Kentucky football has been through some peaks and valleys over the last decade with Mark Stoops. This valley is a new low. Mitch Barnhart does not believe the Wildcats will linger here for long.

Entering the final game of the regular season, Kentucky is 4-7 with just one win over an SEC foe, the fewest since Stoops took over ahead of the 2013 season. The Wildcats’ offense did not score more than 20 points in an SEC game and have lost seven straight contests with conference foes at Kroger Field.

It feels as bad as it has ever felt, but the Kentucky athletics director believes the school’s winningest head coach can quickly get the Cats back on track.

“He’s done such a really, really good job of just sort of establishing a foundation for us. In this new environment that we’re in, you have an opportunity to get back to where you want to be pretty quickly. The rosters change, and that’s happening everywhere. You’re going to have 20 to 30 young people on every roster moving around. The movement is certainly going to be a lot and on everybody’s roster,” Barnhart said Wednesday on BBN Tonight.

“He and his staff are working hard at that, and in trying to also get ready for next year’s. They’ve got to be thinking about that now, and they’re doing a great job of that, and we will be there to help them and make sure that we give them the foundational pieces they need to build for next year.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of work to do. We want to be in the conversations for bowls and CFP and all of the things that our fans want. So we’ve got to rebuild, reload, and all that and be ready to go for next year. But that’s the process. It all starts this weekend as we begin to again, let some of our our players begin to take shape for what they do in the offseason.”

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Barnhart Believes Stoops Has Support to Succeed at Kentucky

To say things have been contentious at times over the last year would be an understatement. Over the summer, Stoops publicly lambasted the university for failing to support the program’s NIL endeavors.

He’s slowly walked back those comments, stating earlier this week that Kentucky football has never been better positioned in the NIL world. It finally feels like the head coach and athletic director are on the same page ahead of a momentous offseason.

“We went through a season that we were close on so many fronts. And I tell people all the time, every game is about five to six plays. You’ve got to win your version of those five to six to eight plays, and some of the games we were able to do that, and some of the games we weren’t. So we’ve got to win our share of those games,” said Barnhart.

“How do you do that? With everyone investing in it and making sure that we’ve given proper support, we’ve got proper work ethic and all those things going on, and we get to a spot where we have a chance to be who we want to be, and that’s everyone’s goal.

“I want that for our fans. They’ve been unbelievably supportive this year, traveled incredibly well with us. They have been filling up Kroger Field. We’ve had great support there. And so just want to make sure that for everybody involved — players, fans, coaches — that we are able to go out and do the best we can to represent the BBN.”