over the entire campus acting like he is above the program? That is a nightmare that they have at UL, not anything to admire or to certainly aspire to.

 

[EvilMD]

Jurich has turned a fine university into a cesspool. I would take MB and UK's results over that embarrassing mess any day. If you find that your university has devolved into what UL's has then you need to recalibrate what it is that you find important and get your priorities straight. UL is a mess and they deserve Jurich and what he has done to them.

Agree, I was just addressing the one guy's point that all those ADs were the worst. Many of them are considered among the best.

 

[CUT-NETS]

Matt Jones talked about Peevy this morning. Said that Mitch delegates ALL OF BASKETBALL to Peevy. Says Peevy is basically the AD of basketball at UK. Says when Mitch and Cal don't see eye to eye, Peevy is the one that fixes everything.

Guess we will find out how involved Mitch was in getting Cal here if/when Peevy leaves.

 

[.S&C.]

Matt Jones talked about Peevy this morning. Said that Mitch delegates ALL OF BASKETBALL to Peevy. Says Peevy is basically the AD of basketball at UK. Says when Mitch and Cal don't see eye to eye, Peevy is the one that fixes everything.

Guess we will find out how involved Mitch was in getting Cal here if/when Peevy leaves.

There's no secret that Barnhart has little to do with basketball and Cal doesn't like him. I don't know why Certain posters don't get it. He never wanted cal here in the first place. Barnhart does not care about winning above all. He just doesn't.

I'll never forget the shiver going absolutely nuts when Kansas was considering him. The fans pulled that plug in hurry.

In the end some people just don't quite understand the situation with Barnhart. i bet the guy loves the fact that people now give him credit for cal. Nothing but nonsense in every sense of the word.

 

[CUT-NETS]

There's no secret that Barnhart has little to do with basketball and Cal doesn't like him. I don't know why Certain posters don't get it. He never wanted cal here in the first place. Barnhart does not care about winning above all. He just doesn't.

I'll never forget the shiver going absolutely nuts when Kansas was considering him. The fans pulled that plug in hurry.

In the end some people just don't quite understand the situation with Barnhart. i bet the guy loves the fact that people now give him credit for cal. Nothing but nonsense in every sense of the word.

Agreed. MB lost me when he said in reference to fans not showing up to football games "they have an agenda". Damn right we had an agenda.

Still waiting on the poster who created the "Mitch appreciation thread" to come out and apologize.

 

[KY Long Rifle]

MB is the least of our problems. We have to play Duke tomorrow.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

What needs to be done with the football program that isn't being done? If you agree that Stoops should not be fired then what is it that you want or think MB needs to do that he has not done? What is the "thing" you are trying to accomplish aside from just calling for MB's job?

 

[EvilMD]

This place is crazy. One third of the posters are sick of Cal. One third (or probably more) are sick of Mitch. Are we or are we not in one of the best runs in our proud program's history? More Final Fours in the last five years than 90 percent of the other schools in Division I have in their entire histories. On top of that, we are competitive in other sports now, something we've never been able to say. No, we aren't competitive in football, but we never will be unless we bolt the SEC. Rich Brooks was our ceiling.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

There is no way under the sun that one third of the posters are sick of Cal. You are confusing imposters from UL, Memphis, UNC, and Duke with UK fans.

The bane of having the biggest internet fanbase there is. We attract all these imposters from the lesser schools with far smaller fan bases. UL immediately comes to mind.

 

[Mojocat]

'Six years and five days after Coach Cal had been named the new UK head coach, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, becoming just the sixth active head coach in the hall. "I don't know if Dr. (Lee) Todd and Mitch (Barnhart) didn't come to me and say, 'Hey, let's talk about this Kentucky job,' if this happens," Coach Cal said. "If I'm not at Kentucky, I'm not sure it happens. Maybe it does, I don't know."

