Kentucky Governor Just Called Out a $1 Million Job With Zero Defined Duties and It’s Getting Ugly
The University of Kentucky is under fire, and it’s coming from the top. Gov. Andy Beshear just came out swinging at the university’s leadership, specifically targeting the golden parachute they’re handing to outgoing athletic director Mitch Barnhart. And yeah, it’s messy.
The Retirement Package Nobody Asked For
Barnhart is walking away after 24 years as Kentucky’s AD, which makes him the longest-serving power conference athletic director in the country. But here’s where it gets wild: the university created what they’re calling an “executive in residence” role in the Sport and Workforce Initiative, and it’s paying him over $900,000 a year. The problem? There’s no actual job description. The role has no defined duties.
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On top of that salary, Barnhart gets 10 tickets to every single Kentucky home football and basketball game forever, plus the school keeps paying for his country club membership. That’s not a retirement. That’s a lifestyle.
The Governor Isn’t Having It
Beshear didn’t mince words. “I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky,” he said in a statement. He specifically called out the “$1 million job that has no defined duties” and raised questions about whether donors are pushing the university around behind the scenes.
The governor also flagged other sketchy moves at the school, including the new law school dean being the only candidate not recommended by faculty and concerns about the approval process getting changed midstream.
Barnhart’s Last Act
Before Barnhart rode off into the sunset, he made one final major decision: firing football coach Mark Stoops and bringing in Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to replace him. Stoops had signed a contract extension through June 2031 just three years earlier, but his teams went 16-21 in the three full seasons after that extension, missing bowl games in each of the last two years. So he was out…