Rick Pitino could have a chance to right his biggest coaching regret

Kentucky head coach John Calipari is on the hot seat. As Mitch Barnhart decides Calipari's future in the coming days, potential replacements at one of the most important jobs in college basketball have naturally been brought up.

Only a few men or women are competent enough to handle the expectations and blowback that often comes with the Kentucky job. It sounds glamorous to coach at a Blue Blood, sure, but Big Blue Nation is unlike any fanbase I have ever dealt with. They are intelligent, irrational and often expect more than the sum of their parts.

If Calipari is let go, there will be no shortage of suitors for the gig. One replacement that has understandably been brought up is Rick Pitino, who coached at Kentucky 1989-97. Pitino now coaches at St. John's, but as someone who knows what it takes to please this fanbase and run the program, could he return home?

Could Rick Pitino steal Kentucky job from John Calipari?

Pitino recently admitted that leaving Kentucky for the NBA was one of his biggest coaching regrets.

“I was offered about seven or eight pro jobs before the Celtics, obviously I was the Knicks coach, and that’s a dream for me being a New Yorker, but hindsight is 2020,” Pitino said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably never leave Kentucky. You know, Dick Vitale, every time I speak to him, ‘If you would have stayed at Kentucky, you’d have more wins than any coach,’ and you think back on that."

Pitino said this two weeks ago, long before Kentucky lost to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament. A return to Lexington would be a shocking career change for Pitino, who has fought his way back up the coaching ranks after the Louisville scandal with successful stints in Iona and now St. John's.

The Kentucky charge is a bit out of his reach for now, but having experience on the job can only help matters.