The Governor of Kentucky is criticizing the University of Kentucky for giving its outgoing athletic director a job that pays out a $1million salary but has little responsibility involved.
On Tuesday afternoon, Governor Andy Beshear released a statement questioning the ‘decision making’ at UK in regards to the role given to retiring AD Mitch Barnhart.
It’s a rare statement for the governor to make and comes at a time of turnover and turmoil for the school’s football and men’s basketball teams.
Barnhart is set to leave his job on June 30 and will transition to the newly-created role of Executive in Residence for the UK Sport and Workforce Initiative.
The role, created by University of Kentucky president Eli Capilouto begins on July 1, pays Barnhart a million-dollar salary and doesn’t provide a concrete job description.
‘I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky,’ Beshear said in the statement on Tuesday.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear criticized the University of Kentucky’s ‘decision-making’
In particular, he called out the school for creating a million-dollar role for outgoing athletic director Mitch Barnhart which doesn’t seem to have any listed responsibilities
This comes after the school fired football coach Mark Stoops (L) and as basketball coach Mark Pope (R) continues to swing and miss with top recruits in the transfer portal
Beshear’s comments were not only directed at Barnhart’s new role, but also criticizes a recent appointment of the new dean of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law.
‘My concerns include the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties and the announcement that the new dean of law was the only candidate not recommended by law school faculty,’ Beshear’s statement continued.
‘I’ve been told that despite previously saying the dean must be approved by UK’s Board of Trustees, the university has shifted and now states approval is not needed.
‘I worry that these actions are related to certain donors pushing partisan and undue outside influence onto the university. I hope students, faculty, trustees and the community attend this week’s board meetings and ask the tough questions that should be answered.’
The criticism of Kentucky’s athletic department comes after the Wildcats fired head football coach Mark Stoops. It also comes as the basketball program has struggled to land major targets in the transfer portal.
Stoops’ firing comes after he put up a record of 23-27 over the past four seasons with a pair of bowl game losses. He was replaced by Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.
As for the hardwood, Kentucky coach Mark Pope is coming off a loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Iowa State.
To make matters worse, the Wildcats failed to land multiple top recruits they were pursuing – including guard Robert Wright, who chose to return to BYU, and forward Donnie Freeman, who is transferring from Syracuse to St. John’s.
