John Calipari is prepared to deal with the criticism. He wants the haters to keep running their mouths in his direction, not in the direction of the players.
The 65-year-old head coach at Kentucky put a target on his own back after a statement road win over Auburn on Saturday. Calipari did not even sit down at the table before beginning his opening statement to the media.
It was very clear that he is exhausted by all of the outside chatter surrounding the Wildcats and took the opportunity to clap back at some of the narratives. He knows that there has been a lot of conversation about his job. He knows that headlines are more explosive and draw more interest during turmoil.
Thus, Calipari came off of the court after a dominant road victory over a top-15 team with guns blazing.
Swaggy John Calipari made an appearance tonight, opening his postgame press conference:
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) February 18, 2024
"You were hoping to see something different. You were here for a reason ━ Please just leave my players alone. Let them be young and learn. Keep attacking me. I may be the worst in the… pic.twitter.com/51bJGqCSAL
Although Kentucky is 18-7 with the win, there was growing frustration in Lexington after losses to Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky at home. Fans were calling for Calipari’s job.
And then his team rolled into Alabama and stomped the Tigers. It silenced all of the doubt.
However, Calipari has been through this before. He knows that one win is not going to keep things quiet for long. Unless the Wildcats continue to roll, the criticism will continue. It will only grow louder with each loss.
If and/or when it does, Calipari hopes that it will be pointed toward him. Not his guys.
There are a lot of games left in the college basketball regular season. Kentucky will have home-court advantage at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, again. It will likely end up as a high seed in March Madness.
John Calipari is in a great position to make a deep run in a year where people have doubted him. If not, there is a legitimate chance that the outcry could get loud enough to where he is shown the door.