Should Mitch be fired if Stoops fails?
- Thread starter KumarCat
- Start date
No. Overall MB has been a good AD. The problem is when he gets it wrong it's not just a little wrong it's epic. Gillispie is without question the worst D1 coaching hire ever. MB probably didn't reach that level with the hiring of Stoops but the hiring plus the untimely contract extension probably destroyed UK football for at least a decade.
of course he should be fired. he didn't instill enough confidence in himself with major boosters so the school had to pay for all the renovations itself. it's going to be a total bust financially with this train wreck staff and no cheap way out with the ridiculously stupid guaranteed extention. he's the freakin Enron of ADs.
I thought AD should have been riding shotgun when BCG left town, so yes.....AD should go w/CMS if he is discharged.
No other SEC school would equate those results with a "good AD". Mitch isn't capable of running the big, important programs like football and basketball. That's why he focuses on the small time Olympic sports. His big, important decisions have either been forced or just dumb, naive, guesswork.
I'm not even sure why this is up for debate. In a day and age where college football is king and is the lifeblood of your university, your AD has to be held accountable. This isn't high school. This is SEC football, and we're long past due for a Jurich-esque AD with a KILLER MENTALITY that will be innovative and aggressive and devote his dying breath to winning football games.
Mitch wasn't even on the consider list for Texas........ tells you EVERYTHING you need to know.
Agree with this... he's good at helping the olympic sports. But then you are left with basically no AD for the 2 revenue generators, and a guy who makes waaaaay too much money to do what he does.
You don't get fired at Kentucky based on what the football coach does , that's just the truth . The Kentucky A.D. position is graded based on the basketball coaches/program performance , they will tell you it's based on the overall performance of the entire athletic department .
Why in the world did Mitch feel the need to grant that massive raise to CMS? Did the moron really fear someone was going to lure him away at a time Mitch was getting so many pats on the back for "resurrecting Kentucky football"? Mitch is paid way too much money to handle the non-revenue sports. Kentucky football will never be taken seriously until Mitch is gone! He is a ball-less moron.
Why - some of our fans think he had nothing to do with hiring Stoops. If he doesn't get credit for hiring Stoops (just like he doesn't get credit for Calipari) then he shouldn't be responsible for the fall out.
Also - name one AD who has hired a successful football coach at KY. (I can name one - Mitch Barnhart's hiring of Rich Brooks).
He gets credit for imploding the program. Then hiring another unproven assistant, and massively over paying him. Everything that has happened in UK football the last 6 years is Mitch's fault, everything.
See that's the thing. Everyone blamed him for Joker (and deservedly so, don't get me wrong). When he hired Stoops and we started getting good recruits (that haven't done squat) people started saying "Stoops BEGGED for the job, Barnhart didn't even consider him. What an IDIOT!" or "We only got Stoops because Tim Couch went out and got him, Barnhart had nothing to do with it!" Then as soon as things went south it was suddenly ALL because of a guy that I've been told for 2 years had nothing to do with it.
Lol. Okay buddy.
Like I asked you - name one AD who has hired a football coach that did well at UK? (And didn't get us put on probation).
IMHO, Mitch has been an average AD at best, nothing more, nothing less. He came in with a rep for fund raising and the Craft Center (highest priority athletic project at the time) ended up being several years behind schedule. The overall athletic program is not close in gender equity. He has made some "bad" hires (Gillispie, Phillips, et. al). Despite the current situation it remains to be seen if the Stoops hire was a bad one or not. But there can be no doubt last's year's mid year contract extension with an expensive buy out clause was totally unwarranted.
Mitch has been getting a lot of praise for the new football infrastructure but, to be honest, much of that had to do from simply being in the right place at the right time. To begin with, even thought CWS is the "newest" stadium in the SEC it was clearly a time for some renovation. Secondly, the University was just paying off some major bonding debt thus opening some additional "bonding capacity" for the first time in MB's tenure. And lastly it came at the time when the SEC network went into effect creating an ~$10/yr windfall. In all fairness, the much needed new training facility is being funding by private donation.
I will get my first look at the new CWS in a couple of weeks but I remain puzzled why so many "good" seats were lost in this redesign of what was already one of the smaller SEC stadiums.
Anyway, that all adds up to "average performance at best" to me but obviously his bosses are OK with it. All, of course, JMO.
