Rumors circulating about Cal and Texas (UPDATE: Shaka to Marquette)

[40bill]

Oh, lets be honest.....Cals first team here was Memphis number one class until he left. I would happen here as well, and more likely than not we are gonna have to hope for a Pitino type rebuild at UK.
But with the money the program will likely spend, who knows who may come here?

[Matt Dillon]

Would Cal's ego allow him to coach in a state where fb is king?

[DA#23]

I’ve wondered how he would feel about being #2. Frankly though, if football had a very good season then it could happen at UK.

At 62 Calipari might not care, though, and quality of life at some point will usurp competitive goals. At that time UK’s advantages will seem like negatives or at least necessary evils, and as Bill said...a place like Texas could be fun. Win enough not to get fired. Control recruiting in the area. Challenge Kansas...enough not to get fired.

I have to think that Texas will want more if they open up the checkbook...they’ll want a championship.

[85 Fly]

If I had to guess, I’d say Texas’ first realistic call will be to Scott Drew in neighboring Baylor.

Almost seems too easy.

Especially since this is his last dance with his starters, although he does have some good recruits coming in next year.

[85 Fly]

Maybe Cal is factoring in the landscape of college basketball is going to change in the next 2/3 years too...I know some of you have read Kentucky 247 articles that came out few days ago.

[Jload]

Cal is already rich, I honestly believe if our coach feels this is no longer the place for him money will not be the sole deciding factor. It seems to me Cal really has lost touch with where he is. He was brought to Kentucky to win and win big. He really hasn’t done that in a few years, he has to be smart enough to know he will not be able to stay here unless he starts winning big again. He has more money than he can probably spend in his life time and he could easily decide the unrelenting pressure of coaching here is no longer something he wants to deal with. I wouldn’t be shocked if he takes the Texas job if offered.

[Joneslab]

Cal is already rich, I honestly believe if our coach feels this is no longer the place for him money will not be the sole deciding factor. It seems to me Cal really has lost touch with where he is. He was brought to Kentucky to win and win big. He really hasn’t done that in a few years, he has to be smart enough to know he will not be able to stay here unless he starts winning big again. He has more money than he can probably spend in his life time and he could easily decide the unrelenting pressure of coaching here is no longer something he wants to deal with. I wouldn’t be shocked if he takes the Texas job if offered.

I would debate he hasn't won big in a few years. Had a solid season just last year. Won 30 games two seasons ago.

It depends on how a person defines winning big. We've discussed this, but some folks want to go into hyperbole mode with Cal and say things like he's losing the program, or things are in disrepair or whatever.

The problem with this sort of thinking is that it puts too much pressure on the new guy. Say Cal leaves and a new guy comes in. Wins 25 games his first year. Man, that's awesome. Nope, that's not good enough. Second year he wins 30 games and goes to the Elite Eight. Give us more. And so on.

If 30 wins isn't winning big, God help whoever comes here.

[DA#23]

When you have the kind of contract that Calipari has, the expectation should be wildly extravagant. Beyond the heights of prior eras.

With Mitch Barnhart by his side, he opened his time here by proclaiming he earned the job because he could recruit the best of the best. That means more than simply aligning with recruiting services, btw, but it also lends credence to fans expecting frequent FF’s and multiple titles while he is here.

The next guy will be paid handsomely but will not get 8 million a year. I still will expect UK to be top shelf program that is in the hunt more often than not...but I personally will try to go back to “our fair share” level of expectations.

Among those: roster building and continuity, and better quality basketball throughout the season.

Don’t feel sorry for Calipari. He was their with the sales pitch from Day 1.

[DA#23]

Depending on COVID-19 of course, fan attendance at Rupp this season is going to be potentially devastating btw.

[Joneslab]

When you have the kind of contract that Calipari has, the expectation should be wildly extravagant. Beyond the heights of prior eras.

Yeah but we should at least be common sensical enough to not say he can't "win big" when the guy is not far removed from 30 wins. That's crazy.

And any coach at UK is going to be one of the highest paid in America. They're all going to have those same expectations.

It shouldn't be too difficult for fans to say last year was a disgrace...but Calipari has won big recently. And that's more for the next guy than Cal. Who cares about Cal at this point? The guy likes fan criticism. He feeds off being the underdog. The more fans rip him the better. I'm concerned Cal will leave and this kind of mindset will hurt us with his replacement.

I don't want to be sitting here and have somebody like Brad Stevens say to a basketball podcast, "You know, I loved the idea of coaching at Kentucky...but their fans are just crazy." As discussed here in the last couple of days, stuff like that has happened with players and their families. This is tough to say because I love us and we all get a little red sometimes, but we don't have a lot of sense at times in this fanbase.

[DA#23]

Well, first the fear of the fanbase probably has kept coaches from coming here before and whether it’s public doesn’t make that much difference. The perception of this fanbase is well, well known. Might have kept Billy Donovan from coming here.

If it kept Hunter Sallis from coming here that really stinks, because we needed him. As you said in a post earlier, it’s never appropriate to contact a recruit and that very well might have been the tipping point for him.

Regarding the idea of common sense, I think it’s possible to recognize a decline in the program during the last five years and be concerned about it. Kentucky Fans are crazy...and aside from the vocal minority that harms the fanbase, being crazy is actually what makes the program special. It’s why you can go to Nashville during the tournament and feel like you’re in Lexington.

As for the comment about “red”, I’m not really sure the extent to which you mean that so I will not assume.

[Joneslab]

We should definitely be concerned but things like "He hasn't won big in a few years" has no basis in reality. It's just a dude saying stuff.

[DA#23]

^ See, I read that post #42 and see it as being just as much hyperbole.

I'll save the stats for Crazzed, but during the season he had a post that compiled the last 5 years (a few years) and it sort of sucks to read it in plain view.

We aren't the Gold Standard anymore, for a myriad of reasons some of which were inevitable, but we are paying for the Gold Standard. That's pretty much common sense, and unfortunately has become so across the country. That change in image is something that's difficult to reverse, unless you (dare I say it) win big.

Getting smoked by Dook is one such example. We were winning our fair share of those made-for-TV big games early on.

[40bill]

Well, Calipari has been dominant at stretches during his tenure....looooong stretches. Some of the fan base gives him down the road for one year kids. He didnt make that rule, just played it. The statements about kneeling bother me....while I dont like it, it IS the right of the players (just as it is our right not to like it), but if this crew had lived up to its preseason expectations and been a final four contender , would a lot of those fans have cared as much?

When he was a soph, Nick Richards was considered a lost scholly. He turned out mighty well...and had the same guy coaching him.

But, end of the day....if John Calipari wants to leave, God bless him. He is paid a LOT and part of that is fan related.
His nature of not just being combative with fans but seeming to talk down at them has grown old.

[Joneslab]

Regarding the National Anthem thing, the issue with that for me is that there's a massive divide ideologically between Kentucky fans and UK players/coaches. And just as importantly, there's a divide between UK fans and many potential players/coaches who might come here.

This isn't to say either is right. I think both have decent points. But people on both sides, particularly if they're on the Internet, don't do a good job of seeing things from anybody else's point of view but theirs.

So it really doesn't matter who the coach is. What happened with the kneeling could happen with any coach, because so many of these coaches simply have more contact with black families and they see the world way different than your average Kentucky fan. There are people in rural Kentucky who I know personally who are still complaining on Facebook about the National Anthem, which is their right. But these people live in communities that are 100% white.