Paul Finebaum credits Mitch Barnhart, Mark Stoops for Kentucky turnaround

It sure took a while for head coach Mark Stoops to get the wheels turning on the Kentucky Wildcats football program. But now, in his ninth season at the helm of Kentucky, they won’t stop moving.

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart is entering his 20th year as the Wildcats athletic director, and he first hired Stoops to turn around the program in 2013. Things got off to a shaky start, as the Wildcats finished just 2-10 in 2013, but back-to-back 5-7 seasons, followed by back-to-back 7-6 seasons proved that Stoops had them heading in the right direction. Barnhart’s belief was only solidified by a 10-3 campaign in 2018, but then Kentucky trended back downwards the past two years.

But Barnhart defended Stoops, asserting his belief that the Youngstown, Ohio native — that he hired from Florida State, where he served as the defensive coordinator from 2010-12 — was the man to right the ship at Kentucky. Now, Kentucky is off to a 6-0 start, its best start since Bear Bryant was the head coach in 1950, and ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum credit both Stoops for his turnaround, and Barnhart for sticking with his beliefs.

“He’s also a humble guy,” Finebaum said of Stoops on The ESPN College Football Podcast. “The credit goes to Mitch Barnhart, who is a long-time AD there, and [university president] Eli Capilouto. There was a moment — I think it was six years ago — where he had to beat Mississippi State. We did our show there that weekend, so I remember it pretty vividly. He was gone. He was done. He had blown a couple of big games, and they won on like a 52-yard field goal. And he has just built that program from the ground up. He has gone into Ohio and if Ohio State doesn’t want somebody, they raise their hand and say come on down to Kentucky, it’s right across the river. And he’s made a living off of that.”

Kentucky’s most recent victory came at home over LSU, a game in which the Wildcats prevailed 42-21 thanks to an incredibly efficient offensive attack. Much of the offense can be credited to quarterback Will Levis — and Stoops showed his recruiting prowess by bringing Levis over through the transfer portal, after he left Penn State. This past weekend, Levis completed 14 of 17 passing attempts for 145 passing yards and three touchdowns, plus 11 carries for 75 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

“He’s made some very smart decisions in the offseason,” Finebaum continued of Stoops. “And you have to wonder if his quarterback, Will Levis, had been playing for Penn State yesterday — would they have won that game?”

While Levis’ former school, Penn State, lost to Iowa and shot down from No. 4 to No. 7 on the AP top-25, Kentucky is quite the opposite. With the win over LSU, Kentucky jumped from No. 16 to No. 11 in the country, and the Wildcats prepare for their biggest matchup of the season against No. 1 Georgia.