Gophers AD Mark Coyle Among Candidates for Kentucky Athletic Director Job

The University of Kentucky's athletic director (AD) position is viewed as one of the most desirable in Division I college athletics, and it recently opened on Tuesday. Longtime University of Minnesota AD Mark Coyle has already been floated as a potential candidate by multiple reputable outlets.

Coyle worked under Kentucky's longtime AD Mitch Barnhart from 2006 to 2011 in Lexington, eventually as the school's deputy AD. It was announced on Tuesday that Barnhart is retiring from his post after 24 years, and he's going to take on a different role at the school. The Lexington Herald and Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) have both listed Coyle on early hot boards as a potential replacement.

After Coyle's six years at Kentucky, he was the AD at Boise State from 2011 to 2015, and the AD at Syracuse from 2015 to 2016 before coming to Minnesota in 2016. Outside of a pair of questionable hires for men's and women's basketball with Ben Johnson and Lindsay Whalen, respectively, Coyle has been praised for multiple hires, notably P.J. Fleck as the school's football coach in 2016.

Barnhart has a relationship with Coyle, and it's fair to assume he will be involved in the decision process of hiring his replacement under his new role. Coyle makes plenty of sense as a potential candidate.

"It’s debatable whether Kentucky or Minnesota has the more prestigious football program, but the profile of the UK men’s basketball team might make this job a step up for Coyle. His Midwest ties might make leaving Minnesota more difficult, though, and there are few remaining connections in Lexington from his tenure here," the Lexington Herald wrote.

"Other candidates probably make more sense if Kentucky is set on hiring a former Barnhart lieutenant."

Coyle's two most recent significant hires at the U of M, with Dawn Plitzuweit as the new women's basketball head coach and Niko Medved as the new men's basketball head coach, are both showing early signs of promise. He's from the Midwest, and he has raised his family in the Twin Cities area, so it would likely have to be an elite opportunity for him to even consider leaving.

Is Kentucky a better job than Minnesota? There are probably positives and negatives to both sides of that argument. Ultimately, it's still very early in the process, but there are enough connections that make Coyle's place on both hotboards is something to monitor.