John Calipari Takes A More Prestigious Job
April 7, 2009 – 8:58 am by Tas Melas
If someone came up to you and said, ‘Hey, you wanna take this higher profile job in one of the most prolific spots for your occupation?’ Pretty simple answer, no? In terms of college basketball, great coaches can often stay at a school for as long as they want, but when they make coaching their career, they know there could very well be a few moving days. These men and women are competitive people so when John Calipari had the chance to boost his profile / accomplishments / take on another challenge, he jumped at it. And, I can’t say I blame him. The immediate reaction is to say he’s greedy and he’s only thinking about himself but that’s strictly because he’s in such a publicized field – many of us working ‘normal’ jobs would do the same. John Calipari joins Mike Francesa on WFAN to discuss the difficult decision to leave Memphis, what sealed it, and how long it’s gonna take to get things going at Kentucky.
On his thought process of joining the Wildcats:
“Someone said, ‘You weren’t their first choice’ and you know what I said, ‘You know what? I was my wife’s second or third choice and it’s worked out okay.’ At the end of the day, it was a dream of mine and the AD said ‘I made a mistake, I should have hired him last time.’ Whether he made a mistake or not, things don’t happen on our timetable… It’s a dream job for me, it’s what I’ve always seen as the best of the best.”
On why it was difficult to leave the Tigers:
“It’s hard leaving Memphis, we had the best class in the country coming in, we’re coming off 30-win years every year, we had a chance to win national titles, we had an unbelievable brand going – to leave that, it had to be something like Kentucky.”
Calipari on what closed the deal and his timeline at Kentucky after the jump.
On what closed the deal:
“The hardest thing was, ‘Can I do this?’ Going to Kentucky was easy. Can I do this, which is leave the University of Memphis for all they did. Next year, if I had stayed, I would have made more at Memphis… Here’s what got me and why I ended up saying I gotta do this. What would I feel like in three years if we come back to Earth at Memphis, and I had a chance to take the Kentucky job and I passed on it, and I regretted it? I said, ‘You know what? I probably would.”
On the timeline at Kentucky:
“I told the President and I told the AD when I met him, ‘If you look at me historically, over my career, it’s taken me four years to get Massachusetts going, it took me four years to get Memphis going. Now, maybe Kentucky can do it a little quicker, maybe in three years, but after we get programs going, Mike, they stay there. They’re at the top of the top, they stay there. ‘Now, if you guys can’t deal with that you should not hire me, I’m not a miracle worker…”
Listen to John Calipari on WFAN with Mike Francesa
Tags: College Basketball, John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats, Memphis Tigers, NCAA
