Calipari Pays Forward Support Shown from Coaches by Talking to Football Team

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When John Calipari first arrived at Arkansas, a video surfaced of him walking around the athletics facilities talking to then football coach Sam Pittman as the former coach gushed over how much Calipari was going to love the team spirit and camaraderie shared among the coaches all across campus whether it be football, baseball or even gymnastics and softball.

Pittman put his foot down hard on the idea that if any coach ever needs help or support in any way from another coach in the athletics program, it was going to come with full heart and immediately. Well, this afternoon the Razorbacks football program put out a video showing Calipari paying back the support he got when he first arrived by speaking to the football players at a recent team meeting.

The Hall of Fame basketball coach had a pretty clear message. Players are responsible for the attitude, growth and resilience that will make them a better player.

"You build up who you are," Calipari said from the podium while clutching a sheet of paper with guidelines he expects his basketball players to follow. "Coach [Silverfield] is responsible for giving you schemes and all the other stuff. You're responsible for you. You're responsible for you. And all I can say, don't live with regrets . . . If you go through this and you give every ounce and you do it every day, when you're done, you will thank the coaches. Wherever you end up, you'll say, 'You made me a better man, and now I have a chance to attack this world I'm walking into.'"

Calipari began by asking the players to be accountable for laying the foundation and establish a new culture as the team all the others will look back on and think of as the shoulders upon which they stand. He then gave them a paper he gives his players.

On one side it says "I have no limit. How good can I be?" at the top followed by a little over half a page of reading about what that means for players in the program. The other side is a list of personal guidelines Calipari said he has his players read each day as a reminder of how to carry themselves to greatness.

He then skimmed through some of the key points.

"My goal is to play in the present, one practice at a time, one game," Calipari read. "Stop worrying about the future or the past. I will play to my standards and fall back on my training. I will play lost in my own little world that I own.

"I will play and practice every day with a great mindset and mood state that allows me to be great. No outside noise will knock me off course. My response will always be the same — under react to everything I face. I'm a big time basketball player who is deserving, worthy and destined to live out my lofty dreams. I will honor this commitment every day."

He then stated something coaches have said hundreds of times over the years. However, it's often not the message, but who is delivering the message, that determines whether it gets through.

Calipari has a lot of clout among athletes for his accomplishments, so the only question is whether it's enough to get the advice through to a room full of football players.

"If you want to be special, are you willing to do stuff that other players aren't willing to do every day?" Calipari asked. "How do you go when you don't feel good? I'm busting through, you know why? Because you're convincing yourself nothing will stop me. I felt like crap today. Anyway, all that stuff [will make you better]."

Cal-led in some valuable words of wisdom for our guys 🐗 pic.twitter.com/v2uMnvbH1G
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) February 12, 2026

It's the same message Silverfield has harped on from the moment it was announced he would have the job. He wants players who are willing to put in the work when others aren't to gain an edge that will help the team.

He's said it so much as part of his "All-In" speeches that it probably is starting to wear a little thin. However, having Calipari drop by for the assist to show even the basketball program that is knocking on the door of an SEC championship with a projected big NCAA Tournament run in the near future is following the same philosophy is a big deal.

It's the one thing about Arkansas and all those winning programs all across campus that makes it special. They're all going to help one another when possible.

The only question now is whether Silverfield can put together enough success to have the respect needed to return the favor at some point in time. That all will depend on how this first crop of players respond to this expected mindset.

If they aren't willing to listen to a Hall of Famer like Calipari, then they weren't reachable anyway. Silverfield just has to hope it clicked with enough of his Razorbacks to change the culture and start winning.

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