Cal left, BBN did not chase him off!!!

[RyenPenelopeUK]

Pretty tired of this spin. Sport media is tryin to save Cals reputation here and its obvious. Close to 9 million a year, lifetime contract and all the resources that go with it. 5 bad seasons by any blue blood standard, not just Kentucky. Even with that Mitch showed public support for this coach and while Cal tells all of BBN he is excited for the coming season, he decides to speak to Arkansas and ultimately decide to take their contract and LEAVE.
Thats how it went down, for better or worse. Behind the scene there could have been conversations pressuring Cal to show results. Rightfully so, wouldn't you think? You pay a man close to 9 mill a year, I think you have a right to expect results. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him if he didn't like being held accountable?
To be honest Cal made the best decision for all concerned, and I respect him for that. He obviously knew he couldn't meet the basic standard so he decided to go with Jerry Jones who will buy his team. Ironically the Cowboys are sited as the exact comparison to modern day UK. All the talent money can buy. Means nothing with out a leader and someone efficient in X's and O's to get the job done.
I expect Cal to take this as a wake up call and adjust accordingly. All though he maybe so arrogant as to think his way is the only way. So far though I believe he is learning a valuable lesson. Arkansas is not the UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY. His recruited guys are not just following him in droves like they did when he left Memphis. Granted the NIL makes that somewhat different but like JJ said, they have deep pockets and will pay twice the amount asked to come there, yet why is it taking him so long to build his dream team of 5 stars and one and dones?
Cousin for all his ignorance was on the right track. TV time! No one is going to watch hogs basketball. He wanted to put that on UK but the opposite is true. Our story will be fresh and easy to sell. Young alumni coach tryin to take UK back to prominence. While Arkansas will be bought and paid for coach and team. That story is what UK left behind when Cal.....DECIDED TO LEAVE!


SORRY Just had to get that all out my system.

 

[Tubbyfan78]

He left because he wasn't wanted here and I'm glad he did. However, let's not try to spin this. He'd be here if he thought the administration and fans wanted him here. I'm glad Pope is our coach.

 

[ukcatz12]

Paragraphs dude

 

[Supafuzz75]

Dunno,, I'm happy to think we fans had a part in cleansing the university of him..

 

[Kentucky2022]

Who cares just glad he’s gone!!

 

[RyenPenelopeUK]

Paragraphs dude

I did I did, they were knocked out, forgive me lol there are breaks

 

[MrHotDice]

Arkansas is now Jerry Jones and Tyson Chicken team. Cals ego is getting stomped on by some of the worst people in sports. In fact, I think he leaves after 2-3 years.

 

[RyenPenelopeUK]

He left because he wasn't wanted here and I'm glad he did. However, let's not try to spin this. He'd be here if he thought the administration and fans wanted him here. I'm glad Pope is our coach.

Sure bbn was pissed and the university wasn't going to pay the 33 mill buy out but like all us true fans, we would have supported the team to be let down again. Still the support would have been there I believe. Cal just didn't want to be held accountable and ran. Jmho

 

[ace on the river]

Hell yes we run him off, and I'm glad we did. He couldn't take the pressure anymore

 

[MissingWCC]

I came at him like Nevercracker and he skedaddled. I'll take the solo blame for running him off.

 

[RyenPenelopeUK]

Who cares just glad he’s gone!!

My only point is that BBN gets the bad wrap for being crazy. We can be sure and there are some just stupid but the narrative that we chassed him off urks me because he is a whiney coward that wasn't going to win with all the resources he had and we somehow hurt his chances, I call BS is all

 

[Catfan2226]

He should have been tied to a rail and ran out of Lexington after 9-16.
Hell yes I wanted him gone.

 

[WallMashKyBall]

BBN chased him off. Own it. Don't whine about it. You are right that we had 5 seasons not up to our standards. Winning 20 games a year will keep fans happy at most places but not here. When Cal read the tea leaves and jumped ship he saved this university a bucketful of money, so that's a positive.

 

[thedahc]

My only point is that BBN gets the bad wrap for being crazy. We can be sure and there are some just stupid but the narrative that we chassed him off urks me because he is a whiney coward that wasn't going to win with all the resources he had and we somehow hurt his chances, I call BS is all

My man. UK fans and lack of admin support ran him off. Just accept it.

Not BS. The fans are crazy and that's not terrible but some are flat out toxic.

I love UK but there is a reason a lot of coaches turned the job down.

