Despite awful season, Mitch Barnhart backs Mark Stoops for another year

Kentucky's athletic director Mitch Barnhart had some thoughts on Mark Stoops and Kentucky football in his appearance on Lex18's BBN Tonight. They won't be the thoughts most Wildcats fans want to hear, but it is the scenario that many saw coming. Barnhart believes Stoops can fix things for Kentucky football after an abysmal year.

This support for another year of Mark Stoops isn't surprising, mainly due to the fact that Stoops is owed around $44 million if Kentucky fires him without a breach by Stoops of his contract. This is money the university is not looking to find or pay. Barnhart is stuck with Stoops and, for better or worse, has to find the silver linings.

It didn't feel like a tongue-in-cheek or a veiled answer. Barnhart was descriptive in how he sees Stoops handling things for the roster and the future. “He’s done such a really, really good job of just sort of establishing a foundation for us. In this new environment that we’re in, you have an opportunity to get back to where you want to be pretty quickly." Barnhart said that the transfer portal has helped make it so you can rebuild immediately. He says, "You’re going to have 20 to 30 young people on every roster moving around [on every roster]."

The good news is that Barnhart's not blind to the fact that it's bad right now and needs to be fixed. He's not even wrong about the goals that need to be in front of them. "Obviously, there’s a lot of work to do. We want to be in the conversations for bowls and CFP and all of the things that our fans want. So we’ve got to rebuild, reload, and all that and be ready to go for next year."

Barnhart is looking to the future of revenue sharing and the NIL changes, and he sees Stoops as the man who will be part of that future. “[Stoops] and his staff are working hard at that and trying also to get ready for next year. They’ve got to be thinking about that now, and they’re doing a great job of that, and we will be there to help them and make sure that we give them the foundational pieces they need to build for next year."

This may not be what many fans wanted to hear, but unless Stoops leaves on his own, he will be back again next year. However, it is the news that is most expected.