This isn't Pope's fault

[Damage_inc]

All Pope did was say yes to his dream job. He was a career loser who couldn't recruit high level talent everywhere he has been. I don't blame him for falling upward and accepting the gig. He is what he is and I'm sure he's trying his best. But it was always going to end like this.

This is ALL on Mitch.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

That's both true and meaningless.

Mitch was a cancer on Kentucky athletics and he walked away with a near-criminal sweetheart deal to siphon even more money out of the university. But he's untouchable now unless you want to get together a mob and burn his house down.

J Batt has been the AD for a while now, and honestly I haven't seen much to indicate he's doing any more than warm a seat. The football transformation was underway before he got here. He sat back and let the Mark Mitchell fiasco play out without making a peep -- either to advise Pope not to do it, to throw his weight behind the kid from Michigan State who was available, or to stand up to the SEC.

Forget Mitch. He's a bad memory of a bad person. Where is J Batt?

 

[Damage_inc]

That's both true and meaningless.

Mitch was a cancer on Kentucky athletics and he walked away with a near-criminal sweetheart deal to siphon even more money out of the university. BUt he's untouchable now unless you want to get together a mob and burn his house down.

J Batt has been the AD for awhile now, and honestly I haven't seen much to indicate he's doing any more than warm a seat. The football transformation was underway before he got here. HE sat back and let the Mrak Mitchell fiasco play out without making a peep -- either to advise Pope not to do it, to throw his weight behind the kid from Michigan State who was available, or to stand up to the SEC.

Forget Mitch. He's a bad memory of a bad person. Where is J Batt?

Batt's time is coming. I don't blame him for any of this due to the timing of his hire. His hands are clean in all the basketball stuff. He walked into the house when it was already on fire armed with a water pistol.

 

[KyCPA2000]

All Pope did was say yes to his dream job. He was a career loser who couldn't recruit high level talent everywhere he has been. I don't blame him for falling upward and accepting the gig. He is what he is and I'm sure he's trying his best. But it was always going to end like this.

This is ALL on Mitch.

Don't forget the part that Cal played in this. If he hadn't decided to take take years off from coaching hard none of this would have happened.

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

I blame Eddie Sutton! If it wasn't for him getting us on probation we wouldn't have hired Pitino who recruited Pope here and started this whole disastrous chain of events!

 

[Wunky]

Don't forget the part that Cal played in this. If he hadn't decided to take take years off from coaching hard none of this would have happened.

True, but he was only able to take years off from coaching hard due to Mitch’s inept handling of his contract. It’s all on Mitch. 100%.

 

[HolySmokes]

Idk man. I get your point. But I've turned down jobs i knew I wouldn't be good at. I've quit jobs that I wasnt good at.

 

[HolySmokes]

I blame Eddie Sutton! If it wasn't for him getting us on probation we wouldn't have hired Pitino who recruited Pope here and started this whole disastrous chain of events!

Now that's fkn funny. And who hired Sutton? Hes the real one to blame.

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

Now that's fkn funny. And who hired Sutton? Hes the real one to blame.

Ya know what? I changed my mind. I blame Daniel Boone. If that prick would have stayed in North Carolina none of this would have happened. He fell for the long con, probably from Dean Smith himself!

 

[D1JA]

I blame Adam and Eve...

 

[Resignmarkpope]

All Pope did was say yes to his dream job. He was a career loser who couldn't recruit high level talent everywhere he has been. I don't blame him for falling upward and accepting the gig. He is what he is and I'm sure he's trying his best. But it was always going to end like this.

This is ALL on Mitch.

Mark pope is freaking horrible! Trash! He’s trash!

 

[CELTICAT]

Mark Pope doesn’t deserve this tiresome coddling.

 

[Johnnie Africa]

Idk man. I get your point. But I've turned down jobs i knew I wouldn't be good at. I've quit jobs that I wasnt good at.

Hey Holysmokes you’re painter. Can I hire you to paint the inside of this museum for 5 times what you’re making and if you suck I’ll give you 10times more than that?
HolySmokes: “Nah I’m good”

 

[Resignmarkpope]

Hey Holysmokes you’re painter. Can I hire you to paint the inside of this museum for 5 times what you’re making and if you suck I’ll give you 10times more than that?
HolySmokes: “Nah I’m good”

Mark pope is complete trash!

 

[HolySmokes]

Hey Holysmokes you’re painter. Can I hire you to paint the inside of this museum for 5 times what you’re making and if you suck I’ll give you 10times more than that?
HolySmokes: “Nah I’m good”

Um sure since im doing a one time job and not representing an entire state and generations of tradition and history. Ill suck on purpose actually. Throw it on there real quick. When do I start. Please give a better example. Something kind of close.

