Paul Finebaum expects John Calipari to be a 'different' coach at Arkansas

John Calipari is heading to Arkansas for a next step in his career that very few saw coming before it came out on Sunday. Now, to Paul Finebaum, it’s a move that could be best for everyone based on Kentucky’s opinions and what Calipari himself may have needed.

Finebaum weighed in on Calipari’s decision to leave Lexington for Fayetteville during an appearance on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’ on Monday. He felt like this became a way for Calipari to save face in the bluegrass. His recent history, and even the first two weeks of their offseason, hadn’t gone over well in the bluegrass, which is why, as surprising as it may be to others in the sport, some are happy to see this era come to a close.

“I think it’s 100% accurate,” Finebaum said. “Mitch Barnhart really gave him a lifeline a couple weeks ago. I think Kentucky could have come up with the $30 million but I just think it was a close call. They made a decision – let’s give it one more shot while we try to figure out where we are.”

“I think everyone in Lexington feels good today. I know that sounds crazy if you don’t follow this thing on a minute to minute basis but I think it’s the truth. You just can’t lose twice in three years in the first round at Kentucky,” said Finebaum. “We say it every time that we have these conversations but Kentucky Basketball is Alabama Football. Alabama fans don’t like losing any important game, or any game for that matter, and neither does Kentucky. You can’t just say – he said a weeks ago that, ‘We’re going to do things a little bit differently next year’. This was devastating.”

Calipari leaves after 15 years at Kentucky with a record of 410-123 (.769) to go with a dozen selections in the NCAA Tournament, four Final Fours, and the school’s eighth national title in 2012. With that said, the decade hasn’t been anywhere near as successful for the program. In the past four years, they were 80-46 (.635) with no postseason success to show for it.

This conversation then came to a head after the Wildcats’ loss to Oakland in this NCAA Tournament. It brought about a very real discussion about Calipari’s future leading the team, even if Barnhart eventually elected to retain him for next season. However, Calipari took it in his own hands this weekend with him leaving to take the vacant job at Arkansas.

With this being the next stop in his Hall of Fame career, Finebaum sees it as Calipari’s version of working on himself. His last relationship didn’t end how anyone thought, which is why he now expects to see him put his best foot forward upon his arrival with the ‘Hogs.

“I give Calipari, I give his agent, and I give Hunter Yurachek, the AD at Arkansas, a tremendous kudos for seeing this,” said Finebaum. “There’ll be a lot of comparisons – I’ve only been married once so I’m not going to be able to go second-marriage comparisons where, all of a sudden, you do all the things better the second time around. But that’s what this feels like.”

“I think Calipari will be a different coach when he lands in Arkansas today,” Finebaum opined.

For as unpleasant as life was becoming in the bluegrass, Calipari’s divorce from Kentucky wasn’t as nasty as it could have ended up. That’s why, with a new life in the form of his next job at Arkansas, Finebaum thinks it’s the kind of separation both sides needed in order to be at their best moving forward.