John Calipari went to the NIT one year after winning a national title and never caught heat like LSU football coach Ed Orgeron is now. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky basketball fans are supposed to be some of the most passionate and demanding in the nation. However, I am not quite sure that they can match LSU football fans. The Tigers won the 2019 national championship under coach Ed Orgeron. Now going into Saturday night’s game at Kentucky, speculation is rising that he’s not only on the hot seat but better win this game if he wants to keep his job.
The Tigers blew a fourth-quarter lead at home last week and lost to Auburn. The infuriated many in the fan base and dropped the Tigers to 8-7 since their 2019 national title season.
What if UK basketball fans had reacted the same way after UK’s national title in 2012? Kentucky went 21-12 the next season, didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, and lost to Robert Morris in the NIT.
The next season UK lost non-conference games to Michigan State, Baylor, and North Carolina. It lost six SEC games, including three of four to end the season that included a 19-point loss to No. 1 Florida. But that team pulled off a miraculous NCAA Tournament run winning five games by 18 points to reach the title game where it lost to UConn.
Kentucky has not been back to the national title game since 2014 and not in the Final Four since 2015. Yet coach John Calipari has never been on the hot seat like Orgeron is now.
Yahoo’s Pete Thamel already is speculating on who LSU athletic director Scott Woodward might pursue for the next coach. His projected shortlist for the next LSU coach would be Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, Penn State’s James Franklin or Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin.
Last week most national media members believed Florida would beat Kentucky. This week that trend has shifted with the pick being Kentucky by many.
One national media member, ESPN/SEC Network anchor Peter Burns, said two weeks ago he thought UK was better than LSU. Obviously beating Florida has not changed his mind about UK.
“I still believe that Kentucky is better than LSU at this moment. Saturday’s game with LSU is just as big as the Florida game. It’s one thing to get a big win, it’s another to back it up the next one. That’s what contenders do,” Burns told me before picking UK 24-20.
Kentucky will have a loud, full stadium. It will have great mojo after beating Florida. But handling prosperity is not always easy. LSU has its back against the wall. Players have to know they could be playing for Orgeron’s job. It could thrive off the adversity.
But if UK does win, Orgeron is going to feel the heat few national championship coaches have and certainly heat that Calipari has never faced at UK.
6 Responses
I have little doubt that Orgeron is feeling "heat" about LSU’s recent football fortunes. Look at their history of coaches. Saban was there once and left, for a reason. Les Miles was there and is gone. Now it’s Orgeron’s turn in the hot seat.
I think Calipari is also feeling the "heat" given the slippage in this program, capped by last year’s disaster? His response since last March says it all about his feeling the "heat"
Tubby Smith also felt the "heat" and decided to tuck tail and run to Minnesota rather than confront the issues creating his "heat"
Billy Gillispie felt the heat.
Even Joe B. Hall felt the heat near the end of his tenure as UK Basketball Coach
As hard as it may be to believe, I recall Adolph Rupp himself coming under the heat in the mid 60s to the time he was forced into "early" retirement.
The "heat" goes with any big time program that has the highest expectations for its future like UK Basketball and LSU football.
If the coach can’t stand the "heat" he should get out of the kitchen!
Can you say"9-16" with NBA talent on the roster? I’m a UK fan and without a final 4 run this year….get rid of the carpetbagger!
I am in your corner LJCool
Surely this year is going to be a lot better LJCool
Better than 9-16? Well, I am with LJCool, at least a final 4 if not a championship. Turning up the heat in that kitchen.
Calipari haters are morons. The guy won big at UMass and Memphis. How many Final Fours has either program been to since he left? 0 and 0. How many has Cal been to in UK? 4. How many final fours did UK have in the 10+ seasons after the 1998 title? 0. We were going nowhere fast. Cal is not the best X’s and O’s coach, but he jas made Kentucky ridiculously relevant and competitive. The one-and-done thing has backfired a lot, but it’s also worked a lot. I think Cal has learned his lesson and he’s adapting and changing.