After reports emerged revealing that the Kentucky Wildcats could afford to pay head coach Mark Stoops his $37 million buyout should they choose to move on from the long-tenured head coach, things could potentially get complicated for athletic director Mitch Barnhart.
Currently, Stoops is the longest-reigning head coach in the SEC, after beginning his journey with the Wildcats in 2013. His team’s form in recent years, going 4-8 in 2024 and suffering a poor start to 2025, has made him one of the newest names on the SEC hot seat.
Why Has the Plan To Appoint Jon Sumrall Hit a Roadblock?
On the most recent episode of his show, Fox Sports radio host Aaron Torres discussed the recent report from Kentucky radio insider Matt Jones, revealing that the Wildcats could afford to pay their head coaches 37$ million buyout.
“Mitch Barnhart’s gotta be like, dude, you just cut my legs out from any leverage I had to get a renegotiated buyout, like now it’s out there that Kentucky can write a check for 37$ million if they have to,” Torres suggested when discussing the report.
Following the scoop from Jones, the Wildcat’s athletic director has been placed in a terrible situation, where his current head coach has all the leverage in his contract, with a massive buyout that heavily favors him.
And following this report, Stoops made it clear that he has no desire to move on from Kentucky himself, meaning that Barnhart will now have to pay him every cent that’s owed to him in his contract buyout.
“I’d hate to give anything like that legs, here’s zero chance I’m walking away. There’s no quit in me, so that’s unequivocally 100 percent false. Anyone who tells you that is lying.” Stoops declared firmly during a recent press conference.
Not only will this have potential ramifications on the Athletics Department, but it could also heavily affect Kentucky’s search for its newest head coach, with Torres suggesting that former Wildcats linebacker Jon Sumrall is who Barnhat would chase after.
“Because think about this, the next head coach, if you get the guy that you want, and we all know it’s Jon Sumrall…he’s gonna have options after this season, and if you wanna get him, you’re gonna have to pay him north of 9$ million a year.”
Currently, Sumrall, who recently signed a new contract with Tulane in December, is one of the hottest names on the coaching market, after leading the Green Wave to the conference championship game in his first season.
Not only did the Tulane head coach spend his playing career with the Wildcats, but he also coached them for many years, serving as a linebacker’s coach and co-defensive coordinator between 2019 and 2021.
“I am who I am today as a football coach a lot because of the University of Kentucky and really a whole lot because of Rich Brooks, (defensive coordinator) Mike Archer,” Sumrall once said.
However, it appears that the dream reunion may be off the table.
“He’s gonna want to put together a modern coaching staff, that includes on the field coaches, a front office, and player personnel people, oh by the way, you need 20$ million to pay all your players, and what does that mean for everybody else?” Torres broke down the situation.
With this bleak output, the Wildcats’ athletic director has been forced into a bleak situation where it appears he will have to pay up no matter what, while fans of Kentucky will have to continue to suffer their team’s poor form under Stoops.
Currently, according to PFSN’s playoff meter, under Stoops, Kentucky are projected to win only four games this season, with a 0% chance of making the playoffs, with games against Texas, Tennessee, and Auburn coming up
