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I saw that and wondered how much UK paid Arkansas to take him off their hands. Cal w a lifetime contract and all
Surprising but yet not surprising. Probably good for both sides to get a fresh start. Was just talking about Coach Cal and how lately his teams haven't had that "it" factor. He is getting older and coaches kinda lose that edge I believe as they get older and energy to drive a top notch program isn't there.
John Calipari's stunning move to Arkansas shows how desperately he wanted out of Kentucky
Calipari bolting Kentucky for a less heralded conference rival is a surprising turn of events, but it could be a positive outcome for all sides.
He’d run his course here. Fact of the matter is that he is a great amasser of talent, like Nick Saban. Unlike Saban however, he’s not a great coach. Once everybody started taking one-and-done guys it became more difficult for him.
Just my $.02 here. I don't think Cal has lost his edge, but I think he is an NIL casualty and there will be more like him. Yes, Kentucky probably had plenty of NIL money, thats not my point. Cal was never a top tier X's and O's coach, but he made sure to get the talent. He has discussed this a ton of times in the past. Cal was one of the first coaches to really lead with getting recruits to the NBA as quickly as possible. He got the 5*s he wanted, told them, come to school, one semester, play well, go to the NBA. That wasn't the prevailing pitch at most schools, they wanted to "develop" and keep the guys long term. Cal offered the quickest path to $ for a high end high school player. With NIL and other schools building transfer rosters stuffed with experienced high level players, Kentucky no longer had the edge. No longer were they obviously more talented and they were never more experienced. Considering the fact he is a far better recruiter than coach, this new system didn't benefit him anymore. Just my thinking.
I'd still have him in the great coach category...it's more of a matter of showing how important it is to have some experience, rather than an incredible assortment of young talent. The Covid era has only made experience that much more important, but Cal continued to stockpile high school talent. I'm sure he'll do really well at Arkansas.
He’s not much of an actual gameday coach. Again, he can amass talent. But if talent is equal, his coaching is not going to make the difference. He doesn’t seem to be able to find answers when they are needed.
$18 million buyout...that's a lot of coin before they even get into negotiating the $ it will take to make him leave Bama.
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Even having lived here for 27 years now, that blew me away yesterday. They filled Rupp to the rafters and had to turn 5,000 people away for a press conference. The passion of this fanbase is insane.'Here to win banners,' Pope fires up crowd at Rupp
During his official introduction, Mark Pope, Kentucky's new coach who signed a five-year deal worth $5.5 million per season, said he's aware of the expectations around the program, adding that "as we go through this journey, we're here to win banners."
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