Cal is just reaping what he has sown. If you sow to the wind, you will reap a whirlwind, and Cal is in the midst of a storm right now that he can't talk his way out of and his ego will not allow him to humble himself and apologize to the 80% of the UK fanbase that he has thumbed his nose at, and made fun of on more than one occasion.
What you're seeing from Cal is a total failure in leadership. Cal has mishandled KB and this BLM issue from the get go. Now, he is going all in by saying I support my players above all else.
When the players came to Cal right before the UF game (I'll admit, in business we would have called a chicken **** move like that an ambush, and these players ambushed Cal and did not give him an opportunity to bounce the issue off of Mitch or other mentors he may have wanted to speak to before giving them an answer.)
These players talk about wanting to have a conversation and about wanting respect for their actions, but that stunt they pulled at UF and the way they sprung it on Cal at the last minute, shows that they not only do not have any respect for Cal (reaping from his own players first culture), and, they do not respect their opponent or their own fanbase.
It seems obvious to me from Cal's comments concerning how much he loves and appreciates the fans and know they love the players, that Cal and Mitch are in full crisis recovery mode since that fiasco in Florida, and then to come out and play like you don't even care about winning against Alabama, Cal's lack of leadership has come full circle for this team.
Cal has nowhere else to go with this issue. Anything he says or does from here on out will only make the issue worse for him, Mitch, and UK. That is not a good recipe for long term success in his current job.
Cal could have, and should have simply told the players that the UF game in their building was not the time nor the place to stage a protest by kneeling during the National Anthem. He could have told them that we will meet and discuss our options when we get back to Lexington.
If the players refused to take the court under those circumstances, then so be it, they really are not looking for a solution, they are looking to create a problem, for Cal, for the University, and for UF.
Cal is still the coach. He is still supposed to be the CEO of this program. His attempt at absconding his responsibilities by conferring his power over to the players does not relieve his accountability to facilitate and maintain the UK basketball program at a high level.
Choosing to start a war of words over an incident that could have been avoided with good leadership by Cal and the players, with probably 80% of your fan base is not going to end well for Cal or Mitch........or UK.
. âI donât stand by my playersâ ? he will say that even if he didnât believe it. For âlifetime contractâ millions of dollars. I would too, this is heâs livelihood
