While Florida football coach Urban Meyer cited health concerns and time away from his family as reasons he briefly resigned, Kentucky Coach John Calipari suggested that he won’t let the pressures of his job have an adverse effect.
“This can eat you up if you’re consumed with it,” he noted on Monday.
For instance, Calipari suggested that being fretful about players leaving early for the NBA can cause anxiety. So, a reporter asked, did the UK coach feel anxiety with the talk swirling of star freshman John Wall and perhaps forward DeMarcus Cousins leaving after this season.
“No,” Calipari said. “What’s the worse they can do to me? Fire me. I’ve been fired. I’ve already been fired.”
As for critics, Calipari said, “Get in line. The long one. No, keep going.”
While acknowledging that the job of Kentucky basketball coach involves stress, Calipari suggested how he looks at the job defuses the pressure.
“I’m looking at it like I’m blessed,” he said. “And I’m trying to use it to help the campus.”
As for family life, Calipari said his son Bradley, 13, attends practices and is the only person allowed to continue shooting while the coach speaks.
“Ellen and I probably don’t get the time together than we need,” he said of his wife. “… This profession consumes your time. Now, does it consume you? I don’t talk basketball when I get home.”
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Coach Cal has an excellent philosophy toward life. He sets an example for the rest of us. He has the capacity to put life’s tasks in their proper perspective. Being able to put aside his work-a-day job when he goes home in the evening to be with his family is an admirabe quality. Wish more of us could be like that.
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