Bruce Pearl

[kfwa]

In today's climate, bring in a coach and give him 2 years to make the final four. No final four in two years, he's out, do it again. No final four in two years with the next guy, he's out, do it again.


Get a guy in, he makes the final four in year one. If he doesn't make it again for the next two years, boom, fired, bring a new guy in.


Has no one figured out that there is no waiting or building anymore. It's a year-to-year deal now. Brand new teams every year via NIL and the transfer portal. At UK, with what they've already proven they are willing to spend on NIL, you can literally be in the hunt for any player. Literally, there's not a single player in college they couldn't steal away if they have the right coach to do it.


2 years, max, to make a final four. The concept of time is over. It's now, literally right now.

I don't think you are as far as most people will initially think.

One thing we all can agree on, when Gillispie was coach, it was give him 5 years to build his team (didn't happen but he was crazy so thats a different issue)

Now with Pope its already the start of year 3 and people can tell what he is doing isn't working.

with the NIL there isn't a "build a team or culture" in terms of years. Its months.

that is the new reality.

 

[kfwa]

Dumb, Pearl ain't coming. Dude is happy in the booth with TNT, why would he come to UK?

the same reason as Cal

UK is his white whale.

He wants that validation

 

[BookofMormon]

the same reason at Cal

UK is his white whale.

He wants that validation

Dude is 66, in Atlanta in the TNT studio. He left Auburn with the program coming off a F4, did his last act passing the baton to his son. Last thing he wants is the white whale. His whole personna is designed for TV.

 

[FLBBNFAN]

I hate to break it to you, but Stokes does not give two ***** about KU's history. He went to play for Self specifically and because the NIL packaging was right. If Self were at Texas Tech with the same NIL Stokes would be playing in black and red.

Everyone keeps saying a number of guys would come here, but there is literally no proof of this. Izzo, Wright, Donovan all turned it down in 2007. A number of guys turned it down in 2024. Where are all these guys who would come here?

UNC got a guy with an NBA ring (on the back of Jokic if we're being fair), but he wasn't their first, second, or third choice. They struck out on all the big college names and were forced to pivot to an NBA guy.

And this isn't a Kentucky specific thing. You act like we're putting down Kentucky by saying blue bloods aren't attractive. But in 2026 they simply aren't and it applies to all blue blood college basketball programs, not just Kentucky. There's a reason Duke and UNC hired from within to replace their legends. Because that was less risky than rolling the dice. UNC didn't choose to hire a fired NBA coach to replace Davis, they were forced to. Kansas will see the same thing when it's time to replace Self. Proven college coaches like Dusty May will leave for the NBA, but they're not leaving for another college job.

There simply isn't actual real world evidence that blue blood basketball programs are draws in 2026. And there's a ton of evidence to the contrary.

Thanks you made my argument for me. Stokes went to the coach with 2 rings and not Pope who has no significant success as a head coach. Malone didn't have nothing to do with their ring which was their first championship ever and being their all time winningest coach .

Let me make this easier for you. Believe it or not there are men who will for example leave a cushy ceo job to go and try to rebuild a company that has a historically successful past but has fallen on tough times. You either have that in your DNA or you dont.

By your philosophy we should just keep Pope and accept a S16 as our ceiling because nobody else will come here.. No thanks for me and the great thing is we will probably see this question answered next spring.

 

[BBNinSCar]

Funny how you guys ALWAYS talk about who you don’t want the as the next head coach, but NEVER offer up who you think should be the next head coach…

And I’d bet $5 that neither you nor the poster that you were responding to will do just that!

So, let’s hear it… Who is your guy’s top candidates to replace Pope once his services are over?

I’ve posted this here several times. Josh Shertz is my one and only choice. I do not want, nor do I believe Kentucky would consider, Pearl or Donovan. Oats and Golden would listen to UK, but publicly turn us down- which is a very bad look for a blue blood.
Shertz will have a new job next season- it should be in Lexington.

 

[BigBluefoot]

I see Pitino and Pearl as short-term fixes while we figure out what our long-term solution would be. Both would offer an immediate spark and success.

Yeah, I think both would be excellent in the short term. I can't see Rick coaching much longer, and Pearl is no spring chicken either.

 

[HolySmokes]

No college will touch Pearl . The people yelling for him are uneducated on the subject

Why's that? Politics? If so I could care less what he has going on or his beliefs. Just win.

 

[kfwa]

Dude is 66, in Atlanta in the TNT studio. He left Auburn with the program coming off a F4, did his last act passing the baton to his son. Last thing he wants is the white whale. His whole personna is designed for TV.

there is no denying that he's coveted the Kentucky job for a very long time

and if it was offered, he is going to consider it.

I feel strongly he won't reject it outright.

I'm not one of these people that think any coach would take the job if offered, but I suspect whatever decisions Bruce Pearl has made has been because he thought the UK job was never going to be offered.

 

[BBNinSCar]

Pearl would be an absolutely phenomenal coach for us. Anyone who thinks he’s too old has no idea what they’re talking about if they really believe themselves, although most likely they’re only saying that to deal with their own internal emo crap anyway.

