He is basically engineering an exit before getting fired. He was definitely going to be on the hotseat at Kentucky this coming season. We have seen coaches do it before.
He reportedly fought for his job at Kentucky just a couple weeks ago. An odd turn of events.
The Arkansas job wasn't on the table when he fought for his job a couple of weeks ago. Arkansas isn't UK, but it's probably the second-best basketball job in the richest conference. It's one of the few SEC schools where fans and alumni view basketball as more than a diversion until spring football practice.
Also, Cal has a won a national championship so he doesn't really have any more boxes to check. I can see the appeal of a fresh start. That's not to say it will work for either the coach or the school.
until they can get a job they want more. Calipari knew there was a chance next season could be very unpleasant for him at Kentucky so he found a place to start fresh that apparently was willing to make a very big financial commitment to trying to win. Him pushing to keep the Kentucky job a few weeks ago didn't mean he was content there, he just wanted to keep that option.
for firing him also played a role in the announcement that he'd be back.
You have to believe UK is THRILLED with this outcome, as it saves them a ton of money and will bring the boosters that were turned off by Coach Cal back to the table.
little chance Kentucky would have planned to bring him back if not for the large money owed. I'll be interested to see how far (if at all) Kentucky has to go down their wish list before getting someone to say yes. I'd be very surprised if Hurley or Jay Wright would take the job. I don't know if guys like Few or Drew or Oats would make the move. After that I'm not sure what the pecking order would be. Donovan, Pearl, Pitino, Otzenberger, Lloyd, Underwood- basically anyone with some accomplishments could possibly be in play.
Cal will have no shortage of NIL money
is in the gutter
to improve his franchise.
Quite the offseason for the Cowboys.
My tiny Catholic high school in Tulsa played and beat Sutton’s Tulsa Central team back in the mid-60s, before he moved up to the college level, so I always watched his career with interest.
Great article on Sutton, especially his career at Arkansas, linked below.