With former Kentucky coach John Calipari set to head to Arkansas, the real question is how much his program will change. Will he try to build an exact replica of his Kentucky outfits, or will Calipari adapt and evolve in some form?
ESPN insider Jeff Borzello chimed in on that topic, suggesting Calipari needs to be seriously thinking about change.
“It is a chance for him to kind of have a clean break,” Borzello said on the College GameDay Podcast. “He doesn’t have to get rid of everybody, but he probably needs to shake up his staff moving forward at Arkansas.”
John Calipari has long had a close staff, with three of his five assistants at Kentucky serving for at least four years. Two others were more recent arrivals, but Calipari has maintained ties with several assistants who have come and gone over the years.
So will his Arkansas staff look considerably different?
“I think it needs to,” Borzello said. “I think he needs to go out and, first of all, he needs probably an Xs and Os guy that will come in and make sure the offense that he was running this past season can be tweaked to some extent to whatever roster he builds at Arkansas for Year 1.
“I mean he’s going to essentially have to rebuild Arkansas’ entire roster. Now does the Kentucky freshman class, recruiting class, come with him to Fayetteville? That remains to be seen. But I think he’s going to have to continue to play the way he did this past season.”
At least one of the men who helped Calipari coach Kentucky this season won’t be on staff at Arkansas. On Tuesday, Jon Rothstein reported that John Welch has been hired as an associate head coach at Fresno State.
Welch had joined John Calipari’s staff prior to this season.
The other adjustments, if they do come, should come from one certain area, Borzello outlined.
“He doesn’t need three or four recruiters on his staff anymore,” the ESPN insider said. “When you have the NIL budget that he’s going to have and you have the portal, which he’s going to need to use, you don’t necessarily need guys that have long-standing relationships with high school power brokers where you can recruit a guy for 18 months to get his commitment. They’re going to need guys that will go in the portal, get guys in two weeks and rebuild this roster to compete in Year 1.”
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