Should Villanova Basketball offer Jay Wright a lifetime contract?

Happy Tuesday Nova Nation! Despite his team losing over the weekend, Kentucky’s John Calipari made headlines on Monday when he confirmed that he’s signed a lifetime contract with the “other” Wildcats. That doesn’t mean Calipari will be coaching from his death bed one day, but rather that he now has a rolling contract extension followed by a permanent role as an ambassador for the school.

It’s odd that this offer comes on the heels of may Kentucky fans starting to question Calipari’s lack of a second title, despite consistently making 2nd weekend pushes into the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the contract was supposedly offered as a counter to UCLA trying to lure him away. The problem with that is that UCLA was offering him LESS money than he was making at Kentucky, to come and rebuild a program that’s lost its shine since sitting atop college basketball in the 60’s and 70’s.

So what does all of this mean for a coach like Jay Wright? Despite being established at Villanova, his smaller salary ($3.8 Million) and the school’s relatively newer “elite” status has made him a target of some more traditional basketball powers. Heck, Kentucky even tried to lure Wright away before “settling” for Calipari. However, Wright’s been pretty clear when those schools or even the NBA come calling: I’m good.

Wright loves his job and his school, and most fans only fear the 76ers head coaching job as the one thing that could lure him away. But regardless of if that was ever offered to Wright (again), should Villanova make a lifetime commitment to the most successful coach in program history?

It’s largely a public gesture in my opinion. There are probably plenty of clauses in Cal’s contract that would allow Kentucky to sever ties if they chose to. But still, this is a public display of commitment by the school to the coach. Does Wright deserve that commitment? Absolutely. But to me this also looks like a school desperately worried about losing its coach. While Villanova should never want Wright to leave, I don’t think a public lifelong commitment is the way they need to express that.

Instead, I’d rather see the university invest in Wright’s program, his interests, and if needed in the man himself. While some may not have been thrilled with the improvements, an investment in the stadium is along the lines of what I think shows Wright the school is invested in him and what he does. That of course was on the heels of the new practice facility, and I’m sure there are many other ways the university can continue to invest in basketball.

Wright isn’t the highest paid coach in the country, but he is in the Top 10. He’s the highest paid coach in the Big East, and the only private school coach earning more is Duke’s Coach K. Wright will always be an ambassador for Villanova, just as his mentor Rollie Massimino was. He didn’t need that in writing, and I doubt Jay will either. But I’ll it to you Nova Nation, what if anything would you offer Jay Wright this offseason?

In other “news”, Villanova football stars are getting looks from the NFL, the women’s Final Four will get rounded out tonight, and we’re all really bad at picking our brackets. Enjoy!

Villanova Basketball

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Villanova Football

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March Madness and College Basketball

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