The most interesting part of Calipari’s contract is the so-called “ambassador” clause, which would allow him to step down as head coach but remain an employee of the athletics department - with a salary of $950,000 - and a loosely defined role of assisting the university in fundraising, promoting the basketball team and other UK sports programs.Ĭalipari can trigger that clause following the 2023-24 season, and it’s been rumored for years that he might just do it. (That number, after this season, would be about $40 million, for reference’s sake.) His buyout is the biggest in college basketball, by far, and stipulates that UK would pay him 75 percent of all remaining compensation if the Cats were to let him go without cause. To be clear: Calipari will be coaching at Kentucky for the foreseeable future, if he wants to be, per the terms of that deal. Calipari, of course, decided to stay at Kentucky, and his new extension - popularly termed a “lifetime contract” at the time - was announced the day after the Wildcats lost to Auburn in the regional finals of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The ultimate result was the most predictable one. Per the Los Angeles Times, the talks became so serious that UCLA agreed to Calipari’s specific requests regarding a hefty salary pool for assistant coaches, new basketball staff positions, the use of a private plane, and other amenities, and that the school’s officials had already reached out to donors to help fund those demands. Two years later, the Bruins looked at Calipari amid their own coaching search.Ĭharles easy to forget now - more than three years later - but the “lifetime contract” that John Calipari signed to continue his role as head coach at Kentucky came about amid intense interest from UCLA, the Wildcats’ opponent Saturday night.Īccording to reports at the time, the Bruins approached UK’s Hall of Fame basketball coach about the vacancy created when they parted ways with Steve Alford midway through the 2018-19 season. Kentucky head coach John Calipari and the Wildcats bounced UCLA from the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
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