Kentucky AD responds to Mark Stoops, John Calipari quarrel

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops passionately defended his program after recent comments from Wildcats basketball coach John Calipari, who referred to Kentucky as a “basketball school” in an interview.

“No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls,” Calipari added.

Stoops responded on Twitter with the hashtag “#4straightpostseasonwins,” referencing the Wildcats’ recent success on the gridiron, and retweeted someone saying that Calipari’s comments were “insulting.”

Stoops elaborated on his comments Saturday after practice.

“When you start talking about my program and others that we compete against — me, I don’t do that,” Stoops said, per ESPN. “I stay in my lane. So that’s in defense of my players, in defense of the work that we’ve done. And believe me, we want to continue to push. But don’t demean or distract from the hard work and the dedication and the commitment that people have done to get to this point. I don’t need to apologize for that, and I won’t.”

Stoops also acknowledged his university’s long history of basketball success, with eight national championships in men’s hoops.

“We understand history,” he said. “That’s great. I embrace it and love it, the history of our basketball. I’m proud of it. I love it. I didn’t have that history. We’re creating it.”

On Monday, Mitch Barnhart, athletics director for Kentucky and dean of SEC athletic directors, chimed in — and he wasn’t too happy with the back and forth between two of his veteran coaches.

“I have two coaches that have been with me — one 13 years [Calipari], one 10 years [Stoops],” Barnhart said. “I hired them both. I gave them the opportunities to coach here, their families to come here, to win championships here, to go to bowl games here. I’ve walked with both of them through good and bad. … And they’ve been provided every opportunity to do the very things that they want to do to be successful. That isn’t changing. As long as I’m in the chair, we will have that support. If that’s not good enough, you know, coaches change a lot in today’s world.”

Calipari commented later on social media, saying he made a mistake comparing Kentucky’s athletic department to others and wanted to make clear that he will keep supporting the Wildcats football team.

Calipari said he reached out to Stoops on Thursday and will keep trying, adding: “Now I’ll do what I’ve done for 30 years: Coach my team and block out the clutter.”

Calipari guided Kentucky to its eighth NCAA championship in 2012 but hasn’t reached the Final Four since 2015. The Wildcats were bounced by No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in their NCAA Tournament opener last spring. 

Kentucky football is coming off its second 10-win season in four years under Stoops.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.