 

[HolySmokes]

How about hey holy smokes i know you're extremely passionate about Kentucky basketball. Im going to offer you the job at 5 million a year. Do you want it?


Hell yea I want it but I'll have to pass because I've loved Kentucky basketball since before I could talk and I wouldn't be able to win games like needed at the best program in the nation. Also im just not built for the spotlight of being exposed to millions. Ill pass Johnny Africa. I do thank you tho for the offer.

 

[Johnnie Africa]

How about hey holy smokes i know you're extremely passionate about Kentucky basketball. Im going to offer you the job at 5 million a year. Do you want it?


Hell yea I want it but I'll have to pass because I've loved Kentucky basketball since before I could talk and I wouldn't be able to win games like needed at the best program in the nation. Also im just not built for the spotlight of being exposed to millions. Ill pass Johnny Africa. I do thank you tho for the offer.

Drinking early? He was already a coach. He was offered to do the exact same job for 50x the pay. If you would turn that down don’t complain about not being successful.

 

[Damage_inc]

We cannot afford to make the mistake again of thinking the Kentucky brand will give a coach recruiting superpowers either. And another thing, I can't say for sure but I am reasonable sure that Jeff Shephard had a hand in this decision as well. No more nostalgia. Hire an unbiased search committee this next time and do your diligence.

 

[fisherscatfan]

I strongly disagree.

Did Mitch force Pope to hire Mark Fox?
Did Mitch force Pope to not hire quality assistants to address his weaknesses?
Did Mitch direct Pope to resist/fight hiring a GM type position?
Did Mitch force Pope to make the numerous media faux pas he has?

These are just the obvious visible screw ups we as fans see. Who knows the number of meaningful screw ups Pope makes behind the scenes because he is too stubborn or just plain bad at his job.

Mitch panicked and made an extremely poor hire but Pope has refused to do anything to help himself. That part is on Pope.

 

[HolySmokes]

Drinking early? He was already a coach. He was offered to do the exact same job for 50x the pay. If you would turn that down don’t complain about not being successful.

If you are begging me to be selfish and run this thing in the ground then hey buckle up lol.

 

[Snarks]

Blame is on both. I wasn’t a fan of the hire but have been shocked at how bad Pope has been.

 

[KyCPA2000]

True, but he was only able to take years off from coaching hard due to Mitch’s inept handling of his contract. It’s all on Mitch. 100%.

I still say both had a part. If someone gave me a lifetime contract where I work, I wouldn't just start slacking off because I am a professional and I care. Obviously Cal did not feel the same way. That's on him.

 

[UKortho]

Mark Pope doesn’t deserve this tiresome coddling.

Grown (but immature) man making big boy money. He knew what he was signing up for and deserves the criticism. He is an absolute embarrassment.

 

[Anon17922829675390261]

Crazy thing is we all saw it coming. The early press conferences and a good first year gave us blue tinted goggles for a bit but all of our instincts when the news broke were dead on.

Giving the keys of one of the greatest programs in sports history to a dude who literally did not have a single NCAA Tournament win will go down as one of the biggest coaching hire blunders of all time. Just insanity

 

[NoLongerAnon]

Idk man. I get your point. But I've turned down jobs i knew I wouldn't be good at. I've quit jobs that I wasnt good at.

You work?

 

[Wunky]

I still say both had a part. If someone gave me a lifetime contract where I work, I wouldn't just start slacking off because I am a professional and I care. Obviously Cal did not feel the same way. That's on him.

Oh no, I totally agree with you. Cal’s a turd and he got lazy and complacent and yes, that IS why we’re in this mess to begin with.

I wouldn’t have behaved that way either, because as you said, it’s unprofessional. And I’m sure that’s what Mitch assumed as well when he gave Cal the lifetime contract. But that assumption was naive of Mitch — especially given what he already knew about Cal’s ego.

Having said that, I’m fully aware Mitch would have been crucified if he had let Cal walk to UCLA. Cal was in a position of extreme leverage and he knew it. I don’t blame him for striking while the iron was hot, but I do blame him for resting on his laurels the last 5 years. He really damaged the program a lot, and deep down, he knows that he did. And that will be his legacy until we make the right hire.

 

[Catastic5]

Grown (but immature) man making big boy money. He knew what he was signing up for and deserves the criticism. He is an absolute embarrassment.

Seriously. I’m so tired of Pope avoiding the blame. Should Mitch have hired him? Absolutely not! But he’s a grown-a** man in his 50s. He had absolutely no success as a head coach for nearly a decade and came to Kentucky with no plan. No attempt to hire elite coaches. And his obsession with going after players who continuously turn him down and he never learns his lesson; not on recruiting or anything else. The man’s ego got the best of him. Both in taking a job he was unequipped to handle and pretty much everything else he’s done since he’s been here.

