After a not-so-exhaustive search the Kentucky Wildcats have managed to catch the next coach for their men’s basketball program. It was former Memphis coach John Calipari that took the bait of this “dream job” and will now have to deal with all the elements that come with it. Now that he’s been hooked, should he fail to deliver the trophy that Kentucky fans are looking for, he will be gutted and fried rather than peacefully released back into the world of college basketball.

Kentucky Basketball isn’t just one program out of many: It is the definitive program in NCAA men’s basketball. Just like the Yankees, Lakers or Cowboys, it plays host to an environment where only winning is acceptable and each loss has its consequences. The standard is set higher in these environments, the margin for error is paper thin and even as a new comer you must show immediate results.

So why take a job where everyone knows the deck is stacked against you? Sure, the Wildcats represent the largest paycheck in the sport, but do you really want to gamble your future on an income that may not last but a couple years? Kentucky was the winningest program in the sport’s history but it hasn’t made a trip to the Final Four in more than a decade. Patience is wearing thin and Calipari clearly thinks he’s the man with the answers.

What if this job offer doesn’t turn out to be the golden ticket Calipari thought it was? In an era where a school’s reputation is meaningless and it means more to recruits and the athletes that you manage to move around the professional ranks in less time than ever before, leaving a successful program is just plain foolish. There was a time and place in which the Kentucky program would have attracted talent on tradition alone. Gone are the days when the Wildcats needed to only pick which high school hoops starts they wanted on their team.

Today, incoming athletes base their decisions on coaching staffs, existing rosters and facilities that will place them among the best and most successful players with the greatest chance of going pro. Twenty years ago it may have been difficult for scouts to keep track of programs tucked away in every nook and cranny of the United States, but today the professional industry is so bloated that it’s not at all difficult for teams of scouts to keep their collective eye on our nation. If you can’t send a qualified scout to all 181 Division I-A schools, you can catch them on one of the many TV networks and do follow up in person.

Now, it’s true that this is a pay raise for the former Memphis Coach, but not in the way that it would have been 10 years ago. Like everything else in the sport this is changing too. As things become more and more competitive, programs that want to keep up have been increasing their payroll. Successful coaches make successful coach money. Trading current success for an improved starting salary with insurmountable odds is also foolish. No matter your profession, why would one give up an excellent job with good pay for an improved salary with increased hazards that do not scale to your benefit? Greed perhaps?

Someday Calipari’s time as a Kentucky coach will come to an end and if it happens sooner than later he will have earned nothing but a new reputation for himself. Currently, this guy is known as a winner. He is successful and people want to play for him. However, if he finds himself out of work in a couple years he will be the guy that didn’t have what it takes to deliver on game’s biggest stage and every time he sits down for an interview people are going to know. Sure, he will find work, but not as the capable hero that he is now.

What program that is building a winning tradition and is looking for “that guy” who can come in and push them over the top would hire someone who has proven only to be failure under the brightest light? I’m sure Calipari would find a home, but from a school looking to rebuild?

In Memphis, Calipari leaves behind a school that loved him and a campus that was scaled to his fame. He was a rock star there and loved by the fan base. The school was expanding the program based off what he had created. He was recruiting successfully and earned a number two seed in the NCAA tournament this year. His team made it to the Sweet 16 and fans had every reason to believe that next season would be an improvement. But despite all of this, despite the tradition of his own that he was building, John Calipari has traded it all for a name. He is now a Kentucky guy, and no one can take that from him. I hope he’s happy with that; he’s one of the few people left that care.

If he beats the odds and can revive Wildcats basketball he may go down as legend. However, if he fails to get immediate results he will be left with only his own regret and no one to blame but himself.

Andrew McFadden can be reached at [email protected]