Calipari will be back at Kentucky next season. What about the rest of the coaching staff?

When John Calipari returns to the sidelines of Rupp Arena for his 16th season as Kentucky’s head coach in November, will he be surrounded by the same staff members he has now?

That’ll be worth keeping an eye on this offseason.

UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart confirmed last week that Calipari will be back as the men’s basketball coach at Kentucky. The 65-year-old, Hall of Fame coach still has five seasons and $44.5 million remaining on his current contract, which includes a $33.4 million buyout if UK wanted to part ways this offseason. (The buyout following next season is $27 million.)

Barnhart and Calipari made a joint appearance on “BBN Tonight” — a UK athletics-affiliated TV show — on Wednesday night, and Calipari was interviewed by UK broadcaster Tom Leach on his final radio show of the season two nights before that.

In those appearances, both Barnhart and Calipari acknowledged that the results of the past few seasons — just one NCAA Tournament victory since 2019 — fell well short of the “standard” of Kentucky basketball. Changes were hinted at, but few specifics were given.

“Every year, I go through that process of evaluating everything in the program,” Calipari said on his radio show. “And you go through — whether it’s all the people around you or whether it’s how we’re doing things.”

Changes to the Wildcats’ coaching staff were not specifically addressed during the TV appearance two days later. Following the introductory press conference for new UK women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks on Thursday afternoon, Barnhart declined to answer the Herald-Leader’s questions regarding the current direction of the men’s program, saying he wanted to keep the focus that day on the new era of the women’s team.

So, it remains to be seen whether Calipari will do anything different with his coaching staff this offseason, but there have been rumblings that changes could be coming, and such shake-ups are not uncommon for programs that are falling short of overall expectations.

Here’s a look at Calipari’s current pool of assistants, along with contract information for each coach.

Orlando Antigua

Orlando Antigua just completed his ninth year as an assistant coach under Calipari, who first hired him in 2008 for his final season at Memphis before bringing Antigua with him to Kentucky, where he was an assistant coach for five seasons. That stint included three of UK’s four Final Four appearances under Calipari, as well as the 2012 national title.

Antigua first left Lexington to become the head coach at South Florida, then spent four seasons as an assistant at Illinois before rejoining Calipari at UK for the 2021-22 season. He has long had the reputation as a top-notch recruiter and relationship-builder, and he’s a former college standout himself, playing at Pittsburgh before a pro career that included several years with the Harlem Globetrotters.

The 51-year-old has the title of “associate coach” — making him the most senior member of the three coaches who also have roles in recruiting — and he had a salary of $900,000 this past season. Antigua signed a three-year contract upon returning to Kentucky, and that deal expires this summer, so it should be clear relatively soon if he will return for the 2024-25 campaign.

If Antigua is still on staff at the end of June, he will be owed a $400,000 “retention bonus,” per the terms of his contract.

Bruiser Flint

Bruiser Flint has known John Calipari for about as long as anyone in college basketball. Flint joined Calipari’s staff at UMass in 1989 and served in that role until 1996, when Calipari accepted the head coaching position with the New Jersey Nets and Flint was named his replacement to lead the Minutemen. He was the head coach at UMass for five seasons and Drexel for 15 seasons before becoming an assistant at Indiana in 2017. He spent three years there and rejoined Calipari for the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Kentucky, where he’s spent the past four years.

Flint, 58, was moved to a support staff role for the 2021-22 season — his title is “associate to the head coach” — to make room for Chin Coleman to become one of the program’s three assistants who join Calipari on the recruiting trail. Flint occupies one of two positions on the coaching staff that includes no off-campus recruiting duties. His stated duties consist of game planning, scouting opponents and assisting Calipari with his approach to games and practices.

In his final season as an assistant coach, Flint had a salary of $525,000, but he took a pay cut after being moved to the support staff role. His salary for the 2023-24 season was $325,000, and, like Antigua, his contract expires at the end of June. He does not have a retention bonus.

