Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life

by John Calipari

Job loss. Foreclosure. Relationship woes. Health issues. Dire financial straits. If recent history has taught us anything, it's that nobody goes through life unscathed-no matter how rich, how smart, how talented, or how fortunate they may be. White collar, blue collar, or no collar, there is an undeniable commonality to the raw emotion that strikes people when they are knocked down. University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has seen the bottom - from two very distinct and very public setbacks-but he has learned that bad situations are only permanent if you allow them to be. Fired from his job as head coach 20 games into his third season with the NBA's New Jersey Nets in 1999, Calipari was publicly humiliated and emotionally devastated. But Calipari never allowed the negative to overcome him or those around him, and he began plotting a course for his first bounce back. It was a journey that took him to the University of Memphis and, in 2008, to the NCAA's marquee event, the men's basketball Final Four. When that trip culminated in a crushing, overtime defeat in the title game, Calipari began to bounce back again-this time armed with the knowledge and fortitude he gained in overcoming the Nets' firing. One year after that defeat, from where he watched his team lose a nine-point lead with two minutes and twelve seconds left in regulation, Calipari was tabbed as the head coach of college basketball's all-time winningest program, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. In ten years, he went from his lowest low to landing his dream job at a dream program. What Coach Cal -as players, peers, and fans affectionately call him - learned from his experiences was the importance of having the right attitude when dealing with life's major with every hard knock comes an occasion to reevaluate and reinvent. Now Coach Cal asks that you join his team of Bounce Backers and allow him the privilege of coaching you through what may, at times, seem to be an insurmountable challenge. With a combination of tough love and understanding, Coach Cal takes you under his wing in much the same fashion he guides the young men who play for him. By becoming an active participant in your own resurrection-through practice exercises and tips from Coach Cal and his deep bench of highly successful people who have survived their own bounce backs-you too will gain the tools and insight to understand that it's never a matter of how far you have fallen, but instead it's about how high you bounce back.

Genres: Sports, Leadership, Biography, Self Help

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since April 2009, he has been the men's head coach at Kentucky. He was the head coach of the Dominican Republic national team in 2011 and 2012.

Calipari is the former head coach of the University of Memphis Tigers, the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, and the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. Calipari has officially been to 3 Final Fours, all three with Kentucky (2011, 2012, 2014). He had previously led UMass in 1996 and Memphis in 2008 to the Final Four, but those appearances were later vacated. Consequently, Calipari is the only head coach to have Final Four appearances vacated at more than one school, although Calipari himself was not personally implicated by the NCAA in either case. As a college coach, Calipari has 20 (19 officially) 20-win seasons, 8 (7 officially) 30-win seasons, and has been named National Coach of the Year 3 times. Calipari is widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in college basketball history.

In the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Calipari led Kentucky to its 8th NCAA Tournament Championship, and the first of his career.

From 1982 to 1985, Calipari was an assistant at the University of Kansas under Ted Owens and Larry Brown. From 1985 to 1988, he was an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh under Paul Evans. From 1988 to 1996, he was head coach at the University of Massachusetts. From 1996 to 1999, he was head coach and Executive VP of basketball operations for the NBA's New Jersey Nets. During the 1999–2000 season, he was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers under coach Larry Brown, before moving on to his next position at the University of Memphis. He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

In his 21 official seasons (22 seasons overall, 21 official, with one entire season later being vacated) as a collegiate head coach, Calipari's record is 548–171 (.762). His record in the month of March is 98–37 (.726). His record in the NCAA tournament is 38–13 (.745), and in the NIT is 15–6 (.714). His teams have made 14 NCAA tournament appearances (12 official, due to 2 later being vacated), including reaching the Sweet Sixteen 11 times (9 official, due to 2 later being vacated), the Elite Eight 9 times (7 official, due to 2 later being vacated), the Final Four 4 times (2 official, due to 2 later being vacated), the NCAA Championship Game twice (once officially, with the 2008 Championship Game appearance while at Memphis being vacated by the NCAA), winning the NCAA Championship at Kentucky in 2012.