It's really weird how Barnhart had nothing to do with Cal coming to UK, and how Cal and Barnhart hate each other, and yet Cal's first instinct when thinking about how he came to be elected to the Hall of Fame was to credit two people, and one of them was Mitch Barnhart. I don't know, maybe he's crazy, and conjures up imaginary things in his head all the time. That's probably it.

 

[Mojocat]

Yeah, there is a percentage of UK fans who don't like Cal - typically people still loyal to Pitino (unimaginably, given how long he's been gone and what he's done and said since he left), or people who decided they didn't like Cal when he was at UMass or Memphis and stuck to that. But it's a really small number. You can't really gauge something like that from a message board, for many different reasons. I recall the CJ did a poll one time, during Tubby's dark days, and the result was something over 90% approved of him. His message board approval rating at the time couldn't have been more than a quarter or so. Just not representative. I'm guessing the number of UK fans who don't like Cal is somewhere less than 5%.

Barnhart's number is higher, but for the same reasons, not tremendously higher. The hard core football fans hate him for the futility of UK football - curious, since that dates to the 1950s. I think it was his "microwave fans" comments that did in him with that crowd. Even though UK athletics has never been as healthy as it is now, some refuse to give credit for that. He came in and Lee Todd said, right off the bat, you have to put a wall between boosters and athletics. Which of course alienated those boosters. Hard to get off to that kind of start and recover....

The average fan is oblivious to most of this stuff.....

 

[MudererofCrows]

Agreed. MB lost me when he said in reference to fans not showing up to football games "they have an agenda". Damn right we had an agenda.

Still waiting on the poster who created the "Mitch appreciation thread" to come out and apologize.

People say stupid things out of frustration. I'm guilty of that. Everyone wanted Joker Phillips to work. The reason he got the HCIW tag was because he was being targeted by bigger schools as a potential OC replacement (I know one knowledgable and connected poster mentioned Oklahoma as the job) and pretty much everyone was on board because of the continuity it would bring.

The problem with Joker Phillips' tenure is the exact opposite of the Stoops tenure thus far: Joker surrounded himself with experienced coaches who were poor recruiters (much like Brooks before him) and the bottom was already falling out in terms of talent level at the end of Brooks' tenure. The "coach 'em up" model just isn't sustainable in the SEC.

Stoops' problem is he has surrounded himself with young and hungry recruiters for the most part and a booster driven effort in facility upgrades (FINALLY!) may pay dividends...but experience in coaching and talent development? These are things very, very lacking thus far.

Is Kentucky Football the hardest sell in all of major FBS football? Yes. I believe it is because so many careers have simply died here and there has never, ever, been sustainable historical success in this program.

 

[Zakk Wyldcat]

Where are the softball, women's bball and women's track message boards? Because, according to some in this thread, those are sports of major interest to UK so I'd like to read the discussions and see what the fuss is about. Thanks!

 

[MudererofCrows]

Where are the softball, women's bball and women's track message boards? Because, according to some in this thread, those are sports of major interest to UK so I'd like to read the discussions and see what the fuss is about. Thanks!

Like it or not, the reality of Title IX exists. Why not attract the best and brightest to your University to improve the overall image? Don't women deserve the opportunity to compete and grow while hopefully gaining a quality education in the process? The same for a men's soccer player or tennis or whatever.

I'm not blind to what football and men's basketball are at this level: They are (for the most part) professional factories grooming and training athletes for careers. De-facto minor leagues for the NFL and the NBA. Even Calipari himself basically acknowledges that fact. Which is one of the many reasons I like him.

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

Barnhart's number is higher, but for the same reasons, not tremendously higher. The hard core football fans hate him for the futility of UK football - curious, since that dates to the 1950s.

The football fans can't stand him because, in the 15 years he's been on the job, he's hired 3 coaches and only *one* of them has been moderately successful. Think about that! No other SEC school outside of maybe Vandy would put up with that record of futility.

Past failure is NOT an excuse for future failure.

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

How has he mismanaged basketball?

Seriously? Did you miss the Gillispie era?