I've been extremely busy to where I haven't had the time to update this, but there is so much to discuss regarding the coaching change here in Lexington.
For those who haven't kept up with it, Billy Gillispie was fired last Friday as head basketball coach at Kentucky. Kentucky moved rather quick and brought Memphis Tigers and former UMass coach John Calipari into the fold, making him the highest paid coach in college basketball.
Before I start, I went to church Sunday morning at my home church here in Parkersburg, West Virginia. One person in my Sunday school class is attending WVU. His comment to me was this:
"I guess you are happy they got rid of Gillispie"
Me: "Actually, no. I thought he should have had one more year."
Him: "Welcome to the world of spoiled sports."
At the time, I was finding it very hard to believe that Mitch Barnhardt and Lee Todd would consider removing a coach who had only been here for two years. If you would have told me two months ago that Billy Gillispie would have been fired, John Calipari would be brought in, and Kentucky would be getting consideration from three of the top recruits in the nation, I would likely tell you that you had lost your mind.
That being said, there is way more to the saga of Billy Clyde Gillispie, and I will expand on some of this later. As much as people, including the former coach, want to say that BCG was fired because he didn't win enough, that couldn't be any further from the truth. Don't get me wrong, on a smaller stage such as College Station where the pressure isn't as great and the basketball program comes in second fiddle to football, Billy Gillispie would likely have more success.
It has been said that the head basketball coach of Kentucky is more popular than the governor. I would dare say there are some reading who do not know who Mitch McConnell is. That tells you how important basketball is in Kentucky.
Some of the reasons Billy Gillispie is out of a job not counting wins and losses (Matt Jones does a better job of detailing this, but here is the condensed version):
- Gillispie was not willing to accept the "ambassador" role that the Kentucky job required, even if it was not in the "job description". All Gillispie wanted to do was recruit and coach, and he wasn't overly successful at that. Cancelling a 60 year tradition of speaking at the Lexington Rotary Club and refusing to participate in anything community related turned off a lot of people, especially those close to the University. Needless to say, when the losses started to mount, Gillispie had nobody to go to bat for him.
- His relationship with the media, and I believe the Jeannine Edwards interview actually goes deeper than what some people have speculated (more on this later). However, his postgame interviews with Tom Leach and Rob Bromley have both given more credence to the fact that he never handled the media very well. At the same time though, the Lexington media hasn't been exactly friendly of UK since Tubby Smith was ran out on a rail either.
- His treatment of the players is starting to leak out in many forms. From a player being forced to sit on a toilet during the halftime speech to threatening to kick Jodie Freakin Meeks off the team at halftime during the Notre Dame game, there are some stories that may have more merit than others. If you need any more evidence of this, read the comments by Jodie and his father, whose basic reaction is "Thank God".
- The last straw had to be the comments about how he did not come to Kentucky to be a "celebrity". This is where I hold Barnhardt accountable as equally as I do Gillispie. Even speaking after getting fired, whether it be the press conference or on ESPN with Jimmy Dykes, Billy Gillispie has never looked comfortable in the spotlight. He has had to force himself to be outgoing in those situations. Another perfect example was the pep rally, especially if you watch it in lieu of Coach Cal's press conference yesterday.
My belief is that Mitch should have factored everything into hiring Gillispie before doing so. Even watching some of his post game press conferences at Texas A&M, he never looked completely comfortable in that role. Of course, Billy Donovan was choice A, B, C, & D in that order as well. When that fell through, I believe Mitch panicked and made a hire that looked good on paper, but just wasn't the right fit.
I made the comment about Jeannine Edwards and her interview with Gillispie. This is entirely speculation, but I have to wonder if with the mounting tension in Lexington combined with Jodie Meeks ascension into "rockstar status" created a jealousy toward his own player. Jodie Meeks received countless texts and phone calls, even from Dan Issel. I wonder how many called Gillispie to congratulate him on that coaching job? So when Jeanine Edwards asked Gillispie if he planned to get Meeks more involved, the response was "This isn't about Jodie Meeks, it's about us playing as a team". I wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't for more info coming out about Meeks treatment and Gillispie feeling the pressure himself.
This is something that I really believe in regard to Gillispie's exit. I once had an instructor in a Principles of Management class at the college I am attending in West Virginia who made this point. Any time you are planning to fire somebody, distance yourself from that person so there is no emotional attachment. With that being said, when Gillispie made the "celebrity" comment, I have to believe that is when people started to distance themselves kind of in a "dead man walking" fashion. I believe that is when Gillispie got the hint as well that his time in Lexington was short. Letting the players wear the black jerseys against LSU and dressing in a brown suit (ala Rupp) for the game at Memorial Colliseum was Gillispie's way of trying to win back the players and administration who had turned their back on him.
I was honestly fearful of Mitch's comments during the press conference last Friday when he said that they were not going to honor Gillispie's memorandum since he had never signed an actual contract. Living in West Virginia and seeing the Rich Rodriguez situation, it is safe to say that nobody wins in these situations and while Gillispie tried to take the high road in his presser and on ESPN, I believe that the bridges would have been burned rather quickly if it started heading to court. Public universities are glass houses, and while UK likely has some dirty laundry to air regarding Gillispie that they are likely sitting on, I believe Gillispie could fight fire with fire and even if there was no merit, he could likely do some damage to the University's image. That being said, I believe if Gillispie lands another job, whether it be a head coach elsewhere or an assistants job this year, he will likely take whatever Kentucky is willing to pay.
I will try to have Part Two up tomorrow. That will obviously include my take on Coach Cal and the impact of this coaching decision.
BBM
