(ESPN) Kentucky has agreed to a contract extension with head coach John Calipari that will see him finish his career with the Wildcats, a school official told ESPN.
Calipari confirmed the news on his radio show. “Where else would I want to coach?” he said.
That’s what this means, right? After a somehow under-the-radar season for Kentucky, that saw them get to the Elite Eight before losing to Auburn, John Calipari has now signed a “lifetime deal” to stay in Lexington for the reminder of his career. This was apparently accelerated by a 6 year/$48 million offer from UCLA to take over for the Bruins.
Admittedly, contract law is only a hobby, and I’m very rusty when it comes to sports law, but how iron-clad and far reaching is this deal? Obviously, this is meant to keep Calipari coaching at Kentucky, but does the contract end once he retires? If he decides to coach again after retiring, can he go anywhere, or does he have to coach at Kentucky? I feel like this could lead to some hilarious scenarios in the future:
- Calipari has been gone from the team for a few years, and as soon as the Wildcats make their first Final Four in the post-Cal era, he decides to come back as the head coach, effective immediately, as the lifetime contract means if he’s coaching, it must be at Kentucky
- Calipari has been retired, but after a few years, misses the excitement of competition. Being the good Italian boy he is, he decides to give back to the community by coaching a CYO team. The Kentucky administration, remembering the LIFETIME contract they gave him, proceed to deliver a public cease & desist to Calipari, forcing him off the sideline, and leaving those 10 year olds without guidance while they play against Our Lady of Grace in the County Championship
- Calipari, being the slickster that he is, snuck in some fine print that allows him to pass on the lifetime coaching contract to someone in his will. When the dreaded day comes, we find out that he has passed this contract to his son Brad. We are then treated to an extended lifetime of Swag Calipari.
Let’s be honest—once he retires, Cal will just coach at a high level prep school, where all of his best recruits will just coincidentally sign with Kentucky. And don’t worry, all of his players’ SAT scores will totally be on the up and up…