 

[dvillecatfan]

BBN chased him off. Own it. Don't whine about it. You are right that we had 5 seasons not up to our standards. Winning 20 games a year will keep fans happy at most places but not here. When Cal read the tea leaves and jumped ship he saved this university a bucketful of money, so that's a positive.

solid post

 

[Deli owl]

BBN ran off Tubby, BCG, and Cal. No since I revising history. It’s called passion for winning.

 

[TankedCat]

well...I tried to chase him off

 

[Catfan2226]

BBN chased him off. Own it. Don't whine about it. You are right that we had 5 seasons not up to our standards. Winning 20 games a year will keep fans happy at most places but not here. When Cal read the tea leaves and jumped ship he saved this university a bucketful of money, so that's a positive.

BBN can be blamed for running him off and I'm fine with it. I'll take credit for my part in it because the program is bigger and more important than ANY coaches ego....always will be.

 

[IH8BlueDevilsandUNcheat]

I'm just glad he's gone... Next season would have been a disaster

 

[NociHTTP]

BBN chased him off. Own it. Don't whine about it. You are right that we had 5 seasons not up to our standards. Winning 20 games a year will keep fans happy at most places but not here. When Cal read the tea leaves and jumped ship he saved this university a bucketful of money, so that's a positive.

The thing that burns my buttons is that he tried taking all of his players, ONLY so that our cupboards would be bare. Had he stayed he would have tried pushing as many of them out as possible to make room for the next batch of gimme gimmes.

 

[BigTyrone]

Both things can be true.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Well, I've spilled my guts on this topic several times, so I'll keep it short. I definitely don't think it's fair to say BBN "ran him off." He was coming back, had a public press conference with the AD to announce his return, and BBN had accepted that as the case. He had 3 more years left on his deal. We weren't happy about it, but most had accepted it. Cal went out and started talks with Arkansas. He would still be here if he hadn't taken that step. I'm glad he did, though. Saved UK $33million and allowed us to start over, which was needed. And he needed it, too, I have no doubt about it. He wasn't the same coach these last 4 seasons.

 

[mebeblue2]

BBN ran off Tubby, BCG, and Cal. No since I revising history. It’s called passion for winning.

we can all thank PPATS mom for getting rid of BCG

 

[bbncal02]

My only point is that BBN gets the bad wrap for being crazy. We can be sure and there are some just stupid but the narrative that we chassed him off urks me because he is a whiney coward that wasn't going to win with all the resources he had and we somehow hurt his chances, I call BS is all

Eff em. If having high expectations is 'crazy' then that shows the problem with society. Stop settling.

It's ok to take breaks, to rest, etc. It's even ok to fail every now and again. Failure teaches you crap. But Never Settle.

Cal settled. And damn was it sad to see. For both him and us. They keep showing that video of him walking his old dog and all I can think is how sad it ended this way. He should've led us to at least 3 titles. That would've put us at 10 and then the next coach could've gotten us over the hump. And what an accomplishent that would be. UK having the most wins and most titles in college basketball...all under 6 different coaches.

In a parallel universe, we hung number 9 or 10 this season.

I don't hate Cal. I hate what he became.

 

[JHB4UK]

Y'all ain't seen nothin yet

Within two yrs some national media commentators said Kentucky *fired* Tubby Smith. They will do the same with Cal.

 

[meteordealer]

We 100% ran him off.

 

[SoCaliCat]

We were smart enough to run him off. I don't know what the problem is.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

If us fans were toxic, then WTF was Cal? refusing to play lineups because fans and even media looked at analytics etc and saw what the best lineups were and Cal's ego didnt want to admit he was wrong. Or the way he talked down to the fan base the last few years.

Cal ran away like a beotch, instead of changing and winning back boosters and fans and the administration by coaching to win, he refused , tanked the season to try and get DJ drafted.... and then not wanting to admit he needed to change, he left and tried to spin it like we ran him off.

thats a textboot definition of toxic trait

 

[rick64]

Media seem for the most part overlooked mentioning that he was inquiring about the Ohio St job back in February. So he'd checked out months ago.

