Kentucky AD Barnhart to forgo $1M retirement gig amid criticism - ESPN

Days after the state's governor criticized the move, University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced Thursday that he will forgo a $1 million retirement gig that had been widely criticized.

Earlier this year, Kentucky president Eli Capilouto announced that Barnhart would retire June 30 before accepting a seven-figure gig as executive in residence for the UK Sports and Workforce Initiative, an assignment with few contractual details that prompted major Kentucky boosters to demand a reversal of the decision.

Capilouto said Thursday that Barnhart will no longer accept the role.

«Mitch Barnhart came to me earlier this week to share his concern that the discussion surrounding his future role leading our sports workforce initiative has become a distraction from the work of our university,» Capilouto said in a news release. «Mitch and his family care deeply about this institution and our state, and they want the focus to return to the work that matters most for our students and the Commonwealth.

»With that in mind, Mitch has informed me that he will retire from his position of Athletics Director on June 30 and step away from the proposed ongoing role leading the Sports Workforce Initiative at the university. Over the next several weeks, he and I will work through the terms of his departure, through a process guided by his contract."

On Tuesday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear added to the controversy when he released a statement that questioned the recent actions of the university, including Barnhart's proposed retirement job.

«I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky,» Beshear said in a statement Tuesday. «My concerns include