Ok without everyone just hurling insults (seems everyone has a strong opinion) but I keep seeing that Barnhart is "unfireable". Why? He seems to have made more than a few fundamental mistakes in athletics, and he is the AD. So why does he get a free pass everytime? Honest question.
Barnhart discussion
- Thread starter Rupp'sRunt
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Mitch has a contract. He is evaluated and voted on to either extend/renegotiate or be terminated. Nothing more, nothing less.
Mitch killed a man in a board meeting once.
Just to see how it felt.
He's been treated with kid's gloves ever since. No one wants to cross the "Butcher" Barnhart.
Just to see how it felt.
He's been treated with kid's gloves ever since. No one wants to cross the "Butcher" Barnhart.
The fact is UK athletics as a whole have never been better. The athletes get good grades, there hasn't been a scandal, and athletics bring in a lot of money. From a university president perspective or BOT perspective he's perfect. He's not going anywhere unless it's his own decision. He's not getting fired anytime soon unless something drastic changes.
95% of UK fans don't care about the other sports, but it's Mitch's job to care about those and he's done well with them. Should he decide to get rid of Stoops I hope he's not in charge of hiring the next guy. He's clearly shown he's not great with football coaches.
95% of UK fans don't care about the other sports, but it's Mitch's job to care about those and he's done well with them. Should he decide to get rid of Stoops I hope he's not in charge of hiring the next guy. He's clearly shown he's not great with football coaches.
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I agree with his numbers across the board, but I've never seen an AD so abismal at hiring coaches for top tier spots. Concerning is an understatement.
I disagree. The Olympic sports are better. The most popular sports-
Men's basketball- he didn't make the hire so he gets no credit. But Billy Clyde is all his.
Women's basketball- in spite of almost the entire team leaving, Barnhart keeps Mitchell.
Baseball- Barnhart keeps Henderson longer than he should have and UK is a shell of what it should be.
Football- lol. Where should I begin? Joker. Stoops. Moronic, condescending statements to fans.
Barnhart has been a total failure in all the high profile sports that count at UK.
Well UK hired Cal. Some think he had no part in that, others think differently. He hired Brooks and stuck with him. Personnel wise that's the best decision he's made as AD if you don't count the Cal hire. That's not an impressive list of decisions for sure but UK is in a good spot athletically. Some of that credit has to go to him, just like some of the blame has to for the bad decisions.
I'm not sure about the Cal thing. People seem split on it. Regardless, you have to give him credit for the things he's done if you blame him for the bad things. Do we know if BCG was all Mitch's guy? I'm sure others around the program liked it as well. He did hire Brooks and keep him. I blame him for not supporting Brooks like he wanted and making him walk.
I understand from a fan's perspective why Barnhart doesn't seem like the best AD. Unless he has some kind of scandal, he's not going to be fired because of public opinion. It's up to the president and BOT. I'm not sure how much Capilouto cares about sports to be honest. Just whatever gets his name on a building. For Cap and BOT, Barnhart is the perfect guy. Because of that, he's not going anywhere regardless of fans' opinions of him.
If it was not for the coach Cal hiring he would be in real trouble
I don't disagree with anything you said in that post in the second paragraph. I agree he isn't going anywhere. I also agree about Brooks.
No AD has been able to fix UK football within the rules and football is the only sport he hasn't been able to fix . It's a body of work thing and that's why he is retained , if it were football alone then he would be let go . If football only fans want change then basketball has to fail , only way it happens . It all depends on who he hires after Cal and how they do .
1. When UK basketball is in good shape...that is by far the #1 focal point...whether Mitch had much to do with Cal is an opinion but the fact is UK basketball is really strong and that alleviates so much pressure.
2. UK is sort of like Washington DC politics...even if you don't do a great job you can still keep your job if the right people are in you corner. For Mitch to get that kind of raise was absurd...but he got it nonetheles..
3. UK is raking in cash of SEC deal and that is a biggie. Even if that money would have happened iwth Barney Fife at AD...the fact is all SEC schools are rolling in cash right now and those ADs are in the right spot at the right time.
2. UK is sort of like Washington DC politics...even if you don't do a great job you can still keep your job if the right people are in you corner. For Mitch to get that kind of raise was absurd...but he got it nonetheles..
3. UK is raking in cash of SEC deal and that is a biggie. Even if that money would have happened iwth Barney Fife at AD...the fact is all SEC schools are rolling in cash right now and those ADs are in the right spot at the right time.
