Mitch Barnhart says Kentucky 'doesn't rise and fall' with Vince Marrow as program bounces back from 'little lull'

Vince Marrow has been a program staple for Kentucky football since Mark Stoops‘ arrival in 2012, there for every win and loss between 2013 and 2024, right by the head coach’s side through good and bad. That changed this week when he accepted a position at Louisville, trading out blue for red — and good for evil.

The 56-year-old isn’t just leaving, he’s seeking greener pastures with the Wildcats’ bitter in-state rival. It’s got to be a sign of both programs’ trajectories, right? You’d only give up on this after 12 years for that if something had gone seriously wrong or was on the cusp of doing so, maybe seeing the writing on the wall with Stoops?

UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart doesn’t agree with that angle. While he appreciates Marrow’s efforts in Lexington for a decade-plus, his departure doesn’t mark the start of the end. If anything, it’s just a sign of the times — and an opportunity for other people in that building to step up.

“That’s not the way to look at this thing,” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader. “I think things have changed in college athletics. Rosters change, staffs change. I’m thankful for the 12 years Vince gave us. He put a lot of heart and soul into our program, and appreciative of that.

“… We’ll make the adjustments we need to make. But the program doesn’t rise and fall on one person. It never has. It never has. And so let’s just make sure that we’re not jumping on the back of what was perceived one change and say, ‘OK, we’ll give these young people a chance to compete.'”

After watching the team battle in the spring and keeping a close eye on the inner workings of the staff, Barnhart believes in their ability to compete in 2025 and beyond, with or without Marrow.

Stoops has earned the right to prove himself as the winningest coach in program history, along with the other assistants he’s put around him and the decisions they continue to make as a unit, especially when it comes to roster management.

“The world of college recruiting has changed,” he said. “The way you do that, and finding the balance in youth, experience, maturity, strength, positional awareness of what you’re trying to get to, that’s all changed, and coaches are going to have to find what suits. We sort of let our coaches sort of manage their areas and say, ‘Hey, this is what fits best for us.’

“And Mark has done an amazing job over the time he’s been here, really doing a lot of things we’ve never done in Kentucky football before.”

Are things perfect? Certainly not. Barnhart previously called the disappointing 4-8 campaign in 2024 a “one-year blip,” and now, he used comparable verbiage when describing the current state of Kentucky football.

Now it’s on Stoops to battle back from it. This group is capable of doing just that, in his opinion.

“Now we’ve had a little lull and we got to find our way back, but I think that recruiting class we’ve got and young men that are out there competing … are ready to go out there and compete,” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader. “They’ve been working hard all spring, and they had a good spring on the field. They had a good spring in the classroom. They’re ready to go compete. And so they’ll get through the summer. We’ll make the adjustments we need to make.”

Kentucky signed a strong portal class and the high school recruiting momentum is picking back up — the Wildcats have added three commitments this week and four overall in June.

Time to see what this group is made of in year one of the post-Marrow era.