At football practice on Thanksgiving Day, UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart turned down interview requests, just as he had done all week. But before Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee game, Barnhart went on the UK Network pre-game show with Dick Gabriel and addressed the Joker Phillips rumors, saying that the coach would be back for 2012. Then after the game in which UK snapped its 26-game win streak over Tennessee, Barnhart appeared in the media room for interviews.
On the basketball pre-game show last night, Barnhart again appeared and Gabriel asked him why the AD was on the field for the entire game, when usually Barnhart comes down on the field during the fourth quarter. “I thought it was important to show people I am firmly behind this coaching staff,” he said.
