The House of Blue

Excellent interview! Matt you asked excellent questions that had to give you pause when you asked them. Mitch gave excellent answers to your questions as well. Mitch is the first AD we've had that I can remember who is a football guy since the 60's they have all been basketball guys. I think he is doing a great job with all the sports programs without any detrimental effects to the BB program. I truly believe Mitch and Joker will succeed and will be very disappointed to see either move on. I think that Joker is just a couple years away from being very competitive in the SEC.

My problem with Barnhart is a simple one. He is not a Kentuckian. IMHO, the AD of the University of Kentucky needs to be a UK grad from Kentucky. Someone who knows the movers and in and outs of Kentucky politics and the problems associated with UK football. Someone who also knows how to find the money needed for the football program by thinking outside of the box. Someone who will actually tell the fans how mnch money is needed and ask for it through the media. They need to be humble in this approach and put the football program ahead of their own golden parachute. Kentuckians are very giving when given all the information. This interview that was given to Matt should be given to every media outlet in Kentucky IMHO Keeping fans in the dark does nothing to help the situation and just help

Beat Louisville

With all due respect, and I do mean with aallll due respect (Ricky Bobby voice), that was a horrible post. If that is your only problem with him (judging by how critical of a poster you have been), then he must be doing something right!

I believe Barnhart has thrown figures that would be needed to fund the projects that he plans on doing in previous interviews, and probably will again on the one with Matt tomm. Also, simply graduating from a University gives you zero insight on how to run an Athletics Department. If you were to ask most logically thinking humans if they would rather have someone who has ran an Athletics Department successfully, or someone who was a grad. of the school with no AD experience, well, nevermind. Also, those qualifications you listed are typically things you learn AFTER becoming an AD, so how exactly will having graduated from UK help?

I think the funding issue would hurt any AD espeially the way UK funds but you deal with it.

Barnhart is a great AD bur not a football AD

He's not a football AD. If you think he is then you must not follow college football and are unaware of how much other AD's out there value that sport above all others and stop at nothing to field a sucessful program. Many fans just do not see that burning desire to win and win big in football from Mitch. He seems quite content to field a 6-6/7-5 team, and has demonstrated zero drive to demand better. Fans in recent offseasons have been letting him know via nonrenewal of season tickets that they are unhappy with his leadership of the program.

Matt,

Thank you for this post. That was straight up spot on.
Haven't always agreed with some of your takes in the past but after reading this, I am absolutely a fan or Matt May lol.

And THAT is called lowering the boom. Great post, Matt.

I appreciate your diagnosis Dr. Todd, but I can assure you that my health and quality of life are outstanding. Trust me.

See Todd, I'm one of those guys that call a duck a damn duck. Period. To suggest that MB isn't a good AD because of the state he was or wasn't born in is beyond idiotic. This is a message board. People come on here to learn and share info as well as their opinions, however, when you throw your opinion out there you better be prepared to have it ripped. For example, I think that post was garbage...my opinion. You think I beat women, have health issues, and whatever else you chose to judge and that's fine...once again...your opinion.

Welcome to the real world. Its not filled with nothing rainbows, puppies, and lollipops. Its filled with (and mostly ran by) assholes...just like me.

Look bro, I get what your sayin. Those that have been around a while know that I am usually one of the more positive posters on this site. Hell, I got ripped consistently and with equal fashion all year last year for trying to remain positive. But damn it dude, enough is enough already. Its the same tired ass posts thread after thread. MB sucks, MB doesn't care about football, if we only had a recruiting room, farrrr MB, farrrr Joker.
Its become far beyond ridiculous. I OVERstand the concerns with our program, I truly do, but to post the same agenda shit over and over....sigh.

And now we have suggestions that MB isn't the right guy because he wasn't born in ky....Todd just say that you loud to yourself and marinade on that.

Posting concerns, gripes, or simple venting is fine. That's exactly what this site is supposed to be. ALL THINGS UK, but attacking the team, the staff, or admin is not only uncalled for but against site rules. As well as attacking posters. Attack the post, not the posters. Which is what I do. Harsh at times? Maybe. But if your gonna dish it, be ready to take it.

Matt, I just meant I didn't have an opinion based upon what you wrote in the article, cause I couldn't read it. That doesn't mean I can't have an overall opinion about the matter, or respond to others who have posted in the thread does it? I do appreciate that you guys have to post VIP threads for the paying customers, and have no problem with that at all, but If you had some new earth shattering info about how Mitch is promoting football funding, it would seem as though that might be a good free article since it is such a divisive matter amongst the overall fanbase. JMO.

As for my post, I never said "Mitch has done nothing for football" as you imply. I said he isn't doing what it takes to raise the funds it takes to make us competitive. As far as the things you point out that Mitch has done for football, yes I know about them, but I think they pale in comparrison to our SEC bretheran, and even UL for that matter. Why don't you compare those numbers to what every other SEC program has done and tell me how they match up? Somehow, I don't think that will support your hypothesis that Mitch has done a good job as a football AD at UK?

