As Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari was making a plea for a new practice facility, he took a subtle dig at the school’s football program.
“This is a basketball school. Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls. But this is a basketball school,” Calipari told the media.
Head football coach Mark Stoops had an enthusiastic reply to Calipari’s comments on Thursday.
Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC? #4straightpostseasonwins https://t.co/xUoKmUeonH
— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) August 11, 2022
But Stoops didn’t stop there. He retweeted a local reporter who said that the football team has had more success than the basketball team the past half decade.
👀👀👀 The football team has had more success than basketball the last 4-5 years. Not even close. He’s got a point… https://t.co/UwOGcesYlX
— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) August 11, 2022
Stoops went on to subtweet Kentucky’s kick return touchdown last season against Florida, commenting “Don’t disrespect our great fans like that.”
#BBN begs to differ! Don’t disrespect our great fans like that. https://t.co/7yCGQzmbuW
— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) August 11, 2022
It appears other schools coaches are poking fun at the beef as well. In particular, Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin and basketball coach Bruce Pearl took a photo together. On Twitter, it was Harsin captioned the photo “Auburn Family”.
https://twitter.com/CoachHarsin/status/1557862122918379520?cxt=HHwWgICw2ZnW0Z4rAAAA
Both Calipari and Stoops have been tremendous coaches for their respective programs. Coach Cal has led Kentucky to a national championship and coached the team to four final fours. Mark Stoops has revitalized a once dead football program into one of the best programs in the SEC East, and one of the most underrated in the country.
While their relationship will likely not affect each others’ job statuses, it seems odd that both coaches would take public digs at each other.
To learn more about Kentucky football this upcoming season, click here.