Football and baseball are trainwrecks right now, and it's only a matter of time before women's basketball joins them after all the turmoil of the last year. He also placed the greatest program in the history of college basketball in the hands of Billy Gillispie. I'm thankful every day that this was Cal's dream job, otherwise Barnhart would have really done permanent damage to the program.
We all should hope he's gone before Cal retires, otherwise Barnhart will likely put his "stamp" on that program as well and we'll be rooting on Tom Crean.
We all should hope he's gone before Cal retires, otherwise Barnhart will likely put his "stamp" on that program as well and we'll be rooting on Tom Crean.
Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I really miss Brooks. His teams could win 8-9 on occasion in this SEC.
What I was getting at in the first paragraph is that people bring up other reasons as to why a good decision by Barnhart wasn't his decision. The same could be said for the bad ones. We don't know the specifics of every decision he's made. If we want to pile on him for BCG and Joker he has to get credit for Cal to at least some degree and for having Brooks here to oversee our most successful stretch of football.
I don't think he's the greatest, but he has given a lot of resources to the football team and they haven't produced. At least not yet. Yes, I know it was late, but better late than never.
I don't believe basketball has to fail for football to rise. Just because UK is a bball school doesn't mean we couldn't be respectable at football. And truth be told I think administration really believed they hired the right guy in stoops which from what I've seen is a bad call. And you can say Barnhart has a great body of work but women's rifle and track and field don't hold a candle to the revenue SEC fball brings which is why it deserves more attention to detail than 90% of all other sports.
I honestly believe if it were Mitch's decision Cal wouldn't be here, but that's just me.
That's fine. My point is we don't know for sure. Hasn't Mike Pratt come out and said that the stuff about Mitch not wanting Cal are false? Certainly, we both know he could be lying to help Mitch save face, but it at least gives credence to the idea that Mitch did in fact hire Cal. I think both sides have a good argument. I haven't done research on my own to have a true opinion on it.
Can anyone verify this? I've never heard of Pratt saying this, if true it's interesting.
I haven't seen the actual quote. I've seen a number of people on here referring to it from both sides of the argument. Folks that share your opinion argue that he said it to allow Mitch to save face.
I can't prove Barnhart was forced to hire Cal but I am sure of it. He spent the entire introductory press conference subtly apologizing for the hire and chastising Cals past. Listen to it. I was afraid Cal was gonna get up and tell him to piss off. The one big success Barnhart can point to during his tenure is that we have apparently stayed clean. Is that enough to keep the job? Apparently so.
Which is why it should be deemed a top priority behind basketball. Steps need to be taken, seems administration is ok with mediocrity. Which I'm not ok with especially when the definition of mediocrity is winning 4-5 games
Being clean should be a staple of a program, not an objective. Also there are many lvls of cheating, UNC didn't make kids go to class and the NCAA has done zilch. Would I "cheat" have Reggie bush on my team and forfeit some games? USC didn't have a problem with it.
Here's the pickle Barnhart finds himself in. You've got one of the biggest names coaching the basketball team, he commands a high pay.
My guess is Cal isn't going to take kindly to getting paid less than the football coach. Does UK have the pockets to pay 2 coaches in excess of 8 mill?
Then throw in the ego factor of a football at UK likely playing second fiddle to the basketball coach and it makes it difficult to lure them.
Barring someone with ties to UK wanting to come home, its either going to be an up and comer or take a chance on someone with baggage. We passed on Petrino, would Barnhart pass on Briles? Is he worth the baggage that would come with him?
My guess is Cal isn't going to take kindly to getting paid less than the football coach. Does UK have the pockets to pay 2 coaches in excess of 8 mill?
Then throw in the ego factor of a football at UK likely playing second fiddle to the basketball coach and it makes it difficult to lure them.
Barring someone with ties to UK wanting to come home, its either going to be an up and comer or take a chance on someone with baggage. We passed on Petrino, would Barnhart pass on Briles? Is he worth the baggage that would come with him?
I get everyone's dislike for Barnhart, but I keep reading, from other posters, this about Mike Pratt hiring Calipari. Do you all realize Mike Pratt works for UK Athletics? He is on the Athletics payroll. Do you honestly think an employee in the athletics department is going to go around Barnhart to make a hire and still have a job? Can you imagine Mike Pratt calling coaches without Mitch's permission? Pratt doesn't have that much power and honestly I am pretty sure nobody cares what he thinks or doesn't think, Barnhart included.
