Will Cal coach until he is 73. His comments

[BIG BLUE GURU]

From KSR

Cal’s comments about retirement and the possibility of his son walking on at UK.

“First of all, my wife has already told me if he decides to come, ‘you’re not leaving,’ so that would mean I’m here five more years. If I’m here five more years, why not stay ’til 70, why not sign a new contract and I’ll be 70 when I leave. Seems like everyone coaches until 70, I was thinking 60, but maybe I’ll coach until 72, maybe 73,” Cal said. “If he comes and he wants to walk on, to be able to spend four years with my son and the ups and downs of this? The only thing is he likes to talk back, you can’t do that when you’re playing for me.”

 

[westerncat]

I would love it if he stayed that long but this is just Cal being Cal.

 

[DY9ASTY]

It's possible. No reason he won't want to be the next Coach K of college basketball. As this rate, he can make some serious noise in the record books....namely the fact that if the stays til he's 70, like half the NBA will be UK players. That's a big time legacy.

 

[BigKari]

Yeah I always thought I guy like him would never walk away at 60. He may have said that 5 yrs ago, but now that 60 is fast approaching for him, reality is setting in. 60 is not that old if you take pretty good care of yourself and Cal is starting to realize that. He knows he could just be getting started at UK, and if others can do it at 70 you can bet that Cal will want to prove he can too.

 

[BoulderCat]

Yeah I always thought I guy like him would never walk away at 60. He may have said that 5 yrs ago, but now that 60 is fast approaching for him, reality is setting in. 60 is not that old if you take pretty good care of yourself and Cal is starting to realize that. He knows he could just be getting started at UK, and if others can do it at 70 you can bet that Cal will want to prove he can too.

I can attest that as you start to get close to 60 it definitely doesn't seem as old as you once thought of it. Sure you start to feel it in some ways, but in other's it doesn't feel that different than 25. The only thing that worries me about Cal coaching until 70 is he works so hard. He may need to cut back a bit, or find himself start having some health issue's. Or maybe not, who knows. Talking about coaching at UK until he's 70 is sure a switch from those first couple of years when all our detractor's said he'd be gone in 2-3 years. A very good switch!

 

[ThroughBlue]

Don't mind that, that's just my boner

 

[Ghettobird]

I agree it's Cal being Cal, but the man says nothing by accident.

 

[hotelblue]

 

[UKWildcats#8]

A lot of "UK fans" will be pissed to hear this possibility.

 

[Poetax]

Rupp would have been pissed.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Every year he stays makes it less likely he ever leaves for another job, so at some point it will just be an issue of him being able to just retire. If Brad walks on, that would pretty much lock Cal here into his 60's. Who knows with Cal. He has some lofty goals for his players to reach. He'll have to coach quite a while yet for them to hit 3 billion.

 

[Kycatspaws]

It sounds great to me. Go Big Blue And Cal Too!

 

[ThroughBlue]

Every year he stays makes it less likely he ever leaves for another job, so at some point it will just be an issue of him being able to just retire. If Brad walks on, that would pretty much lock Cal here into his 60's. Who knows with Cal. He has some lofty goals for his players to reach. He'll have to coach quite a while yet for them to hit 3 billion.

Not if they keep signing 100 mil contracts

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

like half the NBA will be UK players. That's a big time legacy.

Cal is living for that idea right now. Not to say he will ever have more than 35 UK guys in the league, but he has said he'd like to see 10% of the league be guys he used to coach in college. 8 to 10% could actually happen. UK already has about 5% of the league covered in former Cats.

 

[lacocat]

Cal is living for that idea right now. Not to say he will ever have more than 35 UK guys in the league, but he has said he'd like to see 10% of the league be guys he used to coach in college. 8 to 10% could actually happen. UK already has about 5% of the league covered in former Cats.

It may only be 5% in numbers, but the quality with Wall, Cousins, Davis, Karl Towns, leading their teams, Most of the Phoenix Suns backcourt etc., it makes a far greater than a 5% impact. Not even mentioning young guys like Noel, Randle, WCS, next years class etc.

