Stoops leverage over Barnhart

[blueheretic]

Was it fear?

Stoops won pretty big for Kentucky.

FOR KENTUCKY...

That was it.

Why was Barnhart so scared to lose Stoops?

Where were all of the schools banging down his door to hire Stoops?

I don't see it.

He almost went to Texas A&M. Yet, in the end, they turned him down.

I don't remember all of these schools yearning for Stoops.

It's laughable that Stoops would have ever been considered for Michigan which is one rumor that I heard that turned out to be nonsense. Part of me thinks that Stoops agent beat the bushes to get schools looking at Stoops so he could use it as leverage because he knew Barnhart was a fool.

Don't get me wrong. Stoops did good at Kentucky. However, he has never earned Top 10 in the Nation salary.

[bthaunert]

I didn't have a problem with the money at the time. We were coming off our 2nd 10 win season in 4 years (and a final top 15 ranking for the second time during that period.) and were a top 10 team in the nation in 2022 5 weeks into the season when the contract was being finalized. When the extension was signed, Stoops had gone 9-10 against top 25 teams since the beginning of that run and an impressive 8-1 against teams ranked 11-25 during that run. My biggest issue is the length of the extension and the buyout being owed up front. You need to overpay at a school like Kentucky at times and the job he was doing was potentially a top 10 job in the nation over those 5 years.

I would have been ok with a 5 year extension at $9 million annually with the buyout paid over the length of the contract. He would currently have 2 years remaining on his contract after this year and we would owe him $13.5 million paid out over the next 2 years.

[Sam K.]

^ bt, speaking of "...a top 10 team in the nation in 2022 5 weeks into the season when the contract was being finalized."

To add a little context, three of fours wins during that span were against Miami (OH), Youngstown State, and N. Illinois.

[Davidmack]

The buyout is the big problem with the contract. He also over paid him. Making him a top ten paid coach he should be producing consistent top ten teams instead a hit here or there.

[bthaunert]

^ bt, speaking of "...a top 10 team in the nation in 2022 5 weeks into the season when the contract was being finalized."

To add a little context, three of fours wins during that span were against Miami (OH), Youngstown State, and N. Illinois.

The other win was #12 Florida and we were preseason #20. That was relatively typical for schools to play schedules like that early on and move up if they were ranked in the preseason. That's why we were a top 10 team. If only Levis had stayed healthy and Coen stayed put, would have been a fun year. Shoulda, woulda, coulda is the story of Kentucky football.

[blueheretic]

The timing of the contract was lunatic.

Was Stoops talking to other teams in the early part of the season and about to leave for Michigan or Iowa or something.

Why the rush to get a contract signed five games into a season.

That makes zero sense.

Made even less sense after the next couple of games.

Barnhart made a mess that he didn't need to make. There was no requirement for a contract extension in that moment.

He lost his nerve and Stoops and his agent played him for a fool.

[Sam K.]

The other win was #12 Florida and we were preseason #20. That was relatively typical for schools to play schedules like that early on and move up if they were ranked in the preseason. That's why we were a top 10 team. If only Levis had stayed healthy and Coen stayed put, would have been a fun year. Shoulda, woulda, coulda is the story of Kentucky football.

I don't see winning against #12 Florida as a reason/excuse to extend Stoops contract. That Florida team lost seven games that year, but they did have a high ranking when they played us the second game of the season probably in part to the hype around their qb, Richardson.

[bthaunert]

I don't see winning against #12 Florida as a reason/excuse to extend Stoops contract. That Florida team lost seven games that year, but they did have a high ranking when they played us the second game of the season probably in part to the hype around their qb, Richardson.

At the time of the extension talks, that team was ranked 12th in the nation.

Stoops was having success that we hadn't seen since the 50's, and was ranked top 10 in the nation a month into the season after having two 10-win seasons in 2 out of 3 (non-covid) years. He was 32-11 in those 3.25 seasons leading into the extension. If that's not a reason for an extension/raise at UK, then nothing will ever be a reason. The raise and extension were not the problem. The length of the extension and perimeters around the buyout were the problem.

Hindsight is 20/20, but at that exact moment, it was not crazy to give him an extension and raise. The issue was the length of the extension (his contract was slated to run out in 2025..extend him two or 3 years through the 2027/28 season instead of through 2031), the fact the buyout had to be paid within 60 days and the timing of the announcement was brutal too. Had Mitch extended Stoops 3 years through the 2028 season and done the buyout over the length of the remaining contract, we would be looking at a $20 million buyout paid over 3 years. UK could eat that no problem.