Pat Forde suggests John Calipari on hot seat at Kentucky

Kentucky is coming off a disappointing home loss to Arkansas, and while the loss to Arkansas is certainly defensible, the pressure in the Bluegrass State continues to mount. Is coach John Calipari on the hot seat?

That might be a touch strong right now, but there’s a growing faction within the Kentucky fan base that is growing weary of Kentucky’s lack of elite results of late under Calipari.

“Utter fatigue. Outrage,” long-time college athletics reporter Pat Forde said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “There’s a large percentage of the Kentucky fans that are done with him. The problem is the same reason with Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher: He’s got a contract that makes it very hard to be done with him.

“He would be owed like $40 million if you went and fired him at this point.”

Kentucky was bounced from the NCAA Tournament a year ago in the first round, just one year after missing the tournament altogether. The Wildcats are firmly on the bubble this year, as well.

“It’s the same song, different verse,” Forde said. “The funny thing about Calipari, the dynamic’s like, yeah, you think they’re starting to get on a run and then they blow it. And then you give up on them, and then they go on a little bit of a run. So it’s never something where you get a definitive feel. But this very much looks like a third successive really disappointing season. They went 9-16 a couple of years ago. Last year they had their worst tournament loss in the history of the program as a two-seed to No. 15 seed Saint Peters.”

Is John Calipari on the hot seat?

For a coach who has been to three Final Fours at Kentucky and who has won a national title, the seat might well be warming up for John Calipari.

Expectations are high at Kentucky, it’s that simple.

“You bring back the national player of the year in Oscar Tshiebwe, a lot of other good players, you start the year No. 1 in the Ken Pomeroy rankings, No. 4 in the AP rankings and you’re laying an egg right now, you’re on the bubble,” Forde said.

“So the fans, just, they’ve gotten tired of the Calipari act. It’s the same act with declining returns, and they’re done with it.”