It’s January and all John Calipari has seen this season is hot and cold. Be it his team that is still not able to grab the recipe for success and maintain their victories night after night, especially against tough teams. Or be it the fans’ and critics’ reaction to his first year at Arkansas after leaving Kentucky and having to scramble a team together in the new ear of NIL and transfer portals? After the Razorbacks’ absolutely brutal 76-52 loss to Tennessee on Saturday, the question on everyone’s lips is – has Coach Cal lost his touch?

While naysayers would say yes, definitely, one analyst is coming to his rescue. On The Field of 68: After Dark, former pro and host Jerel McNeal simply states, “It’s an overreaction in terms of he doesn’t have ‘it’ anymore. I guess that just means what ‘it’ is for you. In my opinion, Cal is still revered, man.”

While his coaching career began in 1982 as a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas, Calipari first became a head coach in the 1988-89 season, when he a coached struggling UMass team to the top of college basketball, even making it to the Final Four in 1996.

“It’s different when Cal walks into a gym for these kids and still to this day, even for other coaches and other people that are around the game. It’s different when Coach Cal walks in. It’s a handful of those guys in the game that are revered in that manner,” continues McNeal.

His praise doesn’t end here as the host continues, “He still has it. You see he still has it because he still gets pros. Year in, year out, he’s getting the best of the best, he has talent…he’s gonna continue to get talent. For me, that was always it with him. He’s gonna have guys that you’re gonna see in the NBA in the next year or two.”

While Calipari himself has made his opinion of NIL clear, in that he does not think that it’s all good, it has also been a toss-up for traditional coaches like him who are more used to players leaving for the NBA after a year or two. The uncertainty is still there because players can just transfer for better financial remuneration at other schools.

But Calipari is still handling that somehow, and McNeal feels he deserves some grace. “He caught lightning briefly there when he was able to match that talent and maximize, just winning at a very high level and competing for national championships but that’s not easy. Especially when it’s a revolving door and you got so much turnover now.”

The renewed discussion around the Arkansas head coach only ignited after the Razorbacks lost to the Tennessee Vols. But where he knows his shortcomings, the coach was not afraid to call out his team either.

“Three of four guys basically no-show”: John Calipari

Most predicted that the Razorbacks’ chances of defeating the No. 1 ranked team were slim, but perhaps not many expected this kind of defeat either. John Calipari blamed it on the lack of a shoot-around practice, which, after Arkansas’ last game against Oakland just five days before that, might have made the coach think they were fine without. But as we now know, the night ended disastrously.

“We didn’t do a shoot around today. And I just felt our body time is new pretty early. If I had to do it over again, we would have had a shoot-around. Because we had three or four guys basically no-show. So basically, they slept, had breakfast,” he said after the game.

While conference play has not gotten off to the best start, it only gets harder as the Hogs play Ole Miss next. Facing their second-ranked opponent in as many games, Calipari’s squad will have to tighten their laces and make a better showing. And be ready for “battle”, as their coach said.