 

[Federal Cat]

If he stays that long were gonna need more room for final four and championship banners

 

[musrat59]

I think he will coach about six more years.

 

[Bigblueforever]

If he stays that long were gonna need more room for final four and championship banners

That why a lot of Kentucky Fans are here for & pull for.

 

[uky8unc5]

Rupp would have been pissed.

I loved Coach Rupp and will always consider him UK's greatest coach (since he created our Legacy). But sad to say, he needed to retire.

 

[Ron Mehico]

If Cal stays 10 more years IMO we will at least have one more championship, if not 2. And who knows how many more final fours. But more importantly, some great memories, great teams, fun seasons, and UK being in all the headines. Sign me up.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

This would be amazing. With K soon out of the way, Cal will be the most dominant coach in college basketball at the most dominant college. If he stayed to 70, 72, he may catch UCLA.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

he may catch UCLA.

Let's just get to #9 before we start looking ahead to #11. These titles are hard to come by.

 

[irishcat1965]

If UK can retain Cal for ten more years, I would be estatic. Beyond that time frame, I have my doubts. I do know if Brad comes to UK, we can rest easy until he graduates- no way Cal's wife would allow him to leave in those circumstances.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

I think he will coach about six more years.

That would put him around the 800 win mark. At that point he can clearly see the holy grail of coaching. 1000 would only be another 6 years away. Assuming he can average 34 wins per season. If not for the train wreck in '13, Cal would be averaging pretty close to that. Even if it took one more year he could retire at 69 breaking the 1000 mark.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

If UK can retain Cal for ten more years, I would be estatic. Beyond that time frame, I have my doubts. I do know if Brad comes to UK, we can rest easy until he graduates- no way Cal's wife would allow him to leave in those circumstances.

10 years would really force him to stay longer, he'd be 2-3 years from 1000. Cal does have an ego. If he stays long enough to get close, I think he will finish the task and retire with 1000 wins.

 

[Cats192]

It may be Cal speak. But, when he first got here, it was always: This isn't a long term job. This is a 10 year job. So, it's exciting to hear him talk differently.

 

[Blueaz]

This would be amazing. With K soon out of the way, Cal will be the most dominant coach in college basketball at the most dominant college. If he stayed to 70, 72, he may catch UCLA.

What? No way. He can't win anymore at UK. He chokes at the end (see his history). Oh lawdy, if that man stays...,

 

[CELTICAT]

Had we finished the job and gone 40-0, I would have liked to see some sort of lifetime contract drawn up for him. At this point, we need him here as long as possible.

 

[ia.ukfan]

Cal has a huge ego, staying makes a lot of sense considering that. Like others have stated if he stays another 13-14 years he's going to go down as one of the greatest coaches of all time. It'll be hard to pass Wooden or K, but I think number 3 is realistic. And then you consider the insane numbers for his players in the NBA and their earnings, as Clay Davis would say, ssssssshhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitt. Then again maybe Cal is just talking out his butt like he often does, but I for one hope he isn't. Love the man and hope he stays here for life.

 

[ia.ukfan]

Had we finished the job and gone 40-0, I would have liked to see some sort of lifetime contract drawn up for him. At this point, we need him here as long as possible.

What is the point of a lifetime contract? With inflation it quickly turns into an obsolete contract. He basically has a lifetime contract agreement. Cal has Mitch by the balls and Mitch loves it. Cal is the greatest thing that ever happened to Mitch. If cal wants a raise or extension, its his. Unless Cal stops doing his thing or the program gets in trouble (which I don't think will happen), Cal has a lifetime contract in essence.

 

[hotelblue]

I think he will coach about six more years.

that's actually my guess. seven maybe, and retirement. these years ahead may be the best yet. i think cal has one job left in him, although he will always be in basketball, that can be here or somewhere else. it's sounding like here more and more. quite a legacy he's building for everyone.

nice to hear about brad. after all he probably knows all the players that have come through. if he walks on and plays for his dad that would be a great story. his son could also potentially get a ring. would be great.