Former University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart will transition into a part-time fundraising role under a new contract amendment that also provides four years of severance payments totaling $3.06 million, according to the agreement executed and signed June 30, 2026, Barnhart’s last day as UK AD.
As reported by Lexington CBS affiliate WKYT, the amendment sets Barnhart’s post-AD appointment at 20% of a full-time equivalent position, beginning July 1 and extending through Jan. 31, 2030, with duties including fundraising and other tasks assigned by UK’s president, Dr. Eli Capilouto. The contract says UK will continue to make available standard health and other benefits offered to similarly situated part-time employees.
According to WKYT's Lyndsey Gough, the amendment also provides a severance schedule: $760,000 due Jan. 1, 2027; $760,000 due Jan. 1, 2028; $760,000 due Jan. 1, 2029; and $780,000 due Dec. 31, 2029. "The contract says the payments would go to Barnhart or, if he dies before receiving all of them, to his estate," Gough reported.
University spokesperson Jay Blanton said the agreement “will be paid for with private funds, raised by President Capilouto,” and that it “reflects Mitch’s long tenure as Athletics Director and is consistent with other step-down provisions at similar institutions.” Blanton said the deal is “$1.6 million less than what was negotiated in Mr. Barnhart’s 2023 provision and more than $700,000 less than the most recent contract amendment,” and “eliminates additional benefits such as tickets and courtesy vehicles.”
Related: University of Kentucky No Longer Moving AD Barnhart Into New Position
As reported by mlive.com, Kentucky, which hired Michigan State University athletics director J Batt last month, announced Thursday it would pay MSU a $3.95 million buyout ahead of his official July 28 starting date in Lexington.
A Michigan State spokesperson told mlive.com the amount was negotiated between the two schools, after Batt's contract had called for a $5 million buyout. Batt spent only one year in East Lansing.
