Kentucky Wildcats News: A New Kind of Athletics Director

May 22, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

Mitch Barnhart has served as the University of Kentucky’s athletic director for more than two decades but will step down from the position after June 30th.

While he was instrumental in making some incredible hires, such as John Calipari and Mark Stoops, to revive both the Men’s Basketball and Football programs, he also made highly questionable decisions over the last 4-5 years that led to a change needing to be made.

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With Kentucky set to have a new face of the athletic program, the university’s decision will be incredibly significant, and even more so because the new position will also be involved with Champions Blue, LLC.

Not only will the new hire serve as the AD, but they will also be the CEO for Kentucky’s holding company that separates the business side of UK athletics from the academic and administrative branches.

This decision comes with the profound changes in college athletics over the last few years and will surely require someone not just of high athletics IQ but also intelligence when it comes to handling NIL — something Barnhart did not exactly embrace.

It’s the goal of school president Eli Capilouto and the university to have the new hire in place before Barnhart’s last day on June 30th.

What are your thoughts on the new position? Do you think UK will hire from within or go with an outside name? Let us know your thoughts!

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