 

[crxohio]

He will get his $. By not resigning, it shows he doesn't care as much about ky as he says. He cares about face. Problem is.... he is ruining face even worse. Which shows he dont care and maybe not as smart as he portray's. Fraud. This is year 3, not day 1.

 

[crxohio]

Defending losing is all your doing.

 

[kyjeff1]

How about hey holy smokes i know you're extremely passionate about Kentucky basketball. Im going to offer you the job at 5 million a year. Do you want it?


Hell yea I want it but I'll have to pass because I've loved Kentucky basketball since before I could talk and I wouldn't be able to win games like needed at the best program in the nation. Also im just not built for the spotlight of being exposed to millions. Ill pass Johnny Africa. I do thank you tho for the offer.

Sorry man, I totally disagree with this. You don't work hard at something, start climbing the ladder, then turn down your dream job.

It’s real easy yo be a Monday morning qb right now, but Mark Pope put a ton of work in to be a head coach. He studied the game and he knows it well. He bet on himself and that's what he should do.

Only people that have no confidence turn down a great opportunity.

We can say he sucks and that's fine, but it's not from a lack of effort. He bet on himself and it’s not going to work, but at least he went for it.

Refusing to take a top shelf job, because you think you’re not good enough, is a loser mentality and I refuse to operate that way.

I took 2 huge leaps of faith in my industry. Moved my family twice and I'm about to sell my business and take a directors position at a much larger company. Yup, I could fail, but I'm not passing up something that could be great.

 

[kyjeff1]

Crazy thing is we all saw it coming. The early press conferences and a good first year gave us blue tinted goggles for a bit but all of our instincts when the news broke were dead on.

Giving the keys of one of the greatest programs in sports history to a dude who literally did not have a single NCAA Tournament win will go down as one of the biggest coaching hire blunders of all time. Just insanity

100%.
There are a thousand guys out there that would have jumped at the opportunity to coach UK. 99% are unqualified, but think they can do it.

Twice, Mitch treated the UK chair like it was the front register at McDonalds. He didn't learn after the BCG debacle apparently.

As for Pope, I'll use Mike Tyson's quote "everyone has a plan, until they step inside the ropes".

 

[kyjeff1]

He will get his $. By not resigning, it shows he doesn't care as much about ky as he says. He cares about face. Problem is.... he is ruining face even worse. Which shows he dont care and maybe not as smart as he portray's. Fraud. This is year 3, not day 1.

Pope would commit career suicide if he resigned. He may not be good enough for UK, but he can coach somewhere.

 

[HolySmokes]

You work?

I might. I might not. I might be the governor for all you know.

 

[Resignmarkpope]

Pope would commit career suicide if he resigned. He may not be good enough for UK, but he can coach somewhere.

Good

 

[crxohio]

Pope would commit career suicide if he resigned. He may not be good enough for UK, but he can coach somewhere.

Getting fired is way worse than resigning. That's a fact. Only way getting fired is better is for leverage. But this isnt typical employment. This is high stakes, with little to no margin for error. Which is completely different.

 

[kyjeff1]

Getting fired is way worse than resigning. That's a fact.

Getting fired from UK is not close to quitting, Quitting because it's too hard, or things aren't going well, is a terrible look. Nobody is going to hire a guy that quit.
Coaches get fired all the time and you see them coaching the very next year.

 

[crxohio]

Good

He is literally committing career suicide as we speak! Resigning to coach Nevada is way different than getting fired and having to coach app st if he is lucky. There are levels to this.

 

[crxohio]

Getting fired from UK is not close to quitting, Quitting because it's too hard, or things aren't going well, is a terrible look. Nobody is going to hire a guy that quit.
Coaches get fired all the time and you see them coaching the very next year.

I want to resonate with what your saying, I truly do. But the problem is "only a natty/final four saves your perspective". Because of what has happened. It cannot be spun any different. Fired, resign doesn't matter. Its one in the same. He can't get it done at kentucky and that resonates the loudest.

 

[UKortho]

Getting fired from UK is not close to quitting, Quitting because it's too hard, or things aren't going well, is a terrible look. Nobody is going to hire a guy that quit.
Coaches get fired all the time and you see them coaching the very next year.

Sampson and Pitino.

 

[Anon1739778738]

Pope would commit career suicide if he resigned. He may not be good enough for UK, but he can coach somewhere.

He can coach some where but I don't think it will be a Blueblood program after this circus.