Now that the furor has subsided

[Westtncat]

Cal needs to go. He will never win another title. I am over the fear of what might be. I know it won't happen but I would love fresh start. I am beyond sick of the UK NBA collaboration. Let's win and be the most dominant college basketball team. Think back a few years ago. We had guys go pro here and there but nobody really cared bout that. We have been sucked in to the new narrative of what success is here. Wins!

[Joneslab]

I don't know a UK fan who would consider this past season a success. Literally 0% of fans feel that way.

However there are some gray areas when it comes to Cal. I would say the 2015 season was a success: 38-1, a Final Four, a really disappointing ending...but you couldn't not call that season a success with a straight face. I would call 2017 a success: 32-6 and lost in the Elite 8 on a last second shot. I'd call 2019 a success: 30-7 and an Elite Eight loss. I'd call 2020 a success: 25-6.

The problem is we now have a long Final Four gap, a historically terrible season last year, and then St. Peter's. So if you put it all together in the same pot it can't be considered a success when you think back over the past six seasons after Wisconsin.

[largebluej]

I don't know a UK fan who would consider this past season a success. Literally 0% of fans feel that way.

However there are some gray areas when it comes to Cal. I would say the 2015 season was a success: 38-1, a Final Four, a really disappointing ending...but you couldn't not call that season a success with a straight face. I would call 2017 a success: 32-6 and lost in the Elite 8 on a last second shot. I'd call 2019 a success: 30-7 and an Elite Eight loss. I'd call 2020 a success: 25-6.

The problem is we now have a long Final Four gap, a historically terrible season last year, and then St. Peter's. So if you put it all together in the same pot it can't be considered a success when you think back over the past six seasons after Wisconsin.

For me for sure, and a lot of others I suspect, the super-premium salary Cal is paid makes the post-2015 era much less gray. At that pay level he should have made 4 finals fours since then. That might sound ridiculous to some but at $8-9 million annually and a $40+ million buyout I think it's reasonable. I know it can't happen but he needs at least a 50% haircut.

[Joneslab]

For me for sure, and a lot of others I suspect, the super-premium salary Cal is paid makes the post-2015 era much less gray. At that pay level he should have made 4 finals fours since then. That might sound ridiculous to some but at $8-9 million annually and a $40+ million buyout I think it's reasonable. I know it can't happen but he needs at least a 50% haircut.

Four Final Fours since 2015 would be eight during his tenure. That would be wild. And historic.

I think he set a bit of an unsustainable precedent in his first five or six years here but the problem comes back to the missed opportunities we've seen. You flip just a couple of those March losses--Wisconsin and North Carolina in 2017 for example--and the thing looks a whole lot different.

These are the conversations we got in a lot when Tubby was here. There's a lot of "if" when it comes to Cal.

[lilproUK98]

Calipari by the numbers since signing his lifetime contract:
Overall record: 60-30
SEC reg season record: 37-16
vs. ranked teams: 8-13
vs. non-conf. power 5 teams: 6-8
NCAA Tourney wins: 0
SEC Tourney wins: 1

[largebluej]

Four Final Fours since 2015 would be eight during his tenure. That would be wild. And historic.

I think he set a bit of an unsustainable precedent in his first five or six years here but the problem comes back to the missed opportunities we've seen. You flip just a couple of those March losses--Wisconsin and North Carolina in 2017 for example--and the thing looks a whole lot different.

These are the conversations we got in a lot when Tubby was here. There's a lot of "if" when it comes to Cal.

That all makes sense, Will. But Cal's current contact is also wild. And historic. If he's going to be paid like a master of the universe he needs to perform like one.

[Matt Dillon]

That all makes sense, Will. But Cal's current contact is also wild. And historic. If he's going to be paid like a master of the universe he needs to perform like one.

I agree 100%.

[Joneslab]

That all makes sense, Will. But Cal's current contact is also wild. And historic. If he's going to be paid like a master of the universe he needs to perform like one.

I see your point.

But at one point in the mid 2000s Tubby Smith was the highest paid coach in America. And I was a big Tubby fan at the time.

So the money is not this major dealbreaker for me personally. Partly because of the Tubby thing but also because they're all multi-millionaires at the top of this sport.

That's not a defense of Cal. I'm just saying that when he misses a Final Four I don't sit there and think about it in the context of his contract.

In my mind no coach we could hire is going to make eight Final Fours in thirteen years. If that's the bar we're sitting then we're always going to be disappointed here, because anybody UK hires is going to be among the highest-paid coaches in America.

Everybody has his own bar of acceptability as a fan. Mine is maybe a little lower. I just want Kentucky to be in the mix...and to not lose to 15 seeds. That obviously makes the last two seasons huge disappointments.

[Dwight Schrute]

^^
They are all multi-millionaires but with the exception of Coach K and Bill Self, they aren't all ingrained into the program to the point that it's impossible to get rid of them if they don't perform (who ARE delivering).

Cal's contract is literally insane. If he's here for 2 more years, UK has to pay him a million dollars annually for the rest of his life. His buyout is ~$45 million a year and goes down incrementally ever year. As long as Cal does the bare minimum, he can collect a paycheck and there's little the university can do about it without ponying up. UK has some rich boosters, but not that much.

Cal has had a good run here but his numbers since 2015 are Tubby-esque. I don't expect to win it all every year but I do expect to be in the mix. UK has had exactly 1 team since 2015 that could've won a title - meanwhile Kansas has overtaken us in the wins category (not the biggest thing, but it ain't good), Duke is on the verge of being within 1 title of us for second of all time, and I don't have a ton of faith Cal can still coach elite teams - if he can even assemble one.

[Jeff ROCKober]

UCLA	11	1995	2
Kentucky	8	2012	4
North Carolina	6	2017	5
Duke	5	2015	6
Indiana	5	1987	1
Connecticut	4	2014	0
Kansas	3	2008	6
Villanova	3	2018	1
Cincinnati	2	1962	1
Florida	2	2007	1
Louisville	2	1986	0
Michigan State	2	2000	1
North Carolina State	2	1983	0
Oklahoma State	2	1946	0
San Francisco	2	1956

[Dwight Schrute]

^^
Ah, I thought K had won 6. UNC has a decent shot at getting to 7 though.

[justford]

I am against lifetime contracts, as to many variables enter into the performance equation. Seems like incentives would be more appropriate.

[Los Gatos]

I noticed that Cal is 63. Doesn't the university/state have a mandatory retirement rule? Apparently not or it doesn't apply to Cal.

[Dwight Schrute]

I noticed that Cal is 63. Doesn't the university/state have a mandatory retirement rule? Apparently not or it doesn't apply to Cal.

Believe it went out long ago but it was 70 I think. Cal’s nowhere near it.

[Matt Dillon]

I noticed that Cal is 63. Doesn't the university/state have a mandatory retirement rule? Apparently not or it doesn't apply to Cal.

It used to be 70. I don't know if it still is. Rupp coached until he was 70.