Seeking to fill a football head-coaching vacancy nearly two years ago, Mitch Barnhart did his due diligence.He met with candidates and evaluated many more. He called references and solicited the help of Tim Couch, the quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick who was there for some of Kentucky’s best years. For more than three weeks, Barnhart worked behind the scenes to find the right man for the job. Through it all there was one coach who stuck out, and it was his plan that differentiated Mark Stoops.Then the defensive coordinator at Florida State, Stoops met with Barnhart and presented his blueprint for success at UK at a meeting in Atlanta. It covered everything from recruiting to an innovative High Performance program and the detail was incredible, such that it almost seemed too good to be true.Twenty-three months later, it’s become clear that Stoops’ plan was no fairytale.”He has followed that to a t,” Barnhart said. “Everything he said he was going to do, he has done, and it’s on schedule and on task.”For executing his ambitious plan, Stoops was rewarded on Friday with a contract extension that will keep him at Kentucky through the end of the 2019 season, adding another year to a deal that was first extended in May.

Exciting news, #BBN. We’ve agreed to a contract extension with @UKCoachStoops that will keep him here through the 2019 season. #Yahtzee

— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) October 31, 2014

The new contract bumps Stoops’ average base salary to $3.575 million. The deal also includes a $250,000 incentive for each win beginning with the seventh win each season, as well as incentives for postseason appearances, winning the Southeastern Conference or national championship and team academic performance. New deals for UK’s assistant coaches are also forthcoming.”Mark is guiding our program in the direction we all want it to go and we are proud to reward that,” Barnhart said in a release announcing the news. “I was confident Mark was right for this job when I hired him, but he has exceeded my expectations. From leading a group of young men, to recruiting, to fundraising, to becoming an important part of the Lexington community, Mark has embraced and excelled in all facets of being Kentucky football head coach.”In doing so, Stoops led a renaissance of the UK program. Immediately, Stoops made waves on the recruiting trail and awoke a fan base hungry for football success. The wins didn’t come as quickly, as the Wildcats managed just a 2-10 season in his first year. This season, however, has been another story. UK is 5-3 entering a trip to Missouri for a game at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, exceeding its win total from the previous two years combined. The Cats also have a pair of SEC wins after going nearly three years without one.”I am excited about the progress our team has shown on the field, but this is as much about the next five years as it is the last one and a half,” Barnhart said.  “As I’ve said before, I believe we can compete at the highest level in the toughest conference. Mark is the coach to take us there.”Stoops’ work at UK has already caused some national pundits and fans to connect his name to jobs that aren’t even open yet. The contract extension curtailed some of that talk, but this was always about something deeper than that.”This is about our relationship, and I don’t ever want it — I think people, when you start worrying about other folks, that’s when you get distracted,” Barnhart said. “And Mark is really good about not worrying about other people, and I want to make sure we don’t get all hung up on worrying about other people.”It was Barnhart who initiated the talks and Stoops was receptive, mostly because he is “not interested in going anywhere.””I want to show my commitment,” Stoops said. “If you know anything about myself, about my family, past history — whether it be with my brothers and different people — loyalty’s a pretty big thing with us.”Loyalty, when it comes to Stoops and UK, is a two-way street. Since that initial meeting in Atlanta, Stoops and Barnhart have built a strong working relationship that’s the foundation for that loyalty.”Fairness is what I think Mark is really all about, and I love that,” Barnhart said. “And I love the fact that I feel like he wants to for a good job for the University of Kentucky for all the right reasons. He’s a solid, obviously, really solid, great football coach. I really love what he’s doing with our football program, but more than that, he’s just a great person.””I just felt like it was always very easy conversations with myself and with Mitch, and I think we’re both the type of people (that) what we say is what we mean,” Stoops said. “I just felt very comfortable, and that’s part of having any kind of success is just having good instincts on people and what you believe.”Relying on that shared relationship, Stoops and Barnhart have gone to work. Beyond the results on the field and on the recruiting trail, UK’s football facilities are being addressed in a big way. Stoops has helped pave the way for a $120 million stadium renovation that will be completed before next season and a new $45 million practice facility project that will break ground in January.”Mark has energized our fan base, exhibited by the crowds we’ve been having at Commonwealth Stadium and the response we’re getting in the seat reallocation process as we build into our new stadium for next year,” Barnhart said. “That’s exciting for us. He’s been extremely helpful to our program in the fundraising area as we build our new football training center. We break ground on that in January. He’s done a tremendous job in the fund-raising area as well and I’m appreciative of that.”As exciting as the future of Kentucky football is with the facility upgrades and his new contract, Stoops was a bit ill-at-ease standing at the podium on Friday. With a bus waiting outside to take him and the team to the airport for a flight to Columbia, Mo., as soon as his time with gathered media was done, it’s understandable that his mind may have been elsewhere.”Looking forward to getting on this plane and going to Missouri and trying to get this win,” Stoops said.