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If there is one coach who should totally understand what John Calipari faces at Kentucky, it’s Nick Saban.
The expectations/pressure the Alabama football coach faces fall in line with what the Kentucky fan base expects from its coach every year.
That’s why it was no surprise to see that Calipari had reached out to the legendary Alabama coach after he announced his retirement this year when his team lost to eventual national champion Michigan in the college football playoffs.
“I talked to Coach Saban last night. He may be the best or one of the best at what we do,” Calipari posted on X Thursday. “Two examples come to mind: him hugging a struggling kicker during a close overtime loss to LSU in 2011, only to have them come back and beat the Tigers in the national championship.
“The second was this year. They lose early to Texas and struggle the following week against USF. He then turns the team around to being within a play or two of competing for another championship. He was at a place where winning wasn’t always enough and he handled it with grace.
“I admire his focus, but more importantly how he got his teams to focus, on one objective: to win championships! Tremendous run by one of the best to ever do it! Congrats, Coach Saban!”
Well said John Calipari.
3 Responses
Larry, you need a call in show like Paul Fienstien..Saban for sure did not put a good word in Lane Kiffin. Saban is football.
Which is heck of lot harder managing than basketball. Ask Stoops if it is fun & he’ll tell you no, it is not fun. It a #$@+ of a lot of hard work. Recruiting 1/done players for the G League is quite simple. Especially when you have the Kentucky Brand. 1 championship compared to 7 at the same school is no comparison at all. And nobody really cares if these guys are friends or not.
UK should have taken over UCLA in banners. A LONG TIME AGO. We are lucky that Stoops is still here.
GB
We have show on WLAP in Lexington every Sunday from 9 a.m. until noon
There are 9 million reasons why Stoops is not going anywhere.