Words by Woody
By Woody Daniels

Unlike predecessors, Barnhart hopes Brooks and Gillispie won’t use UK as steppingstone

Being a small-time athletic program and losing your coveted head coach can kind of feel like losing your job after battling alcoholism. Just when you think you’re on to something, you receive the sobering news that your big-time coach is headed for Big-Time U. For University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart, getting the wrong coach at the right time is essential to building a healthy but stagnant athletic program.

Although small college athletic directors would like to get the best coaches in their respective sports, there is always a downside in getting an ultra talented head coach. At schools like Kentucky, where rational fan bases and coaching retention rates are slim, ADs must look for that mediocre sweet spot, a coach they know will keep the fans and boosters happy but not so good that he will leave as soon as the big boys start calling.

In just the last 10 years, Kentucky has been home to many coaches who simply wanted a better home. In football, it’s been Guy Morriss to Baylor, Hal Mumme to New Mexico State, and Bill Curry to the Wednesday night ESPN2 announcing crew. In basketball, it’s been Rick Pitino to the Boston Celtics and Louisville, and Tubby Smith to Minnesota.

Since Kentucky has experienced its share of coaching fallout, Barnhart’s main challenge is to find a coach who finds something in Lexington worth sticking around for. In football coach Rich Brooks and basketball coach Billy Gillespie, Barnhart thinks he found his sweet spot.

Brooks “means what he says”
“Continuity is important, so you don’t always want the best available coach,” says Barnhart. “After Guy left, I thought, ‘Why take (Steve) Spurrier when you know the guy is gone in a couple of years?’ Some coaches are just more interested in advancing their careers than others.”

Instead of going after the big name with the loose leash, Barnhart hired Rich Brooks, an aging coach known for turning Oregon into a basketball school and building St. Louis Rams running back Lawrence Phillips’ illustrious career. Barnhart notes that Brooks is the ultimate “I’m going to be here for you...’till I die” kind of guy, a promise that some people will say he has already fulfilled, at least in spirit.

“With Coach Brooks, you know he’ll be here for a while because no one else is going to want him,” says Barnhart. “No job hunting after a successful season. No accusations of recruiting promises left unfulfilled.

“I take comfort in the fact that when Coach walks into a player’s home, he can truly look into his eyes and say, ‘Grandson, I’ll be at the University of Kentucky for your entire four years.’ Barring a stroke, heart attack, or a call to become the next Cialis spokesman, he’s going to mean what he says.”

Although Brooks is off to a strong 4-0 start and a win against archrival Louisville in 2007, Barnhart is confident his coach is in Lexington for the long haul.

“Did you see him call for an extra point when we were up by 5 with less than a minute to go?” laughed Barnhart, referring to Kentucky’s six point victory against the Cardinals. “The ol’ man is not going anywhere.”

Gillispie has “yet to prove anything”
Brooks is in his fifth year at UK and has compiled an otherwise disappointing but booster friendly 19-30 record. Barnhart hopes basketball will follow in similar footsteps.

“We’re trying to do the same thing with basketball as we did with football,” says Barnhart. “I looked at (Billy) Donovan, (Tom) Izzo, (Thad) Matta, and even (Rick) Pitino, but in the end I knew I needed to settle on a coach who has yet to really prove anything, and that’s what I got.”

What Barnhart got was Billy Gillispie, a self-proclaimed workaholic who transformed Texas high school basketball and led University of Illinois’ second team against its first team in practice. Although Barnhart is hopeful Gillespie eases the fears of the Wildcat faithful, he seems worried the man with no documented family and aw-shucks personality will find too much success too soon.

“When I look at Billy, I see a man who cares about nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, but Kentucky basketball,” says Barnhart. “The guy would rather sweet talk a 14-year old recruit than call his mom to wish her ‘happy birthday.’ I’m not even sure if he has a mom. That scares me because I’m afraid he’ll be too good for us.”

Although Gillispie may be too good, he may also be too risky for other schools to pursue. Barnhart points to Gillispie’s two DUI arrests and rumored homosexuality as reasons prospective schools will shun the coach once the wins pile up.

“The hidden gem here is those two arrests and that he talks like some sort of gay ventriloquist,” he says. “Once the guy is able to walk in a straight line while completing a coherent statement, I’ll be worried.”

Who doesn’t need to worry is Kentucky’s rabid fan base. With Brooks and Gillispie at the helm, consistent mediocrity and coaching continuity is here to stay. That’s something all Lexingtonians can raise a glass to.

Woody Daniels is a self-proclaimed award-winning writer who enjoys woodworking. The writer can be reached at woody@thespottedbass.com.