Chin Coleman

Chin Coleman arrived with Antigua before the 2021-22 season after spending four years as an Illinois assistant coach. Coleman also came to Lexington with the reputation as a good recruiter. The Chicago native has deep ties in the basketball world and was once the coach of Mac Irvin Fire — one of the premier programs on the Nike grassroots circuit — before breaking into college basketball coaching.

Calipari has recently tasked Coleman with duties related to Kentucky’s defense, though that unit went into the weekend at No. 111 nationally in the KenPom efficiency ratings, the lowest ranking of Calipari’s college career.

Coleman had a salary of $600,000 this past season, and he has one year remaining on a contract extension he signed in 2022 — following his first season as a UK assistant. Coleman is due to make $650,000 for the 2024-25 season. If UK wanted to part ways with Coleman, he would be owed that entire salary as severance, and the same is true of the other two coaches still under contract for next season — Chuck Martin and John Welch. (As is the case with all coaches under contract with UK beyond the 2023-24 season, that severance amount could be mitigated in the event the coach found other employment elsewhere for the 2024-25 season.)

Chuck Martin

Chuck Martin just wrapped up his first season as an assistant coach at Kentucky, though he has worked with Calipari in the past. Martin was an assistant coach for four seasons under Flint at UMass and Drexel, then joined Calipari’s staff at Memphis for two years before becoming the head coach at Marist. He later spent a total of nine seasons as an assistant at Indiana, South Carolina and Oregon — serving under head coaches Tom Crean, Frank Martin and Dana Altman, respectively — and reunited with Calipari last year.

Martin, 54, is one of Kentucky’s three assistants who join Calipari on the recruiting trail, and he’s a former schoolteacher who is known for his calming presence and positivity behind the scenes. Martin signed a two-year contract upon arriving in Lexington last year, and he’s due to make a salary of $375,000 next season.

John Welch

John Welch — the father of former UK walk-on and graduate assistant Riley Welch — also joined Calipari’s coaching staff last season after first meeting the UK head coach more than 20 years ago while he was an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies (and Calipari was coaching the Memphis Tigers). Welch played and coached under college basketball legend Jerry Tarkanian before spending 18 seasons in the NBA as an assistant coach for five different franchises, working under head coaches such as Hubie Brown, George Karl and Doc Rivers.

The 61-year-old had the reputation as a premier player development coach in the NBA, and Calipari hired him, in part, to be an on-court instructor and developer of his young players. Welch can be seen on the Rupp Arena court long before tipoff of home games, putting Kentucky players through organized workouts. He’s also integral in UK’s game-planning and scouting. Welch has been given some of the credit for the Wildcats’ offensive renaissance this past season, and several of Kentucky’s players have talked positively about how he’s helped develop their offensive skill sets.

Welch will have a salary of $275,000 next season, the final year of his current contract at UK.

Tyler Ulis

A well-known name to Kentucky basketball fans long before he joined the UK bench, Tyler Ulis was an All-America point guard under Calipari from 2014-16 and was added to the staff as a student assistant coach midway through the 2022-23 season. Ulis was back in Lexington working toward his degree after spending some time in the NBA and recuperating from a major car accident.

Ulis quickly gained the respect of Kentucky’s players last year, and he’s worked closely with the UK guards over the past two seasons. A high-IQ player, Ulis was Calipari’s “coach on the floor” during his playing days with the Wildcats, and the Hall of Fame head coach clearly values his opinion. Calipari and Kentucky’s players have been seen listening intently to Ulis on the bench during games.

The 28-year-old told the Herald-Leader last year that he wasn’t yet sure if he wanted to pursue a career in coaching, delaying such a decision until he graduated from college. He is on pace to do that in May, and that would give him a few options moving forward. After he secures his degree, he would be eligible to join Calipari’s coaching staff in a full role — if there is an opening this offseason — or he could stay on board as a graduate assistant, if he pursues an advanced degree. He could also look for another coaching job elsewhere or follow other professional interests.

Ulis has been viewed as a positive addition to the UK staff, and it will be interesting to see where he is — and in what role he’s serving — at the beginning of the 2024-25 season.

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