Stoops made it easier on Mitch Barnhart during the decision process.
released the heads up first, that Stoops has been fired by Kentucky, with an official announcement expected early on Monday. Stoops began his press conference after Saturday's 41-0 loss to rival Louisville with a remark about if he would walk away and leave Kentucky, but he stressed that it was ultimately up to his bosses.
"I'm going to walk away? Are you kidding me? Zero percent chance I walk. ...I'm going to be here as far as I'm concerned." That last sentence is pretty telling looking back, but it was more evident in his postgame radio comments where he started with "I have bosses." The 13-year Kentucky coach knew that the decision would ultimately be up to AD Mitch Barnhart and select others. They met Sunday afternoon into the night, where the big decision was made. But what really took long was most likely the negotiating part, and, Stoops was very flexible in terms of how he would receive his $38M buyout. "Stoops said last week that he would not walk away from coaching the team on his own accord, but when school officials approached him about a separation, Stoops said he would be willing to negotiate an agreement that would allow Kentucky to," Lowe said. That is a mindset from Mark Stoops that is now important looking back on it, because if he wasn't willing to spread out the money over a few years and not 60 days, which would be required if he was fired without cause, that would've been an issue for going through with the decision to fire him. It would have been very hard for the administration to come up with that amount of money all at once, but Stoops was willing to do what it took to make the decision mutual. He deserves a lot of credit for doing that, because he did what was in many people's best interest. Fans were starting to get loud with the "fire Stoops" chatter, and even some high up in the athletics department began to feel that way in some sort. Stoops had an incredible run as the program's all-time winningest football coach, but the last few years have been a significant downfall, and the head coach acknowledged it was ultimately time when it came down to a decision, and he made it easier on Barnhart and others by being flexible about it. This could have been an even bigger disaster, after all of the waiting around, but Stoops made the choice that was best for all parties, and Mitch Barnhart should certainly thank him for helping him, and the program, out.
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