John Calipari: 'I'm always gonna be a players' first coach'

The Arkansas Razorbacks have officially begun the John Calipari era in Fayetteville. The former Kentucky head coach recently pulled off a stunner when he decided to bolt from the Wildcats and sign on to be the head man of the Razorbacks. Arkansas made it official on Wednesday night with an official introduction and press conference. During his introduction to fans, Calipari let the Hog faithful know that he’s not going to change.

“It’s me bringing everybody together. Bringing a staff together. Gathering people. Getting a team to understand how you have to work. You ready for this? Together. Not work by yourself,” Calipari began.

“Do it together. And then, having a dream and a burning desire to compete for championships. Why am I here? That’s why I’m here. And let me just say one more thing,” the Razorbacks new head basketball coach continued.

The Arkansas program isn’t that far removed from competing for championships in the NCAA Tournament. The Hogs recently went on back-to-back runs to the Elite Eight under Eric Musselman (2021 and 2022). He became just the sixth coach to reach the Elite Eight in his first two tournament appearances with a school since 1985.

Calipari let Razorback fans know he won’t change certain things

In his introduction, Calipari let the Arkansas faithful know that he’s not going to change the way he treats his players.

“I’m always gonna be a players’ first coach. I’m sorry. It’s about the players,” Calipari said to applause from the crowd in attendance. “I know for some reason people think you can’t really be a coach that wants to win if you’re about the players. No. You can do both. “Every decision I will make will be is this the best decision for these guys. Not me as a staff. Is it the best decision for them? When we’re doing things. How we’re doing things.”

“You saw my team this year. We played totally different. Why? It was the best way for that team to play. We couldn’t guard as well as we needed to, but we could really score. But it was how they had to play. And all I can tell you is I won’t change that,” Calipari said.

He then touched on how the ever-changing landscape of college basketball (transfer portal and NIL) and how it’ll affect his approach to building a roster.

“It does change recruiting because of this transfer portal. You can’t have as many freshmen as you usually have. You have your group of freshmen, you have a group of returning players, and you have a couple transfers that can impact it. Sometimes they’re the alpha dog. That guy coming in. But even those guys would come here for one reason,” the Hogs head man noted.

His primary concerns will always rest with his players. Can he make them better basketball players and better people after basketball is over?

“How do you make me better coach? I want to go to the next level. Can you help me? If I see a player that I don’t think I can help, I’m being honest I probably won’t, not that he’s not a good player. I don’t want to use some young man and say, ‘Yeah, you’re gonna set screens and dive on the floor.’ No. How do I help him get better?” Calipari asked. “That is what my job is. To prepare them for life after basketball. To tell them how they create joy in their life. Do something for somebody else and you’ll figure out how you create joy in your life.”