Mitch Barnhart, Director of Athletics
Mitch
Barnhart is in his seventh year as Director of Athletics for the University
of Kentucky, having set a clear course for making Kentucky one of the top athletics
programs in the country.
Hired July 15, 2002, Barnhart has made the desire for overall excellence
the cornerstone of Wildcat Athletics. His decision to fully fund all 22 varsity
sports has produced a wave of firsts in a number of programs, while also allowing
UK to achieve at a consistently high level.
Numerous sports have reached never-before-seen levels of success. Baseball
won the school’s first-ever Southeastern Conference title in 2006, following
in the SEC championship footsteps of women’s tennis, men’s golf
and men’s basketball from 2005. Four Wildcat coaches earned SEC Coach
of the Year honors in 2005-06.
The women’s soccer and rifle teams added league titles in 2006-07,
with conference Coach of the Year honors going to Warren Lipka and Harry Mullins,
respectively.
Perhaps the biggest on-field turnaround besides baseball has been in football,
where Rich Brooks has led the Wildcats to back-to-back bowl wins (2006 and
2007) for the first time in more than 50 years. Barnhart’s support of
Brooks and his staff has manifested itself in a string of wins over traditional
football powers, including a victory over top-ranked LSU in October 2007.
The Barnhart File
Personal
Birth date: Aug. 27, 1959
Birthplace: Kansas City, Kan.
Family: Wife, Connie, daughters Kirby (21) and Blaire (17), and son Scott
(15)
Education
Ottawa (Kan.) University (B.A. 1981)
Ohio Universiy (M.S. 1982)
Career
Kentucky — Athletics Director (2002-present)
Oregon State — Athletics Director (1998-2002)
Tennessee — Senior Assoc. AD (1986-98)
Southern Methodist — Asst. Executive Director, Mustang Club (1983-86)
Oregon — Regional Director, Duck
Athletic Fund (1983)
San Diego State — Intern, Aztec Foundation (1982-83)
Financially, Barnhart instructed his staff to seek out new revenue streams,
and that resulted in a record $80 million multimedia rights agreement with
Host Communications (now IMG College). The additional resources allow UK to
continue its commitment to its student-athletes, a commitment Barnhart takes
personally. Athletics spends $1.5 million annually on its nationally-renowned
CATS Academic Center and each spring hosts the CATSPYs, an awards program designed
to recognize the very best in UK Athletics.
Other initiatives begun under Barnhart’s leadership include the Big
Blue Caravan, which connects UK to its vast fan base, the UK Athletics Hall
of Fame, which honors past greats across all sports, a revamping of UK’s
donor program that has resulted in record K Fund dollars, and a 10-year, $10-million
commitment to help fund the University’s general scholarship program.
UK also completed the Joe Craft Center, a $30 million expansion of Memorial
Coliseum that includes new practice and office space for a variety of sports.
Barnhart’s connection to UK’s student-athlete is evident by his
personal interaction and commitment to provide all support services necessary
to meet the needs of these students.
Barnhart arrived at Kentucky from Oregon State, where he served four successful
years (1998-2002) as athletics director. Before his tenure at OSU, he worked
at Tennessee for 12 years (1986-98); served as assistant executive director
of the SMU Mustang Club (1983-86); regional director for the Duck Athletic
Fund at Oregon (1983); and was an intern for the Aztec Athletic Foundation
at San Diego State (1982-1983). Barnhart, 49, is a native of Kansas City, Kan.
He received his bachelor degree from Ottawa University (Kansas) in 1981 and
a masters in sports administration from Ohio University in 1982. He and his
wife, the former Connie Brown, have three children, Kirby, Blaire and Scott.