The college basketball world was shocked in April when John Calipari was announced as the next Arkansas basketball coach, accompanied by an NIL package the likes of which the game has never seen.
Nearly six months, three five-star signees and several top transfer portal players later, Coach Cal has the Hogs locked and loaded for the upcoming season.
Yes, we’re getting to that point where soon the color of the leaves will fade and it will be “basketball time at the palace” again. The passing of the seasons always brings in thoughts on the transience of time, so some Arkansas basketball fans can’t help but wonder if the thrill of Calipari’s arrival in Fayetteville will fade the same over the next few years.
Calipari’s Record of Staunch Loyalty
Say what you want about his NCAA Tournament appearances in recent years at Kentucky (and many will), but if there’s one thing about John Calipari that cannot be critiqued, it is his loyalty. Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes once said about Calipari, “He’s got one fault: He’s an extremely loyal person.”
Calipari spent the first eight seasons of his career at UMass, where he won 73.1% of his games. That was good enough to land him a job in the NBA before heading to Memphis, where he spent nine seasons before moving on to Kentucky, his home for the past 15 years.
The Hall of Famer prides himself on the long game, developing players and relationships over the course of several years, and many – including John Tyson, former Tyson Foods CEO and famed Arkansas super-booster – do not expect Calipari’s stop in Fayetteville to deviate from that ideology.
Tyson also played a key role in finalizing Calipari’s contract, which includes a base salary of $7 million over five seasons, in addition to a $1 million signing bonus, $500,000 retention bonuses and bonuses paid out for reaching various rounds of the NCAA tournament which could in turn roll the contract over to 2031.
Currently, Arkansas chimes in around No. 11 in terms of best odds to win the 2025 NCAA Championship, according to www.promoguy.us.
Notable Coaches Who Left Programs After Decades
John Calipari is of course not the only loyal basketball coach in the history of the sport to eventually leave the school where they became a Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer.
Other notable names that jump out include Jim Calhoun, who brought three national championships to UConn from 1986-2012 before coming out of retirement to coach at a Division III school. He was 79 when he retired for good.
There is also Bob Knight, known for his 29 years at the helm of Indiana, who ended his career at Texas Tech. He led the Red Raiders from 2001-08 before retiring at the age of 68.
Former Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton also deserves mention. Sutton coached the Hogs from 1974-85, and then Kentucky until 1989 before solidifying his Hall of Fame credentials at Oklahoma State. Sutton left the Cowboys in 2006 and retired a year later after a short stint at San Francisco, calling it quits at the age of 72.
Other examples exist, but the moral of the story seems to be that most coaches call it quits around the age of 70, and to boot, some end their careers with a stop that is shorter than their previous stint.
At the end of Calipari’s current contract, he will be – you guessed it – 70 years old.
CBS Insiders Weigh in on Arkansas Basketball
On a recent edition of CBS Sports’ Eye on College Basketball Podcast, college basketball insider Matt Norlander posed the question of how long John Calipari would stay at Arkansas to columnist Gary Parrish.
It would be a fair approximation to say that Parrish is much more optimistic about Calipari’s debut season at Arkansas, as well as his enthusiasm for the job, but regardless of their expectations for this upcoming season, both seem to agree on a fair estimate of how long the Calipari Era lasts.
Parrish answered the question swiftly with a resounding “five.” He went on to add, “Moving forward, I think it’s completely natural to be refocused, re-energized, all of those things when you change jobs at that stage of your career after so many years in Lexington”
“I’ve got five, too. I think he’ll go for five,” Norlander said. “I think five is a safe guess. If it really doesn’t go well, I guess three is the shortest amount, and if he really winds up loving the job, I can’t see him going more than seven more years probably. I think five is probably the right answer there.”
A five-year tenure would mean Calipari would opt to not renew his contract in April of 2029.
Realistic Expectations for Arkansas Basketball Fans
While nobody can predict to a tee what will happen this season, let alone over the course of the John Calipari Era, setting reasonable expectations to keep a fanbase content can be important.
Norlander and Parrish’s expectation of a five-year term aligns with Cal’s current contract and historical precedents and is probably the most realistic expectation to have.
Expecting any fewer than five years from Calipari feels like underestimating his coaching ability and desire to bring a championship to Fayetteville.
It is also unlikely that Calipari will stay any longer than five years in Arkansas due simply to the fact that he may have nothing left to prove at that point in his career. Picture a 70-year-old Coach Cal, having achieved what he is destined to achieve in Fayetteville, having earned the adoration of Arkansas basketball fans and further solidified his legacy as one of college basketball’s all-time greats. At that point, there may be no haters left to silence.
Other Hall of Fame Coaches
Here’s a look at several other Hall of Fame coaches and how old they were at their retirement…
- Mike Krzyzewski: 75 (1974-2022)
- Bob Knight: 68 (1963-2008)
- Dean Smith: 66 (1953-1997)
- Eddie Sutton: 72 ( 1958-2008)
- John Wooden: 65 (1946-1975)
- Roy Williams: 71 (1978-2021)
- Denny Crum: 64 (1959-2001)
- Jim Boeheim: 79 (1969-2023)
- Nolan Richardson: 61 (1977-2002)
Most Winning Coaches in College Basketball History
When it comes winning percentage among Division I coaches all-time, Calipari currently sits at No. 17 (76.5%) behind the likes of Bill Self (76.6%), Mike Krzyewski (76.6%), Roy Williams (77.4%), Dean Smith (77.6%), John Wooden (80.4%) and the leader of the pack, Mark Few (83.4%).
He’s ahead of Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson, but actually falls behind another former Arkansas basketball coach – Francis Schmidt (No. 12 all-time with a 78.2% winning clip). Schmidt, who coached Razorback basketball and football in the 1920s, established the school’s first true era of dominance in the old Southwest Conference with four league championships in 1925-29.
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