OTish: John Calipari negotiating deal to become new Arkansas HC
The Athletic is reporting John Calipari and Arkansas are talking contract and things are very advanced. ESPN's Pete Borzello and the guy who shall not be named but whose name rhymes with Feet Mammal are reporting a five-year deal is being finalized within 24 hours. Wonder where this would rank on the list of shocking coaching moves.
The guy can't consistently win at the basketball mecca of Kentucky...why would you want him if you're Arkansas?
Arkansas has had pretty similar results as Kentucky the last few years.
Reminds me of when Tubby Smith struggled at Kentucky and then for whatever reason Minnesota hired him expecting different results.
Gonna be tough to get a better recruiter, let's see how it works out for them if they don't consistently get 5 stars.
With Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, etc all with historically good programs or on the come up and now an elite recruiter at Arkansas, Kentucky might be in for some lean years, one can only hope.
How does Arkansas’ NIL and brown bag program compare to Kentucky’s?
The basketball operations at Arkansas topped $11 million, 7th in the SEC, and roughly half of UK in 2022. But there is a huge NIL infusion on its way.
I live in the NWA (ntNWA) Northwest Arkansas close to the campus. Calipari's hiring is garnering a mixture of feelings thus far.
Tubby and Cal both win national titles at Kentucky. The Minnesota's and Arkansas's of the world don't get the chance to hire a guy who's already reached the mountain top very often. They ain't Duke or North Carolina; you take a chance on the guy who's already done it and see what he's got left.
Arkansas is probably the 2nd best overall program in the SEC
The SEC isn't a powerhouse basketball conference, so that isn't saying much. Since the year 2000, Arkansas has missed the tournament more times than they've made it
This strikes me as a win-win-win all the way around:
- Arkansas basketball - sure they won a National Title back in the mid-90s, and have had a bit of a revival over the last 10 years, but they're really not a high-top-of-mind program. They WANT to be one though. And this helps with that, a lot.
- Calipari - he desperately needs a change of scenery. That's obvious. And he's still 65, so he could have 5-10 more years in him, one more coaching run.
- Kentucky's AD and their fans - well, now they won't owe Calipari a metric ton of $$$. And they were honstly tired of Cal too. They can move on to their next chapter.
It makes sense to me. It's not completely unlike Bill Curry in 1989: a fairly successful Alabama Head football Coach leaving to go to Kentucky (?!?!). Alabama won the SEC in 1989 and finished in the Top 10, but they were sick of each other, so off he went to a substantially less blue-blood SEC football school (then Alabama hired Gene Stallings and won a National Title 3 years later).
Crazy stat: Arkansas has made multiple Elite 8s since Kentucky last made ONE Sweet 16.
It makes sense to me. It's not completely unlike Bill Curry in 1989: a fairly successful Alabama Head football Coach leaving to go to Kentucky (?!?!). Alabama won the SEC in 1989 and finished in the Top 10, but they were sick of each other, so off he went to a substantially less blue-blood SEC football school (then Alabama hired Gene Stallings and won a National Title 3 years later).
Sure, Bill Curry was 'Wally Pip' to the legend Stallings. But he'll forever be remembered disaffectionately by most as one of ESPN's worst-ever color analysts with his slow, half-witted anecdotes, unfunny colloquialisms, and distinct ability to point out obvious. :)
compared to some of what else is on espn and other networks, i'd prefer curry.
curry used to appear on espn radio programming like mike and mike constantly. i grew tired of him but then I watched America's Game episodes of him on the packers and colts and I was fine with him after that.
True that his more traditional sports talk approach is more tolerable than what is on ESPN these days.
On the other hand, "Burke had no idea that Charles Woodson could leap 15 feet in the air..." so I have fond memories of the man.
Meh, I think they've had worse. "He has deceptive speed. He's slower than he looks" always made me chuckle.
Curious if people here are aware of Wally pipp’s Michigan connection.
He lived in the Detroit area after playing and his son Wally went to u of m as well as a grandson and granddaughter.
Good, Kentucky fans were complaining, I don't blame him even though he's been bad in the tourney recently, we'll see what coach they can snake from someone else.
Kentucky fans wanted him gone. They got their wish. And they don't even have to pay the $30M or $40M buyout. Arkansas may have done them a favor (at least from the perspective of their fans).
Sounds like Oats will be the top target. I believe he comes with an $18M buyout.
Also, I don't think Cal owes UK anything. Looks like he had a lifetime contract but no buyout. They probably never expected him to be poached (but they might not care now).
Tyson family involved... clearly something fowl going on.
