Calipari 5-Year Deal with Arkansas. Billy Donovan a top candidate for Kentucky

[kodo]

Wow, what a downgrade from all those names mentioned.

[Betta Bulleavit]

Underwhelming

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I’m shocked they won’t wait a week. Kentucky fans are gonna be pissed. They don’t want Pope from what I’ve read.

Man!! It’s like they got flustered because Cal left and Drew turned them down. So they just settled for the one guy that they knew wouldn’t say no. Pope isn’t a bad coach. But it’s going to take some time for them to rebuild that program.

[umfan83]

My reaction to Kentucky not poaching our head coach away is that this franchise is cursed.

[WindyCityBorn]

Pro jobs are always better than college.

That’s subjective. Kentucky definitely will pay him more, shorter season, better talent for that level compared to what he has here. An administration that is all-in on winning. Possibly more recognition.

And if you don't win you will get killed by a crazy fan base and he will be dealing with guys averaging 5ppg wanting $100,000.

Kentucky wants to be at top of college basketball. He will keep a stacked roster because they have people that will pay for it. In the NBA he gets to deal players rich than him that don’t even respect him in some cases. He might actually want to get back to teaching. A ravenous fanbase is part of the job. You talk like professional coaches don’t take the same kind of heat if they underachieve. Calipari has lowered the bar anyway. If he can start getting them past the sweet 16 he will be good for 5 or 6 years minimum.

[WindyCityBorn]

My reaction to Kentucky not poaching our head coach away is that this franchise is cursed.

This is probably Donovan’s best career move too. I don’t think he will get another NBA head coaching after he eventually gets fire here. And jobs like Kentucky aren’t available often.

[Muzbar]

See, I told you guys Billy was staying, gotta keep up the continuity!

I hate that I was right though...

[TheGOATRises007]

but why would he take it ? It’s a step down job plus he has already won a couple of national championships in college

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

In general I agree.

I think you can make an argument that it's close with Pro and College Football + Pro and College Basketball here in the states specifically though.

[dougthonus]

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

That’s subjective. Kentucky definitely will pay him more, shorter season, better talent for that level compared to what he has here. An administration that is all-in on winning. Possibly more recognition.

By what metric?

Not money
Not ratings
Not notoriety

Kentucky is probably bigger than the Bulls in all those ways.

Doesn't matter now of course.

[ChiTownHero1992]

but why would he take it ? It’s a step down job plus he has already won a couple of national championships in college

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

Thats just not true in mutliple ways...pro jobs come with almost no guarantee meaning in 3 years if your not winning you're the surefire scapegoat (Ham - everyone wanted him, many more just like it)

Also i guarantee you if you polled many coaches they'd be taking jobs at UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Houston, etc (BIG schools) over jobs like Pistons, Thunder (small town - good team now so 50/50), Mem, etc

These big schools can offer more money, more years on the contract and often less sure-fire expectations

[Guru]

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

In general I agree.

I think you can make an argument that it's close with Pro and College Football + Pro and College Basketball here in the states specifically though.

College football jobs are way worse than NFL jobs. It's why you saw people leaving college football jobs for pro football assistant jobs. College football is a broken mess.

I assume the same is true of college basketball but I am not sure that it's true at the level of Kentucky and the NBA is pretty dumb in general with how it's set up compared to pro football.

[Guru]

With NIL and transfer portal college basketball jobs got way worse over the last two years. It's nearly impossible to build a team long term and why you were always beholden to the whims of a 18 year old boy it's even worse now. Its very possible these jobs are still better than dealing with pro basketball players though.

[DuckIII]

With NIL and transfer portal college basketball jobs got way worse over the last two years. It's nearly impossible to build a team long term and why you were always beholden to the whims of a 18 year old boy it's even worse now. Its very possible these jobs are still better than dealing with pro basketball players though.

It’s definitely a worse time to be a head coach of a blue blood. The transfer portal and NIL have helped to dramatically level the playing the field. Which makes it a boon to some coaches. Look at Brad Underwood at Illinois. He has thrived under those rule changes.

Also, 18 year olds are men. I understand what you are saying about the desirability of the job due to the leverage of youth, but when we are talking about NIL and the portal we are talking about the right engage in the free market economy and choice. Like the other legally adult citizens of America.

[Guru]

With NIL and transfer portal college basketball jobs got way worse over the last two years. It's nearly impossible to build a team long term and why you were always beholden to the whims of a 18 year old boy it's even worse now. Its very possible these jobs are still better than dealing with pro basketball players though.

It’s definitely a worse time to be a head coach of a blue blood. The transfer portal and NIL have helped to dramatically level the playing the field. Which makes it a boon to some coaches. Look at Brad Underwood at Illinois. He has thrived under those rule changes.

Also, 18 year olds are men. I understand what you are saying about the desirability of the job due to the leverage of youth, but when we are talking about NIL and the portal we are talking about the right engage in the free market economy and choice. Like the other legally adult citizens of America.

The transfer portal and NIL have destroyed the ability to level the playing field by not allowing any teams to actually build. A player is good at Ball State he is transferring to where he can make more money. In the past he would have had to weigh that one time transfer and determine if it fit. It's a game of who has the biggest donors now....that's not fun or entertaining.

