Barnhart steps away from lucrative post-retirement role at UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mitch Barnhart, the University of Kentucky's longtime athletics director, has decided to step away from a $950,000-per-year position that was supposed to begin after his June 30 retirement, university President Eli Capilouto announced Thursday.

Barnhart will instead retire completely from the university at the end of June, abandoning his planned role as Executive in Residence for the UK Sports Workforce Initiative. The decision comes just days after Gov. Andy Beshear publicly criticized the university's management and decision-making, citing the lucrative position among his concerns.

Capilouto said Barnhart came to him earlier this week expressing that the controversy had become a distraction. "Mitch Barnhart came to me earlier this week to share his concern that the discussion surrounding his future role leading our sports workforce initiative has become a distraction from the work of our university," Capilouto said in a statement.

Barnhart, who has served as UK's athletic director since 2002, said any separation compensation will come from private funds rather than athletic or university funds, Capilouto added. The university will work with Barnhart on departure terms guided by his contract over the coming weeks.

The decision came after weeks of mounting pressure from multiple quarters. In a Tuesday social media post, Beshear said he was "losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned" with UK's management, specifically citing the creation of what he called "a new $1 million job that has no defined duties."

The role also drew criticism from prominent UK booster Brett Setzer and others, who called it a "golden parachute" and questioned the vague job responsibilities despite the hefty salary and benefits including lifetime tickets to athletic events.

Barnhart said in his own statement that while he and his family were initially excited about the workforce initiative, "recently it has become apparent that now is not the right time." He expressed hope the initiative would continue in the future without him leading it.

The controversy coincided with separate criticism from Beshear about the university's hiring of U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove as dean of the College of Law, a decision opposed by law school faculty. Republicans, including House Speaker David Osborne and Attorney General Russell Coleman, defended Van Tatenhove's qualifications and record on the federal bench.

Capilouto created the sports workforce position following Barnhart's announcement of his retirement in March. The initiative was designed as a broad workforce development effort aligned with the university's degree and certificate programs, according to university officials. However, the contract contained only vague responsibilities, drawing accusations of preferential treatment.