<to UK:> what's the matter, Col. Sanders? ...CHICKEN???
I hadn't heard this. A very interesting nugget of information!
Hopefully this helps them recruit better wings
Now they will have something to crow about. I suspect he will be paid something more than chickenfeed.
Wonder where this would rank on the list of shocking coaching moves.
Up there with Chip Kelly and Rocky Long voluntarily leaving their HC jobs to become coordinators at schools in (or about to be in) the same conference as their old school...
It seems like the bizarre backward coaching chain in basketball, referenced by others here, is the opposite of the Saban - DeBoer - Fisch - Brennan (Alabama, Washington, Arizona, San Jose State) football chain.
Enfield got spooked at USC and took the SMU job (after they fired theirs). Musselman got spooked at Arkansas and took Enfield's job. Now Calipari (spooked) is taking Musselman's job. Crazy.
And to think out of all schools…SMU set off this domino effect!!
I think Musselman knew something was going on behind the scenes, or at least knew something like this was possible. Apparently, Cal was upset with how he was being treated at Kentucky. He was poking around since February, and he even wanted to go to ... bum bum bum ... Ohio State ...
Furthermore, Cal already had a pipeline to Arkansas mega donors through his friend John Tyson (Tyson Foods). Tyson allegedly lined up a warchest with other donors like the Waltons and JB Hunt ...
I think Musselman knew something was going on behind the scenes, or at least knew something like this was possible.
I actually don't think this part is true. It appears that Cal may have been their third choice based on the reporting.
After his departure, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek pursued Ole Miss' Chris Beard and Kansas State's Jerome Tang, although both coaches returned to their respective schools. Arkansas is believed to have offered Beard in the neighborhood of $5 million per year, sources said.
Beard has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Arkansas job and is staying at Ole Miss, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported.
“Great times ahead in Oxford,” Beard, who led the Rebels to a 20-12 record in his first season at Ole Miss, posted on social media. “We are just getting started.”
Kansas State Coach Jerome Tang has emerged as a leading candidate for the Arkansas job, Rothstein reported citing sources.
Miss State Chris Jans and A-LR Darrel Walker appear to be the backups to a Cal plan, based on when they interviewed/scheduled to interview.
The other part about the Cal situation at Kentucky has been boiling up for a while now. You're definitely right about that. LAST season's first round exit had been too much and enough for most UK fans, but it had become untenable for Cats fans for a while now.
Unless Calipari is willing to overhaul is entire philosophy of how he runs his programs (building off one and dones) I don't see how this move makes sense for him unless the relationship he has with the AD and the fans in Lexington are just that toxic now.
You're not going to be able to draw better talent to Arkansas than you are to Kentucky. I don't know what kind of one and done talent you're going to be able to draw to Arkansas but it certainly won't be the caliber of player you can get to come to Lexington.
Either way, maybe this is a mutual decision. Seems like Kentucky has been getting bounced from the first week of the tournament very frequently in recent years.
Why not? Most kids were going to Kentucky because of Cal. He’s the guy that gets the players. Fayetteville & Lexington aren’t that much different from each other.
The towns themselves might not be different from one another (never been to Fayetteville or Lexington so I don't know for sure), but the programs themselves are VASTLY different from one another.
To be clear, Arkansas is not a slouch of a program. That's not what I'm saying. But one is infinitely more prestigious as a program, one will get you considerably more spotlight, and I'm also willing to bet you're going to make considerably more money at Kentucky (playing basketball) than you will at Arkansas. Kentucky is basketball royalty. Arkansas is not.
Kentucky boosters will funnel w/e NIL money is necessary into the basketball program to win. Even at the expense of the football program, if necessary. Arkansas likely has to decide how it wants to split up between football and basketball. Kentucky does not need to answer that question. Kentucky basketball will get w/e is necessary to win, and the football program can have w/e is left over.
Yes, Mark Stoops is doing a great job in Lexington and has raised the bar there. But football will ALWAYS be a very distant second fiddle on that campus, and that's not up for debate. I doubt Stoops himself would even debate that.
I'm sure Calipari will be able to lure recruits to Arkansas. But at the same caliber and clip as he did in Lexington? My money says doubtful.
Calipari recruited highly-rated players at UMass and Memphis. The only difference this time around is he appears to be leaving Kentucky, and they won't have to vacate any wins.
The quality of one and dones also went down with the G-League Ignite program. It'll be interesting to see what happens now that it is gone. Do more elite guys go to college -- or do that just play overseas or something?
I'm just commenting to signal boost Feet Mammal as that hack's new name for the rest of time