Paying $33 million to buy out a basketball coach would be wrong thing for Kentucky to do
If by the time you read this Kentucky has agreed to pay $33 million to buy out the contract of head basketball coach John Calipari, it will have been a mistake.
It won’t be a mistake because Calipari has met the high expectations of his administration and fan base. He hasn’t.
It will be a mistake because paying $33 million to buy out a college basketball coach is a ridiculous thing to do.
It’s why that ridiculous dollar figure was placed in Calipari’s so-called “lifetime contract” in the first place. It was not because UK believed it one day would pay $33 million to part ways with its coach. The buyout was an article of faith that the school believed in its coach enough to pledge a buyout amount no institution in its right mind would pay.
It’s true UK wouldn’t really be paying the $33 million. Supporters and boosters would be supplying president Eli Capilouto and athletics director Mitch Barnhart the funds to fire the head basketball coach after the Wildcats’ 80-76 loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Pittsburgh, the fourth straight season in which UK failed to reach the second weekend of the tournament.
No matter the source, firing Calipari would be a bad look for a school that works tirelessly to raise money to improve itself as an academic institution and whose tuition rates continue to rise, not to mention for a state that by any economic measure is far from wealthy.
As well, if UK does accept $33 million to buy up the final five years of a coach’s contract, what does Capilouto tell his faculty and staff? And what does Barnhart tell the coaches and athletes in other sports in his department? “Sorry, we just don’t have money for that?” won’t cut it.
Texas A&M paid more than $75 million to fire football coach Jimbo Fisher, but Kentucky isn’t Texas. UK isn’t Texas A&M. Nor should it be. Do we want Kentucky’s basketball program to be viewed in the same light as the A&M football program?
I’m not buying the offset argument either, that Calipari’s salary at his next job would offset the $33 million buyout. Who is to say there will be a next job? Might Cal pocket buyout millions — split into annual payments — and embark on other pursuits?
Back in 2009, Kentucky’s new basketball coach conducted individual interviews with local media outlets. At the end of his sit-down with Jerry Tipton and myself, Calipari said, “I can tell you one thing. I’m not going to coach as long as people think I will. I have other things I want to do.”
Fifteen years later, and a few days for context after that loss to the Golden Grizzlies, it’s not as if UK’s season was a total failure. This was an entertaining Kentucky basketball team that beat North Carolina, Alabama, Auburn (at Auburn) and Tennessee (at Tennessee); that earned an AP top-10 ranking, a No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Two problems. Calipari rolled the dice that a young group could beat more experienced teams in March. It couldn’t. And the coach is likely to start all over again with yet another young group next season.
Another problem: Saying you have the youngest team in the country isn’t an excuse when you choose to have the youngest team in the country. And UK fans tired of Calipari’s NBA talk a long time ago.
That said, Calipari is not the first Hall of Fame coach to suffer a slump. Ten times Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams each failed to reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournaments. Same now for Tom Izzo. It’s happened to Bill Self 11 times. After reaching the 2009 Final Four, Jay Wright went six seasons without a Sweet 16 appearance before winning national titles in 2016 and again in 2018.
It’s an inarguable fact that UK and Calipari need to figure out what changes are necessary to end this sudden lack of NCAA Tournament success. But paying $33 million to change coaches isn’t the answer.
This story was originally published March 24, 2024 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Paying $33 million to buy out a basketball coach would be wrong thing for Kentucky to do."
