UK can’t run this back as is and expect support. The program is too far behind.

I don’t take victory laps, and I’m not interested in “I told you so.” But I, or “Frank,” stuck my neck out last week on the radio, saying plainly that Kentucky cannot move forward with Mark Stoops, Mitch Barnhart, and the same UK Athletics operation next season. It wasn’t a rant for the sake of a rant. It wasn’t heat-of-the-moment frustration. It wasn’t just me being grumpy during busy times at work or playing a character for the bit. It was what Kentucky has shown us in a pivotal time for college athletics.

And then Kentucky lost 41-0 to Louisville in the Governor’s Cup, missing out on bowl eligibility for a second straight year. (I whiffed on that one by the way. No victory lap there.)

Here’s the truth and the point I tried to communicate before the bottom fell out today: this isn’t working. Not on the field, not off the field, not in the stands, not behind the scenes, not in the NIL world, not in marketing, not in recruiting, not in the way the program engages its own fans. Kentucky Football is near the bottom of the SEC, or definitively at the bottom, of all measurements, with the longest tenured coach and athletic director in the conference. That’s hard to do.

And the problems are bigger than an offensive coordinator, portal misses, or one bad season. “A one-year blip,” were Mitch’s words after 2024’s disappointment. More than half the assistant coaches have expiring contracts right now. The roster needs a huge overhaul, including on the offensive line. The identity is gone. The brand is stale. There is no spark, no direction, no sense that this staff or this administration knows how to win in the current era of college football.

Fans see all of this, and they’re done pretending otherwise. Did you hear that guy leaning over the rail after today’s blowout?

What is there to get excited about?

UK can’t seriously run all of this back next season and expect excitement. You can’t sell season tickets on “getting back to work” after a 45–17 loss to Vanderbilt and a 41–0 loss to Louisville to end the season. You can’t talk about rebuilding in Year 14 with a straight face. And you definitely can’t hide behind a $38 million buyout, a Mitch Barnhart negotiating special, and hope everyone forgets what they just watched the last two weeks.

Even with a homegrown quarterback wanting to come back, there will be no juice, no momentum, no buzz, no offseason hype that can erase the feeling people have right now after back-to-back blowouts in critical games. We just watched Louisville’s true freshman walk-on running back get 113 yards in a rivalry game, while Kentucky’s offense was shut out in the series for the first time since 2004. It’s also the first time ever that Kentucky ends a season with two losses of 28 or more points. The first time ever.

Beyond the disappointing results, the marketing department is bad enough already, and there’s nothing creative or modern coming from inside the building to spark hope or energy. In what areas is UK on the cutting edge? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. On top of that, fans don’t feel valued. They don’t feel connected. They don’t feel heard. Hell, they’re still asking for stadium WiFi a decade later, or even half the game day experience they see at other schools. The Kentucky Football experience is 16th of 16 in the SEC right now.

If Kentucky wants fans to invest and fill the stands again, whether emotionally, financially, or in any other way, something real has to change. Mitch Barnhart had his glory days, but UK Athletics has had the same leader since 2002, and nothing in today’s world looks the way it did then.

UK Athletics is at a crossroads, whether anyone inside the building wants to admit it or not. The sport has changed, the SEC has changed, the expectations have changed, and Kentucky hasn’t, at least not for the better. Don’t even get me started on that JMI contract that Kentucky is stuck with, another Barnhart special.

This isn’t about one or two bad seasons in football. It’s about an athletic department that fell behind and hasn’t caught up.