Mark Stoops sends well wishes to John Calipari

Most people reading this article would’ve laughed if you told them in 2015 that Mark Stoops would outlast John Calipari at Kentucky. The two biggest figures on campus butted heads throughout their lengthy tenures in Lexington, but as Calipari makes his way to Northwest Arkansas, Stoops sent out a parting message to the former Kentucky basketball coach.

“I would like to wish and his family well in their new endeavor,” Stoops wrote on Twitter. “We spent 11 years working together and I really appreciate all they did for UK and the Commonwealth.”

John Calipari arrived in Lexington in 2009, with Stoops following three years later. Up until this week, they were the longest-tenured head football and basketball coaches in the SEC.

Their relationship began on friendly terms. Each frequently attended the other’s games. In the summer of 2017, they were photographed at a summer cookout wearing “Dad attire” that people poked fun of on the internet. One company stepped in and bought each a new pair of slacks to ditch the “Dad jeans.”

For all you millennials out there, I just got two pairs of fitted jeans from @bluedeltajeans. No more dad jeans!!! LOL! pic.twitter.com/UM0dSMWGet

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 12, 2017

.@ukfootball head coach Mark Stoops is supporting Wildcat colors with his steel grey and navy thread! #firstfit pic.twitter.com/5eDOJfGCBV

— Blue Delta Jean Co. (@bluedeltajeans) June 12, 2017

In 2018 Calipari was one of Stoops’ biggest cheerleaders. In the midst of a breakthrough Kentucky football campaign, the Wildcats suffered their first setback in an overtime loss at Texas A&M. After dropping to 5-1, Calipari provided some perspective for Kentucky football coach.

“Do you remember where two years ago we’d be sad and disappointed after a loss?” Calipari said. “Wasn’t no sad now. Everybody, their staff was mad, their players were mad, our fans were mad. The culture has changed now in football.”

A few years later that cordial relationship turned into a rivalry.

In the summer of 2022, Stoops was coming off the Cats’ second 10-win season in four years. Calipari was in the Bahamas with his team during a summer trip. While campaigning for new practice facilities, Calipari called Kentucky a “basketball school,” setting off an unprecedented firestorm within the athletic department. That proved to be a defining moment in the Calipari era, deteriorating his relationship with Mitch Barnhart beyond repair, according to The Athletic.

Football coach Mark Stoops was upset, publicly and privately, and Barnhart sided with his football coach – at least as Calipari saw it and still sees it. While Calipari was still in the Bahamas, being told not to issue any further public statements on the matter, not even a carefully crafted apology, Stoops and Barnhart held a joint press conference in Lexington and Calipari’s boss didn’t hold back.

“We’ll make sure we’re not entitled,” Barnhart said at one point. Basketball would always have support, he said, adding pointedly: “If that’s not good enough, you know, coaches change a lot in today’s world.”

That’s when Calipari knew the marriage – an analogy Barnhart uses often – was doomed.

The Athletic

The Basketball School vs. Football School fire eventually dimmed to a flicker, but was never entirely extinguished. Now Calipari is moving on with a few kind words from Stoops, allowing each program to hit the reset button.