Peace
Mitch has been getting a lot of praise for the new football infrastructure but, to be honest, much of that had to do from simply being in the right place at the right time. To begin with, even thought CWS is the "newest" stadium in the SEC it was clearly a time for some renovation. Secondly, the University was just paying off some major bonding debt thus opening some additional "bonding capacity" for the first time in MB's tenure. And lastly it came at the time when the SEC network went into effect creating an ~$10/yr windfall. In all fairness, the much needed new training facility is being funding by private donation.
I will get my first look at the new CWS in a couple of weeks but I remain puzzled why so many "good" seats were lost in this redesign of what was already one of the smaller SEC stadiums.
Anyway, that all adds up to "average performance at best" to me but obviously his bosses are OK with it. All, of course, JMO.
Peace
Well, if someone seriously thought Stoops needed a new contract because they thought his then 7-11 record made him a viable candidate for the MI job that person ought to be personally responsible for the new contract. [winking]
Peace
I am not a huge Barnhart guy, but I don't agree with this analysis. Mitch has built an excellent all-around athletic department. We used to have basketball and not much else. We now have a great women's basketball team, a great volleyball team, soccer, tennis, and so forth. In fact, he probably has the better overall athletic program within the state even though Jurich is the more lauded of the two guys. Also, he did hire Calipari. There are always rumors that it wasn't his call, but he pulled the trigger so he has to be given credit even if it wasn't his call.
My problem with Mitch will be that he has failed to fix football. Brooks was a solid hire, but not spectacular. Joker was a disaster. Stoops is incomplete, but he has nothing to show except better-than-usual recruiting to this point. In the end, football trumps all else so if Stoops fails, then Mitch is on the hot seat.
Lol, okay cheif.
We've had lots of good coaches, champ, Jerry Claibourne, Guy Morris (who Barnhardt let go), Bear Bryant (ever heard of him), Hal Mumme, but boss, that's not even what I'm talking about. He hired a first time coach, big guy, and then proceeded to give him nothing. Not a competitive stadium, no facilities to recruit to, no options on his staff. His guy, bubba, was standing at the microphone when he quit, screaming UK could not succeed without serious upgrades in facilities. He did nothing and killed the program, hon.
Jerry Claiborne was successful at UK? Guy Morris was successful at UK? What did he do at Baylor? Nada.
Bear Bryant?? What AD lets him get away??!!!! Not Barnhart that's for sure.
Hal Mumme PUT US ON PROBATION - can't believe you even bring his name up. That's a joke.
Over 60 years you bring up 1 coach who has had a winning record at UK. 1. And THAT IS MY POINT. You made my point for me. Lol.
(Btw - I'm calling a penalty for excessive use of superlatives - kinda creepy there fella).
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Mitch should absolutely be fired if the program continues to decline.
But, I'm starting to think he'll never be held accountable for his mistakes.
But, I'm starting to think he'll never be held accountable for his mistakes.
I don't understand your point anyway. Failure in the past does not make failure today acceptable. If that's the case, then we might as well drop the football program. But yes, All those coaches were successful by UK standards. NO AD, in UKs pathetic history, has ever had the program as low as it's been the last 5 years. Put that in perspective. We are arguably already the worst program in D1 and yet, somehow, he managed to take it lower.
Just stop right there, you're not doing well. Nobody here cares one whit about those sports.
The most important sport on any college campus is Football. Across the nation, it's what you do in that sport that gets the year-round headlines. Bball nc, a week or so headlines....baseball an hour...other sports no one cares. Any AD that does not do everything possible to win at Football deserves to be dismissed.
I'll break it down for you. Through the course of UK fball history there hasn't been many ADs who have hired a winning FB coach. I thought my point was clear.....hope that cleans it up for you.
So - with all the new facility upgrades and pay raises for coaches, is Mitch doing everything he can to ensure a winning program?
I would argue until I'm blue that he is.
He's done a lot. Not sure that's enough. IMO, if it takes funneling every athletic dollar into Football in order to win at a high level, that's what the AD should do. It may also take being more like the much maligned AD down the road. I'm not sure mb has it in him. Football makes money. Only at UK does any other sport make $. Even then the bball money stays largely with bball. Football foots most of the bill for everything else...as per the financial statement we received last spring.Thus, it should receive a proportionate amount of time, effort, $ and interest.