LEXINGTON, Ky. _ When Kentucky coach John Calipari scolded Tyler Herro during a timeout at Tennessee on Saturday, the freshman's father was in Thompson-Boling Arena. From his seat, Chris Herro had no idea that the television camera showed an irate Calipari deliver a brief, but intense tongue-lashing.
The elder Herro soon found out. From family, friends, his former high school teammates.
"I got a million text messages (saying), 'You mad at Cal doing that?' " Chris Herro said Tuesday. "I'm, like, 'No, dude. That's why Ty went to Kentucky. Because he wants to be pushed by Cal. Cal's the best coach in the country, isn't he?' "
Tyler Herro can take what a coach dishes out, his father said.
"Ty's built for this (stuff)," Chris Herro said. "I used to rip Ty's (butt) the same way Cal is right now."
Father coached son in youth leagues. Father as coach began when Tyler was in the sixth grade and continued through the ninth grade.
"They're kids, like Cal said," the elder Herro said. "They're still learning. When Ty was growing up and he didn't come to play, I'd (really) rip his (butt). I'd get into him.
"Ty responds to that kind of stuff, you know."
When asked what Herro's mother, Jennifer, thought of her husband berating their son, Chris Herro chuckled. Then he said, "She didn't like it, buddy."
His wife has come to appreciate how the demands of a coach can inspire a player to improve, Chris Herro said.
"It's part of the gig, you know what I mean?" Chris Herro said. "Ty's there to get better (and) be pushed. At the end of the day, I even told someone Cal loves Ty. Cal cares about Ty and all those kids. He wants them to be the greatest, and that's part of it. It is what it is."
In the postgame news conference at Knoxville, Calipari spoke of his frustration with Herro trying to be a "play-starter" rather than a player who finishes plays by scoring. The UK coach said he repeatedly tried to make this point to Herro.
"Then you tell him very aggressively that it ain't happening," Calipari said.
The camera seemed to show Herro shrug his shoulders, which then prompts Calipari to rebuke the player.
"Ty usually doesn't talk back," said Chris Herro, who added that he had not seen a replay of the exchange. "I don't think he was in a sense talking back because Ty respects Coach Cal, and he would never talk (smack) to him."
Chris Herro saw no reason for comments about the scolding causing social media activity.
"It's tough love, guy," he said. "I'm old school. I did it to Ty. That's why Ty's at Kentucky."
