trouble in big blue nation
By George Somerville
At the Touchdown we don’t feature Kentucky nearly enough. In fact, shame on us Touchdown. But this week it was near impossible to ignore what was happening in Lexington. Although to most, outside of the Bluegrass State and possibly SEC Nation, some cross words between two head coaches probably went largely unnoticed this week. Behind this fallout is an ongoing power struggle in Lexington. But on the back of this negativity could Kentucky football have a bigger say in the outcome of the SEC football season than many think?
Big Blue Nation
Typically when US sports fans talk about Kentucky University, the conversation is usually about basketball. Which is fair. Kentucky is a blue blood of college hoops. The Kentucky Wildcats is the winningest program in the history of college basketball. It was the first Division I team to chalk up 2,000 wins (in 2009) and has the highest winning percentage in the history of the game – 0.762, with 2111 wins over 661 losses.
Kentucky are an elite college basketball school.
But.
They also play football. Which was the source of friction this last week.
Calipari Throws His Weight Around
Kentucky basketball head coach, John Calipari is a legend in Lexington. However he has cut a disgruntled figure in recent months. Failure to make it beyond the first round of the NCAA tournament last season – ending with a losing record – is not what Kentucky basketball fans have come to expect from their Wildcats.
Whether Coach Calipari sought to deflect the mounting criticism or he genuinely feels that Kentucky needs to further invest in its basketball program to remain competitive, he went public on the lack of support he is getting from the school. And this is not the first time. With some regularity Calipari has called out the University on their reluctance to upgrade the school’s basketball facilities. Although upgrade seems a gross understatement. Calipari’s plans for the basketball facility will make it the centre of the school. Literally, the University of Kentucky would revolve around the basketball program. He wants the new facility to be smack bang in the middle of campus. Which is quite the power play.
But critics will point out that the basketball facility is not yet 15 years old and Kentucky consistently recruits a top class each year. In fact they are on course for the #1 recruiting class in 2023.
So what is Calipari’s beef?
His words tell us much.
Calipari is in the Bahamas with his team at training camp. During camp he elected to unveil ambitious plans for his new basketball facility. A facility he has campaigned for and is frustrated by the lack of a green light to progress.
According to Kyle Tucker of the Athletic, Calipari is fed up waiting on his turn while other sports on campus are getting funding. Calipari told the Athletic,
“Everybody should be behind this. Our football facility, we spent $200m…If this is the basketball program for the state, which it is, how about the state says, “We’re in – We’re going to invest”.
Calipari continued,
“And the reason is, this is a basketball school. It’s always been that, Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. I mean, they are. No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls. At the end of the day, that makes my job easier and it makes the job of all of us easier. But this is a basketball school. And so we need to keep moving in that direction and keep doing what we’re doing.”
John Calipari does not mince his words.
The Wildcat Fights Back
Nor does Kentucky head football coach, Mark Stoops. Stoops took to Twitter quicker than Jimbo Fisher can ready a press conference to question Calipari’s words,
“Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC?”
A bombshell tweet. And for those observers, fans or even the UK administration hoping this altercation would be brief, they were to be disappointed. Stoops had a number of opportunities to let the news cycle move on. He did not.
“I stay in my lane. So that’s in defense of my players, in defense of the work that we’ve done. And believe me, we want to continue to push. But don’t demean or distract from the hard work and the dedication and the commitment that people have done to get to this point. I don’t need to apologize for that, and I won’t.”
Stoops went on,
“Listen, we all know this program wasn’t born on third base. Some may, but I can promise you this football team didn’t wake up on third base. [They] did a lot of work, we did a lot of work.”
Called Into The Headmaster's Office
This wasn’t a good look for the school in general, and it didn’t take long for some to take advantage of the rift during recruiting visits. Other SEC programs were loving this public spat.
No great surprise then that Kentucky Athletics Director, Mitch Barnhart came out publicly to bang his two head coaches heads together.
In a rare meeting with the press, Barnhart said,
“I have two coaches that have been with me—one 13 years [Calipari], one 10 years [Stoops) – I hired them both. I gave them the opportunities to coach here, their families to come here, to win championships here, to go to bowl games here. I’ve walked with both of them through good and bad. … And they’ve been provided every opportunity to do the very things that they want to do to be successful. That isn’t changing. As long as I’m in the chair, we will have that support. If that’s not good enough, you know, coaches change a lot in today’s world.”
Which for one of the SEC’s lowest profile AD’s and someone who does not court public attention, was quite the public rebuke.
Who Is In The Right?
Last season was a truly excellent one for Kentucky football. Head coach, Mark Stoops has been slowly building a program which can compete at the highest level in the SEC. Last season Kentucky had a 10-3 season with the three losses coming against Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi State. Only the game against Mike Leach’s Bulldogs stands out. Against Georgia, Kentucky went toe to toe in Athens, and only in the third quarter did UGA pull away. The loss to Tennessee was a narrow 3 point loss in a high scoring 45-42 point game. Mark Stoops knows his Wildcats had the makings of an historic season in their hands.
Given that Kentucky football had for many years been in the wilderness, and the whipping boys of the SEC (Vanderbilt take note), this places Mark Stoops on the crest of a wave and in a position of power.
John Calipari knows that football is king when it comes to money in college athletics – whether he likes it or not. The SEC draws more money to schools than any other conference in college athletics. So with a football program in its ascendency, Calipari has things to worry about.
Calipari also comes off the back of a disappointing period for Kentucky basketball. So for the first time in many years, Calipari’s stock isn’t quite what it has been.
Pressure has been growing on Calipari this week. Voice of the SEC, Paul Finebaum weighed in on the debate, even volunteering that Calipari’s days in Lexington may be numbered,
“It is the biggest story in the SEC right now because it came out of left field and it came at a time where we should’ve been celebrating Kentucky basketball. They had the stage to themselves, four days in the Bahamas and Calipari blew it. Quite frankly, I don’t know where he goes to get it back. Just listening to our audience, and we have a lot of Kentucky fans that call in, they’re very mixed on him right now”.
said Finebaum on the McElroy and Cubelic radio show before continuing,
“I mean are you guys telling me you can’t find a coach better than John Calipari right now? Billy Donovan? I’m just throwing a name out there. A young coach who is up-and-coming? Take your pick. John Calipari is really no longer the best option for the University of Kentucky.”
SEC Beware!
While Mark Stoops would not have welcomed this level of interest on his football team, in one way it may well work to the football team’s advantage.
After last season, Stoops has a hard act to follow and with a number of starters returning, including his superstar quarterback, Will Levis – he has to guard against complacency.
As the best coaches in sport will attest to, there is no better way of building team spirit than to have an “us against them” mentality. Mark Stoops can legitimately tell his players that everyone in the world is against them, even the Kentucky basketball team. Wowzer.
Meaning the rest of the SEC should be concerned. Improving on a 10-3 record means they are seriously competing for the SEC East and from there the SEC Championship. This would mean beating current National Champions Georgia, which is a tall order. However the close run game in Athens will give Stoops and his coaching staff confidence in taking on UGA at home in Lexington. Going into the final quarter, at home 7 points or less down against the National Champions? Mark Stoops would bite your hand off for this right now.
While this season might be make or break for Calipari – who now has more pressure on him than before, it is not for Stoops.
Kentucky football is on the up and it will be fascinating to see how The Wildcats fare this season.
