In defense of Mitch Barnhart, the athletics director dealing with UK’s departmental drama

Mitch Barnhart turns 63 later this month, but forgive him if he feels more like 163.

Put yourself in the shoes of the University of Kentucky’s athletics director. No sooner had his overall sports program completed a ninth-place finish in the Directors’ Cup — UK’s best-ever showing — than his two most high-profile coaches enter into a public spat last week, embarrassing the department and giving the impression the boss isn’t minding the store.

No wonder Barnhart appeared more than a bit put-out when he met with the media last Saturday at Kroger Field to address the John Calipari-Mark Stoops tiff. We were expecting an AD who would attempt to downplay the drama. Instead, we got an AD who was defiant, philosophical, emotional, prideful and just about everything in between.

In other words, we got the full Mitch. And while others took issue with the AD’s handling of the situation, I was perfectly fine with the full Mitch. Give me raw honesty over public relations anytime.

Bottom line: Barnhart cares. You can make the case that at times he cares too much. He can take things too personally. He can get too emotional. You can’t question his intent, however. Years ago, a veteran athletics department member told me that Barnhart was the only UK AD in his or her experience who knew the name of every student-athlete on campus. That still holds true.

Believe me, we’ve had our moments. As a young(er) sports columnist, I was critical of Mitch in his early years on the job here. His was a rocky start. But, taking the advice of his boss, Dr. Lee Todd, Barnhart put his head down, did his best to avoid the noise, and went to work.

Yes, there have been missteps along the way. Billy Gillispie was a disastrous hire for basketball. Joker Phillips didn’t work out for football. But there have been far more hiring wins than losses. Craig Skinner. Rachel Lawson. John Cohen. Cedric Kauffmann. Edrick Floreal. Rich Brooks. Lars Jorgensen. Mark Stoops. John Calipari. To name a few. Under Barnhart’s watch, UK athletics has accomplished things I never thought it could accomplish.

His competitors have taken notice. Look at the long list of Barnhart proteges now managing major college athletics programs — Greg Byrne at Alabama; Scott Stricklin at Florida; Rob Mullens at Oregon; Mark Coyle at Minnesota; John Cohen at Mississippi State; DeWayne Peevy at DePaul; Kevin Saal at Wichita State.

It is true Barnhart is not comfortable in front of crowds. Never has been, never will be. It’s the reason you don’t often see him with a microphone in his hand on the floor of a packed Rupp Arena. He’s much better one-on-one. Face-to-face, you can razz Mitch over something and be sure he’ll be just as happy to razz you back. Even when I was tough on Barnhart in print, he never once stopped talking to me, and not just to tell me he disagreed.

These days, the AD is managing two strong personalities in his two most important positions. Calipari’s personality is as strong as they come. The Hall of Fame coach has spent a career pushing for what he wants. And Stoops is not exactly a wallflower. Any SEC referee, be it basketball or football, will attest to the passion of both men. Neither is shy about making himself heard. No doubt the same is true behind the scenes. Last week confirmed that.

Meanwhile, being an athletics director has never been a more thankless job. Between ticket prices, parking passes, (lack of) alcohol sales and on-field performance, fans are rarely happy. Coaches are feeling the pressure, too. Now throw in NIL, the transfer portal, conference expansion, media rights and a rapidly changing landscape. As they say, if you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.

So I say cut Mitch a break. He’s not perfect. He’ll tell you that himself. But the results speak for themselves. There’s that ninth-place finish in the Directors’ Cup. Better still, there are approximately 600 student-athletes at UK who know he knows them and wants to afford them every chance to succeed. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

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