As a college coach, Calipari has 19 20-win seasons (18 official) and 8 30-win seasons (7 official). He has also coached 6 teams to the NIT, winning the NIT Championship at Memphis in 2002. He is one of only four coaches in NCAA Division I history to direct three different schools to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm already a bit biased because i happen to be a huge fan of Cal. I enjoyed reading his personal stories intertwined with encouraging advice and homework assignments. I can't honestly say how the average reader without knowledge of who Cal is would receive this book but it's a must read for those who do.

[Ben Hoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this hoping for some interesting stories about Cal and UK. Turns out this is an older one and mostly pre-UK. Also, it is pretty much a straight self-help book. Some interesting stories and definitely feels like it's written by Cal. Amazing how much of it is the same messages he seems to convey still and how much of his coaching philosophy remains the same. But otherwise nothing surprising here, lots of 'you can do it' and positivity. Probably some good advice if you are going through a setback, but not sure I'd recommend it as just casual reading.

[Matthew King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about 50% of this book and it is indeed a good book. However, I feel that's about all you need to read to get the point as well. Essentially, keep your head up, find yourself a good rhythm, nurture your networks, and keep moving forward! Good advice is indeed here but I think you'll get the motivation you need pretty quickly.

[Ian C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Cundiff book review

Bounce Back
By John Calipari

John Calipari is a basketball coach currently at the university of Kentucky. However, he was the coach for the university of Memphis in 2008 when they went to the National Championship. Memphis was playing Kansas and had the lead with 2 minutes remaining and the eventual number one draft pick, Derrick Rose. They were supposed to win the game everything had to go right for Kansas and it did. That was his trigger event that caused him to have to bounce back.
Throughout the book, John tells you how he came back from the loss in the National Championship and how today he is successful. He teaches you before you fix yourself you need to fix the people around you. When you do this this become easier for you and they get worked out in the end. Also he teaches you to plan your bounce back and stick to it by following steps it becomes much easier to get your life to the way you want it. One of my favorite quotes in the book is “You deserve good things and you need to expect them- every day and in every situation.” (page 121, John Calipari) This means that if you believe good things will happen they will and it teaches you to have confidence and be optimistic.
I would recommend this book because it helped me and it can help you too. If you're going through a rough time in your life this book will allow you to overcome the life obstical and succeed. Also it will help get your life going with John’s idea of planning it out and sticking to the plan.

[Justin Tapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is supposed to motivate you to overcome setbacks. Coach Cal has even set up a website for you to share your story and motivate others, as well as download his "practice plans," activities designed to help you bounce back.

If you can relate to a guy who's major setback in life was being fired from a multimillion dollar NBA coaching job only to go on to other multimillion dollar coaching jobs after being unemployed (or doing an ESPN gig) for a few months, then this book is for you.

If you can handle cliches like "PractiCAL point," and dialogue like "Put your faith in me, and I'll put my faith in you" then this book is for you.

If you can handle other...clever...phrases like "Let's bounce back, bounce forward, and bounce forever" (last sentence in the book) then this book is for you.

I'm glad Calipari overcame his setbacks and landed on his feet. He makes good practical step-by-step points about how to overcome being fired, or demoted, or divorced, or whatever. Much of it lines up with good scriptural teaching (accept God's will, don't be bitter, find good counselors, etc.). However, there's no mention of him bouncing back from having 2 trips to the Final Four being vacated by the NCAA or how he handles being called a "cheater" by every non-UK fan. The useful basketball knowledge I gained was how he recently decided to adopt the dribble-drive offense.

In all, I give this book 2.5 stars out of 5.

[Bryce Zelig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Going into this book I wasn’t a huge fan of coach Cal. He’s one of the winningest coaches in basketball history, but this book gives you a great perspective on how even the most successful people go through failures. And not just one. This book reminds me a lot of my dad who has gone through similar setbacks in his life and came out better in the long run. Great read.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it....full of great advice from a good coach

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

wasn't expecting this book to be so helpful or relevant when I picked it up... nice.

[Charles Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good personal development book. I need to listen to it again so I can really implement Coach Calipari bounce back strategies in my own bounce back.

[Ali Crain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good tips

[Ilya Mrz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even I don't like fans of sport games.

I love this book. Because it's about principles to live.