Maybe I shouldn't have posted my original message in your thread, but honestly, it wasn't exactly hostile. It just gave a valid, albeit, opposing opinion to your perspective. Whatever the case, the bottom line as I see it, is it's the AD's job to get funding, no matter how he does it, and if he can't, he is not doing his job, regardless of the roadblocks he faces. His entire career at UK, he has not gotten funding that is comparable to the other teams in our conference, nor has he really made a sound football hire. (Yes, Brooks turned out to be a positive, but Mitch only hired him as a last minute fall back plan because he couldn't seal the deal on bigger prospects.) He got lucky with Brooks, (who now loudly criticizes him by the way) and hired a guy in Joker who has never been a head coach of any program before anywhere? As a true blue fan, I hope like heck Joker proves the doubters wrong and turns it around, but even if he does, it's obvious based on the first two years that he had a learning curve, and wasn't ready to lead an SEC school at the time of his hire. FWIW, do think that Mitch has recently tried to put more effort into football, but until those efforts start to match the efforts of the AD's of the teams we play against, we will remain at a major disadvantage to those programs. That's why I complain.

One more thing to piggy back on my comments regarding the state. I just want to play devils advocate.
I'm not sayin I agree with the states constant resistance towards football but if you think about all the real life and very serious problems in Kentucky it may put some things in perspective. Our state has a drug epidemic right now with meth and oxy. We have some of the worst roads in the nation. We have children in rural eastern KY living in emense poverty and not receiving proper education. All these very real and very serious issues going on as I type this and we are upset because we can't get millions and millions of dollars for a football team.

I truly apologize for going political. I've learned from previous run ins to keep politics off of the site but I felt I needed to say it. I want the athletics department as a whole to succeed which MB has done as strong a job as any AD in America, but most importantly I so desperately want to see our football program compete for conf titles, but I also thought it was worth mentioning that the state of Kentucky has many more tasks at hand to ensure a better future for our children and our state than football.

Again, I apologize if this post sticks anyone the wrong way. It was not my intent.

You are right Tommy, saying MB can't be a good AD just becaue he's not from KY is crazy, the bottom line is everyone wants to recruit better and win more games. And Lord knows we all deserve it, we are some of the best fans in the country. For some reason the fans, people who cover UK FB, the staff and recruits/players are the only ones who seem to take FB serious. I really wish we had some more tradition and were just having a couple down years, if that were the case it would be alot easier to get things back to where they were or better. What is killiing UK fans and Joker is we were on the cusp of getting over the hump, but in Brook's last couple classes the entire staff failed terribly on the recruiting trail... That and the money situation has been the reason for decline. Since we lack tradition and top shelf facilities it is really going to take a culture change and some cooperation from the state to get things to were they need to be. I love Joker and his staff, I really think they are a quality SEC staff, I just wish Joker and CO didn't have so many things pulling them in the wrong direction. It also sucks that we are compared to other programs that have huge advantages due to their geography or tradition. No matter what anyone tells me I know we are fighting a uphill battle, no one is saying Mitch is a pille of S___ or anything I just wish (like everyone else does deep down) he could find away to get CW a major upgrade and UK FB were it needs to be. The way UofL and Vandy have seemed to take off in this 13 class isn't helping things either. UofL managed to land another good looking kid on the 2nd...

A RR wouldn't all of a sudden equal 10 4 star recruits a year, but some renovations and better PR would help UK FB a whole lot and the PR is very possible. We all also know UK FB is pushed aside when compared to our other major sport. And I know FB will probably never be the main attraction in Lexington but I really wish Mitch and CO would get creative or do whatever it takes to close that gap alittle. If we could just get to where we are going 500 in the SEC that would mean we are much more competitive. Of coarse I want even more than that, but as of now that would show improvement and get people excited again, and no doubt shut alot of the FAR JOKER AND MITCH stuff up. The question is how do we get there and how does Mitch find some solutions for a few of our current issues because us fans are very limited and can't take care of all our needs. And as much as I know this will make people mad, it is MB's job to find ways to get that funding, is it fair to put it all on him? No, but he is in charge. I also wish he would have taken care of Rich Brooks, RB raised a ton of money at other schools, and we all know RB isn't fond of MB (he has that right) but if MB were to put his pride (along with RB) aside for a minute for the better of UK football I really think together those two men could help improve our status.

Maybe all these talks to CP, KSR and others about what's holding UK FB back are one of MB's ways to getting some pressure on those who keep throwing a wrench in his plans. I hope it works, pissing UK fans off may be the only way for Mitch to gain leverage on those real haters because eventhough some of us have different opinions we all want the same thing, and I don't have to say what that is... GO CATS!!!

And again thanks for letting everyone post on this matter, is there any new news since the last time KSR posted the video when they talked to Mitch???...