A John Calipari Buyout Would Cost Kentucky Plenty, But Would Look Like Chump Change Compared To Jimbo Fisher's

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John Calipari's seat at Kentucky has been relatively warm for a half-decade now, but after the Wildcats' stunning loss to Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, his seat has burst into flames. 

The majority of Big Blue fans have seen enough from Coach Cal at this point. Kentucky has won just one NCAA Tournament game in five seasons and hasn't sniffed an SEC Tournament title since hosting the trophy in 2018 while averaging 10 losses a season over the last three campaigns.

All of those factors add up to fireable offenses for coaches of other powerhouse programs in college hoops, but given Calipari's hefty salary and his signing a ‘lifetime’ contract in 2019, the 65-year-old has managed to stay employed.

At some point, enough is enough, and it certainly feels like this may be the time that Kentucky may sever ties with Calipari, but it will cost the university quite the chunk of change.

How much would it cost for Kentucky to buy out the remaining years on Calipari's contract? According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Calipari is still owed 75-percent of his remaining contract, which still sits at over $33 million.

John Calipari wasted no time before finding someone to blame after a stunning loss to Oakland. He threw his players under the bus. Watch his comments. (Credit: Getty Images/Joe Sargent)

(Credit: Getty Images/Joe Sargent)

That would be a ginormous pill for Kentucky to swallow, plus you add what would be another major salary added to the ledger for Calipari's replacement, and the Wildcats would be on the hook for a huge sum of money.

There is one athletic department in the country that can look at that $33 million-ish buyout and laugh, and that's Texas A&M.

The Aggies cut ties with head football coach Jimbo Fisher this past season with a contract buyout of $76 million. The previous record for a contract buyout belonged to Auburn in 2020 when it owed Gus Malzahn $21.7 million.

It's two different sports, and the booster and money situation involved with A&M football compared to Kentucky hoops is drastically different.  But, Calipari's buyout wouldn't even come close to being half of Fisher's putting things into quite the perspective.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.