Athletic director Mitch Barnhart is expected to announce his retirement soon, according to a report from ESPN.
A UK spokesman said there had been no changes in Barnhart’s status as of Tuesday morning, but the Herald-Leader confirmed an announcement was expected later in the day.
The longest-tenured athletic director in the country, Barnhart oversaw massive changes in college sports across 24 years at Kentucky. He hired coaches who led multiple UK teams to unprecedented levels of success and pushed for significant facility overhauls across the department.
More recently, Barnhart came under criticism from a vocal portion of the fan base because of the perception he was slow to embrace the ability for players to profit off their name, image and likeness. Barnhart eventually provided public endorsement of the UK-affiliated NIL collectives tasked with funding football and men’s basketball rosters at the time, then served on the committee tasked with implementing new rules for schools to directly share revenue with athletes in the wake of the NCAA’s House settlement.
“I love this place with all my heart,” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader in a December interview when asked about his future on the job. “We came here in 2002 and planned on staying six to eight years and stayed a lot longer.
“I know there’s people that get frustrated because I’ve been here a long time, and that’s OK. I sense that. An old boss of mine told me one time, ‘Every time you make a 50-50 decision, you lose 50% of your friends.’ He’s probably not wrong.”
Mitch Barnhart has served as UK’s athletic director since 2002. Ryan C. Hermens [email protected]
Barnhart was hired as UK’s 10th athletic director in July 2002.
His most recent contract allowed him to transition into an ambassador role for the university in July.
This story will be updated.
Jon Hale
Lexington Herald-Leader
Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year.
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