 

[LmdCat]

Pretty tired of this spin. Sport media is tryin to save Cals reputation here and its obvious. Close to 9 million a year, lifetime contract and all the resources that go with it. 5 bad seasons by any blue blood standard, not just Kentucky. Even with that Mitch showed public support for this coach and while Cal tells all of BBN he is excited for the coming season, he decides to speak to Arkansas and ultimately decide to take their contract and LEAVE.
Thats how it went down, for better or worse. Behind the scene there could have been conversations pressuring Cal to show results. Rightfully so, wouldn't you think? You pay a man close to 9 mill a year, I think you have a right to expect results. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him if he didn't like being held accountable?
To be honest Cal made the best decision for all concerned, and I respect him for that. He obviously knew he couldn't meet the basic standard so he decided to go with Jerry Jones who will buy his team. Ironically the Cowboys are sited as the exact comparison to modern day UK. All the talent money can buy. Means nothing with out a leader and someone efficient in X's and O's to get the job done.
I expect Cal to take this as a wake up call and adjust accordingly. All though he maybe so arrogant as to think his way is the only way. So far though I believe he is learning a valuable lesson. Arkansas is not the UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY. His recruited guys are not just following him in droves like they did when he left Memphis. Granted the NIL makes that somewhat different but like JJ said, they have deep pockets and will pay twice the amount asked to come there, yet why is it taking him so long to build his dream team of 5 stars and one and dones?
Cousin for all his ignorance was on the right track. TV time! No one is going to watch hogs basketball. He wanted to put that on UK but the opposite is true. Our story will be fresh and easy to sell. Young alumni coach tryin to take UK back to prominence. While Arkansas will be bought and paid for coach and team. That story is what UK left behind when Cal.....DECIDED TO LEAVE!


SORRY Just had to get that all out my system.

I like it better as he was run off because he should have been. It is what should happen when one stops doing his job well enough to earn the second highest salary in college basketball.

 

[HeismaNole]

This narrative is always dumb as hell. Why? Because he doesn’t even interact with fans. He doesn’t talk to fans. Did he run to Facebook and Rupp rafters to see the comments and then decide, “I’m going to leave cause of ‘CatsFan4Ever saying I should be fired” ? 😂

Cal is a narcissist and in total narcissist fashion, you’re always the victim and never at fault.

 

[pauled]

I think Cal alienated the big money, the boosters can make or break a coach at any school. The fan base was sick of hearing about generational poverty, and how changing guys lives were the most important thing to Cal.

Cal was content with the Championship he won, he made it plain the SEC championship meant nothing to him. A lot of fans were spending a lot of money going to that tournament! I’m just happy he’s gone, even if it meant a down year this season!

 

[IL Wildcat]

One more quick thought to settle this argument once and for all... if Cal had been forced out, UK would have been forced to buy him out. We owed him $33 million. Show me the check. He didn't get run off or fired. He left on his own. Case closed.

 

[ftp000]

There's no definitive answer. It's a matter of perception. I can see it both ways. It really shouldn't matter. He was ready to go, proven by his being USU curious in Feb. And the already delicately balanced fanbase , completely turned in March. Both sides of the argument are right.

 

[sluggercatfan]

JVC a coward! Couldn't hide himself!!!

 

[Elliott Tim]

Well, I've spilled my guts on this topic several times, so I'll keep it short. I definitely don't think it's fair to say BBN "ran him off." He was coming back, had a public press conference with the AD to announce his return, and BBN had accepted that as the case. He had 3 more years left on his deal. We weren't happy about it, but most had accepted it. Cal went out and started talks with Arkansas. He would still be here if he hadn't taken that step. I'm glad he did, though. Saved UK $33million and allowed us to start over, which was needed. And he needed it, too, I have no doubt about it. He wasn't the same coach these last 4 seasons.

I know one thing for certain.
Perception, opinion, all relative.
That's a fact.

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

Mitch ran Cal off. Cal didn’t really want to leave. Cal wanted more money for NIL and tried to use Ark for leverage. Mitch was looking for a reason to get rid of him without the buyout and found his shot. Once it leaked, Cal couldn’t come back to UK from it. His arrogance cost him, like it always does.

 

[bbncal02]

Mitch ran Cal off. Cal didn’t really want to leave. Cal wanted more money for NIL and tried to use Ark for leverage. Mitch was looking for a reason to get rid of him without the buyout and found his shot. Once it leaked, Cal couldn’t come back to UK from it. His arrogance cost him, like it always does.

 

[LmdCat]

Mitch ran Cal off. Cal didn’t really want to leave. Cal wanted more money for NIL and tried to use Ark for leverage. Mitch was looking for a reason to get rid of him without the buyout and found his shot. Once it leaked, Cal couldn’t come back to UK from it. His arrogance cost him, like it always does.

Great!!!

 

[Rockfly78]

He left in part because of the fans, in part because of Mitch, in part because of the boosters and NIL, I think in his mind he was left with no choice but to leave.

When observing conflict, I heard a man say one time “it’s not his fault, he thinks he’s right”. No truer words were ever spoken and those words apply to every single disagreement.