And the free market isn't what we are talking about. Does the NBA have a free market? We are talking about a regulated sport....like pro basketball...that can and has agreements in place that work to lift all boats. If what you were saying were true the salary cap wouldn't exist and Lebron should just sign whatever he wants with whomever he wants. Its limited because smart people realized if Detroit is good, or even if Detroit has hope it will ever be good it makes more money for New York. What you are talking about is getting rid of the draft and the salary cap. Equalizers meant to help everyone.

College football and basketball are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. They didn't get ahead of this in any meaningful way, and the haves decided that the have nots should be secluded....and it's ruined the sport. In a perfect world the Ohio States thrive by recognizing that if Northern Illinois is more competitive you have more eyes on the entire product. OSU, Bama, etc. didn't care about that. They would rather win 9 out of 12 football games by 40 points.

[WindyCityBorn]

With NIL and transfer portal college basketball jobs got way worse over the last two years. It's nearly impossible to build a team long term and why you were always beholden to the whims of a 18 year old boy it's even worse now. Its very possible these jobs are still better than dealing with pro basketball players though.

It’s definitely a worse time to be a head coach of a blue blood. The transfer portal and NIL have helped to dramatically level the playing the field. Which makes it a boon to some coaches. Look at Brad Underwood at Illinois. He has thrived under those rule changes.

Also, 18 year olds are men. I understand what you are saying about the desirability of the job due to the leverage of youth, but when we are talking about NIL and the portal we are talking about the right engage in the free market economy and choice. Like the other legally adult citizens of America.

The transfer portal and NIL have destroyed the ability to level the playing field by not allowing any teams to actually build. A player is good at Ball State he is transferring to where he can make more money. In the past he would have had to weigh that one time transfer and determine if it fit. It's a game of who has the biggest donors now....that's not fun or entertaining.

And the free market isn't what we are talking about. Does the NBA have a free market? We are talking about a regulated sport....like pro basketball...that can and has agreements in place that work to lift all boats. If what you were saying were true the salary cap wouldn't exist and Lebron should just sign whatever he wants with whomever he wants. Its limited because smart people realized if Detroit is good, or even if Detroit has hope it will ever be good it makes more money for New York. What you are talking about is getting rid of the draft and the salary cap. Equalizers meant to help everyone.

College football and basketball are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. They didn't get ahead of this in any meaningful way, and the haves decided that the have nots should be secluded....and it's ruined the sport. In a perfect world the Ohio States thrive by recognizing that if Northern Illinois is more competitive you have more eyes on the entire product. OSU, Bama, etc. didn't care about that. They would rather win 9 out of 12 football games by 40 points.

I think we will the Big Ten and SEC put their own rules about transfers/NIL in place. The NCAA has completely lost control.

[Jcool0]

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

Thats just not true in mutliple ways...pro jobs come with almost no guarantee meaning in 3 years if your not winning you're the surefire scapegoat (Ham - everyone wanted him, many more just like it)

Also i guarantee you if you polled many coaches they'd be taking jobs at UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Houston, etc (BIG schools) over jobs like Pistons, Thunder (small town - good team now so 50/50), Mem, etc

These big schools can offer more money, more years on the contract and often less sure-fire expectations

This isn't 1985 no one gets 10 years to build a program. Nothing is guaranteed. Calipari had a lifetime contract in Kentucky and now he is in Arkansas. If Billy is fired today he still gets all his money which is why some think he won't be fired because Jerry doesn't want to keep paying him not to coach. That is the only guarantee that matters. FWIW Kelvin Sampson at Houston and Taylor Jenkins in Memphis both make 5 million per season. Six NBA coaches make 10+ million a season, the highest paid college coach is Bill Self at 9.6 million.

[meekrab]

Why do you think it's a step down job?

An elite college coach is just as prestigious as an elite NBA coach.

Pro jobs are always better than college.

Thats just not true in mutliple ways...pro jobs come with almost no guarantee meaning in 3 years if your not winning you're the surefire scapegoat (Ham - everyone wanted him, many more just like it)

Also i guarantee you if you polled many coaches they'd be taking jobs at UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Houston, etc (BIG schools) over jobs like Pistons, Thunder (small town - good team now so 50/50), Mem, etc

These big schools can offer more money, more years on the contract and often less sure-fire expectations

There's a college coach getting paid more than Monty Williams?

[dougthonus]

There's a college coach getting paid more than Monty Williams?

https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach

Not sure if there are any other major omissions, but Scheyer (reportedly 7-8M per year) isn't on it. May just be public schools because I think that data is publicly available.

Looks like maybe NCAA coaches are making slightly less than NBA coaches, but it's definitely not in the "NCAA is worse than NBA 100% of the time" tiering.

[Stratmaster]

Well, we now know with certainty that Pope will be the coach and Billy sits securely, and smugly, in his job with the Bulls.

Where else can you be a head coach with 31 wins your first season... have your roster upgraded to a 50 win caliber team and win 46 despite a significant injury... then the next 2 seasons win 40 and 39... and still know your job is secure?