"Friday was a big day, dad got paid on Fridays": Arkansas HC John Calipari opens up on struggles growing up

Arkansas coach John Calipari raised his stock by leading the unfancied Razorbacks to the verge of the Elite Eight of the 2025 NCAA Tournament during his first year in charge of the program. Calipari, though, unexpectedly left the Kentucky Wildcats job last year after a 15-year tenure to take the Arkansas job.

Calipari has reiterated his upbringing as a core philosophy in his coaching methods. During Thursday's segment of the Andy Beshear podcast, the Razorbacks coach opened up about his family's struggles while growing up.

"My dad was in the mill for a while, and then he ended up going to being a baggage handler for at the time, Allegheny Airlines, US Air turned into, then American or wherever they all went," John Calipari said (4:04). "Mom worked in the high school cafeteria. She sold ice cream, so she had the white coat on. Friday was a big day. Dad got paid on Friday. So Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, good food days.

"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you were having dinner. I mean it. But you know what? I didn't know anybody else lived any different right? We never locked the door. Wherever you were, you ate. My friends, the guys that I grew up with, will come to games and be with us. And we have a group text and what you learn, you don't work, you don't eat."

John Calipari was born in Pennsylvania to Vince Calipari and Donna Mae Calipari, who died in 2010.

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John Calipari got support from dad as a coach

Vince Calipari regularly attended his son's games when he was the Kentucky Wildcats' coach until 2018 when he had a knee operation and stopped going to games.

When he attended a 63-51 Kentucky win over the Providence Friars, the charismatic John Calipari was ecstatic during his postgame news conference.

“It was even better having him in the locker room after. My dad is 90, had his knee operated on, and that’s the first game he had seen in five years. With COVID, and all the other stuff, he hadn’t been able to go to games. The tournament was canceled the year before, and then COVID.

“He is 90, and I hope — well, he has no wrinkles on his face. We sat there and looked at him. You don’t have a wrinkle on your face. You’re 90 years old. What the heck?”

Although his father's appearances at games have waned, the family-oriented John Calipari has continued to enjoy the support of his wife Ellen and his daughters, Erin and Megan and son, Brad Calipari, at Arkansas games.