Where things stand in UK’s search to replace athletic director Mitch Barnhart
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Capilouto has interviewed more than 70 stakeholders during listening tour for AD search.
- Capilouto has not begun formal interviews with candidates to replace Mitch Barnhart.
- UK aims to hire a new athletic director before Barnhart’s retirement date on June 30.
University of Kentucky president Eli Capilouto has spoken with more than 70 people as part of his listening tour for feedback about the athletic director search.
But he has yet to begin formal interviews with candidates to replace Mitch Barnhart.
“As an administrator, anytime I’ve had the responsibility of appointing a senior level position that reports to me, I’ve used this process to better understand what is needed in leadership,” Capilouto told the Champions Blue LLC board of governors at its Tuesday meeting.
Capilouto has interviewed board members, athletic department administrators, UK coaches, boosters and other stakeholders about changes in college sports in hopes of informing the search process for UK’s next athletic director.
He is expected to conclude the listening tour in the near future before determining if UK will hire an outside search firm for assistance in identifying candidates for the position.
The school still hopes to hire a new athletic director before Barnhart’s retirement date on June 30, UK spokesman Jay Blanton said after the meeting.
While specific candidates to replace Barnhart, who has served as UK’s athletic director for 24 years, may not have been identified yet, Capilouto told the board he has determined from his listening tour change is needed to adapt to the new college sports landscape created by revenue sharing, free transfers and more.
“Innovation is a priority rooted in a culture of care,” he said. “So we’ve got to do some things differently. … We have an incredible team, and they will continue to do great work, but we must examine whether other organizational and structural models — many of those you’ll find similarities in business, professional sports and other entities — are necessary to meet the moment.”
A large portion of Tuesday’s meeting was devoted to examining better strategies for communication and marketing of athletic department and university messaging, a consistent theme in Capilouto’s listening tour interviews.
“We have an incredible story to tell,” Capilouto said. “We have to do a better job telling it. Fans get their information from lots of platforms and channels. We have to be in those spaces.”
Blanton addressed the board about the integration of the athletic department and university communication offices, stressing the need to work with multimedia marketing rights partner JMI Sports to better monetize content and communicate the university’s view on certain topics. Using content to drive revenue will be important to the financial health of the department moving forward, Blanton said.
He pointed to the athletic director search as one example, noting that the school had provided updates from Capilouto to BBNIL subscribers before sharing them with the public. The school has declined multiple requests from the Herald-Leader to interview Capilouto about the search — he left both Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting and Tuesday’s Champions Blue meeting without speaking to reporters — but he did address the topic in a radio interview on WLXG, the Lexington ESPN radio affiliate, last month.
Barnhart, who announced last week he would not transition to a university administrator position in July as originally planned after Gov. Andy Beshear joined the group criticizing his appointment to that role, did not attend the board meeting. The athletic director is a non-voting member of the Champions Blue board.
Barnhart has attended every previous Champions Blue meeting since the LLC was created to run the athletic department last year.
The Champions Blue board members were among the group Capilouto has interviewed as part of his listening tour, but the board will not have approval of the next athletic director hire.
“It is the president’s choice,” Blanton said. “...It is ultimately his decision. That leadership reports directly to him. Traditionally it’s part of our cabinet, so that is his decision. He will consult with lots of people, I’m sure, but that is his decision.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 12:11 PM.