A chicken empire and ‘bad feelings’ behind John Calipari leaving Kentucky for Arkansas
Chicken money and feeling unwanted.
Those two factors changed college basketball in a seismic way Sunday night when Kentucky coach John Calipari closed in on a five-year deal with Arkansas that is expected to be finalized Monday, per ESPN.
Let’s start with the more unusual factor in this SEC coaching saga: chicken money.
ESPN labeled a “key relationship” to this deal centered around Calipari’s relationship with John H. Tyson, a billionaire Arkansas benefactor who is the chairman of Tyson Foods.
Yes, that Tyson Foods.
Forbes estimates Tyson to be worth $2.8 billion, and he is from Springdale, Ark. His grandfather, John W. Tyson, founded Tyson Foods and is a member of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
That chicken money is being invested into the Arkansas athletics program, and surely is a factor in why Arkansas has offered a contract to Calipari that will allow him — via incentives — to make more than the $8.5 million he had been making at Kentucky, although his base will be less, according to ESPN.
Calipari and Tyson recently played a round of golf together as Eric Musselman was leaving Arkansas for USC, according to Fox Sports.
The other factor is much more straightforward.
Following a second first-round loss to a double-digit seed in three years that pushed Kentucky’s Final Four drought to nine years, Big Blue Nation had started to turn on Calipari.
That led to Calipari developing “bad feelings” about his situation and feeling unwanted due to a lack of support, according to Fox Sports.
While Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart had announced Calipari would be returning for the 2024-25 season, Calipari kept his eyes open for other jobs.
Calipari has been dinged for only winning one title with the Wildcats in his 15 seasons.
That time also included four Final Four trips and two national title games, and going 410-123 with the school.
He will now try to replicate that success with Arkansas, which is poised to pull off the unusual feat of landing a premier coach from a more established school within its own conference.
One unusual subplot to this whole saga is how the chain reaction began with SMU firing head coach Rob Lanier after two seasons.
SMU then landed USC coach Andy Enfield, and that opening led to the Trojans landing Musselman, who reached the Elite Eight twice in his five seasons in Fayetteville.
The Hogs then pivoted to Calipari, and Kentucky will surely call to see if any of the sport’s top coaches like UConn’s Dan Hurley, Alabama’s Nate Oats and Baylor’s Scott Drew will listen.