My guess is Barnhart along with President Todd and several community leaders, with "influence" offered their support for Calipari and Barnhart decided to move forward with the hire. Barnhart hired Calipari and BCG, he gets credit for one and messed up on the other. At least give him credit if you are going to criticize him for Stoops and BCG, which right now he does deserve the heat for Stoops and it is his job to figure it out and fix the situation.
I won't give him credit for hiring Cal, everything I read is saying he wanted Mike Brey. Which is a god awful hire after BCG
So who hired Calipari? If Barnhart didn't? Come on man you really think everything you read is the truth? You do realize most of that stuff is leaked by agents of the coaches to get their name out there.
Body of work has nothing to do with revenue , it's how competitive the individual sports are . I didn't mean basketball has to fail for football to rise , if you want a new AD then bb would need to fail for that to happen because that's what moved the needle in Ky . As long as Cal is doing his thing then there's no chance MB is let go . I see revenue thrown around on this board but you need fan interest and more fans care about bb here . People don't want to see that but it's the absolute truth and for many as long as bb does well then the rest is gravy .
I only say that because the underlying tone among fb fans is that they want a change at AD , I'm just pointing out the issue you have with that desire . I think they thought Stoops was their best choice and although it's not went as planned we still won't know the full answer until next year . It has been an impossible task to be AD for UK fb , on the good news front the facilities gap has been closed so there is hope .
The rumor he wanted Brey came about before Tubby ever left.
Barnhart has his problems, but he hired Calipari. You can't simply give him all the fault for bad hires and none of the credit for good hires.
Hell, I read on here when it looked liked Stoops was rockstar hire that he had to beg Barnhart to hire him, and now when he's failing he's Barnharts hire?
To me his biggest fail is his inability or dislike of rubbing elbows with all the big money that is within an hour drive of his home. How many billionaires have some stake in the Lexington area?
All due respect I've seen what I need out of stoops to know he's not the guy. I agree on BB being top dawg would just like to see fball rise to the competition. Never said we needed a new AD said we needed a new hiring process.
I agree, but would you be willing to possibly run off Cal in the process? It's easy for us to sit here and say pay the man, but imagine if you're the AD that let Calipari get away.
Anyone claiming that Mitch didn't hire Cal is just living in a state of denial. That same crew was saying when Stoops was hired that Mitch didn't hire Stoops either. Of course since Stoops hasn't proven to be the savior of UK football they want to fully credit Mitch with the hire.
The background to all of this goes back to a handful of then big money boosters who were partly responsible for UKs NCAA troubles before Mitch arrived. One of Mitch's first actions as AD was to ban these boosters from any future involvement in UK athletics. They lost their tickets and access they had enjoyed for years. Those former boosters have ever since held a grudge against Mitch and tried their best to discredit Mitch from anything positive that happens with UK.
Everything you read? The only place you may have ever read anything of the kind was perhaps on this or another message board. I promise you that nobody that has anything to do with the hiring of any coach isn't leaking info on message boards.
I've been critical of him and some of the things he's done and not done. However, just as I can voice displeasure I can give some props.
MB was AD of the year last year. Overall UK athletics has never been as strong as what it is right now.
All the non revenue sports have improved. Money has obviously increased because they are spending it like it grows on trees on the new facility, CWS renovation, etc. There are plans to move baseball over near the brand new Soccer/Softball Complex. There is going to be a new Tennis facility.
There are no major scandals. UK athletes stay out of the negative news.
A little known fact about UK athletics is that they run game days better than anyone in the country. Not just football either, all sports big and small. Other Universities call UK brass after competing in lexington and ask about how things are so well run from an operational standpoint.
Last but not least, let's not kid ourselves this is after all Kentucky. Cal is here, he is dominating, so all is well.
MB was AD of the year last year. Overall UK athletics has never been as strong as what it is right now.
All the non revenue sports have improved. Money has obviously increased because they are spending it like it grows on trees on the new facility, CWS renovation, etc. There are plans to move baseball over near the brand new Soccer/Softball Complex. There is going to be a new Tennis facility.
There are no major scandals. UK athletes stay out of the negative news.
A little known fact about UK athletics is that they run game days better than anyone in the country. Not just football either, all sports big and small. Other Universities call UK brass after competing in lexington and ask about how things are so well run from an operational standpoint.
Last but not least, let's not kid ourselves this is after all Kentucky. Cal is here, he is dominating, so all is well.
There's other sources of information other than this board. Shocker.
Idt Cal is worried about getting run off by a football coach while at UK. Hell we could hire Les Miles and he wouldn't have to worry.