Also Pearl would come here in a heartbeat.

So would Rick Pitino, who would be just as good.

Kelvin Sampson is right around that same level and is probably gettable too.

Oats, Donovan, and most of the other names being thrown around would be a ***** to get and wouldn’t ultimately get us where we want to be anyway. Maybe one of those people would get us to the level we were at in the middle years of Tubby’s tenure if we got lucky.

Sure, Golden, May, or Hurley would be great hires. But none of those people would consider coming here. You hire Pitino, Pearl, or Sampson, like that bottom feeder Mitch should have done in 2024, then in three or four years they’ll have the program where a Golden, a Hurley, or even a May will have a reason to want to talk to us. We just have to hope Jason “J” Batt is a little less dense than the sticks in the mud who can’t see that.

Pearl has retired, he’s not coming here to compete against his son. Sampson is 71 and will stay at Houston until retirement and his son takes over as coach.
Why would Oats, and especially Golden leave their job(s) to come to Lexington? Both seem like future NBA coaches and their current jobs would match any offer UK made. None of these four are viable candidates and I don’t believe our admin would even contact Pearl or Sampson.

 

[BigBluefoot]

The Bennies love Pearl beacause he complimented them once and now they believe he likes them.

You don't think Pearl wouldn't jump at the chance to coach Kentucky? I think he would push his old lady out of the way and a plate of barbecue to sign the contract.

 

[Henogee1975]

I don’t dislike pearl at all, I just think he would be a very temporary solution. He’s definitely a good coach.

 

[BBNinSCar]

Thanks you made my argument for me. Stokes went to the coach with 2 rings and not Pope who has no significant success as a head coach. Malone didn't have nothing to do with their ring which was their first championship ever and being their all time winningest coach .

Let me make this easier for you. Believe it or not there are men who will for example leave a cushy ceo job to go and try to rebuild a company that has a historically successful past but has fallen on tough times. You either have that in your DNA or you dont.

By your philosophy we should just keep Pope and accept a S16 as our ceiling because nobody else will come here.. No thanks for me and the great thing is we will probably see this question answered next spring.

It’s too easy to suggest the same old tired names for Pope’s replacement. There is no energy in Pearl or Donovan. We need an AD that can evaluate coaching talent and potential at UK. Our AD should be able to find a winner, ready to advance to a coveted position in Lexington.
Just frickin call Shertz and make it easy on yourselves and give the fanbase a coach we deserve.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

Here's the story with regard to politics. Pearl is very active on X, passionately standing up for Jewish people and going after antisemitism including Islam. Most universities, including UK, won't touch that. Not so much because of agreement or disagreement with the subject matter (at least not publicly) but because he has so publicly taken a side in a controversial political issue. Pearl will never coach here.

 

[Phil_The_Music2]

Bruce Pearl could be dead and buried and some of our fans would swear he would crawl out of his grave to come coach here, and they'd want him to.

 

[BlueSince92]

Pearl has retired, he’s not coming here to compete against his son. Sampson is 71 and will stay at Houston until retirement and his son takes over as coach.
Why would Oats, and especially Golden leave their job(s) to come to Lexington? Both seem like future NBA coaches and their current jobs would match any offer UK made. None of these four are viable candidates and I don’t believe our admin would even contact Pearl or Sampson.

 

[BookofMormon]

Bruce Pearl could be dead and buried and some of our fans would swear he would crawl out of his grave to come coach here, and they'd want him to.

Big Blue Nation, are you ready to rumble with our new head coach, from the undead himself, Bruuuuuuce Peaaaaaarl.

 

[BluWildcatz]

Based on their friendship, Oats will probably be the first call Batt makes. He needs to call Golden obviously, but Golden will probably laugh at him and hang up. I expect Batt to get a lot of this actually.

You know Todd Golden is Jewish, right? I feel like he wouldn't laugh condescendingly if he was offered the potential #1 coaching salary in all of college basketball. Just saying.
https://www.si.com/college/2019/03/...oaches-salaries-list-kentucky-krzyzewski-izzo
https://thenilstandard.com/basketball/teams
(#1 NIL as well.)

 

[JDHoss]

I’ve posted this here several times. Josh Shertz is my one and only choice. I do not want, nor do I believe Kentucky would consider, Pearl or Donovan. Oats and Golden would listen to UK, but publicly turn us down- which is a very bad look for a blue blood.
Shertz will have a new job next season- it should be in Lexington.

I've known about Shertz since he was at LMU, as I have always kept up with the Splitters. Yeah, Shertz can flat out coach and his teams are fun to watch.

 

[kfwa]

last year I would have been in the no to Bruce Pearl camp

but its ugly right now and the UK fans need someone who is an immediate success.

I'd be for any coach that could be that person, so I'm not tied to Bruce Pearl. My defense of Bruce Pearl is more about how desperate the UK situation is

My personal choice would be to get a coach who clearly understands the NIL and what it takes to win in November and March.

I would not want another coach doing well but has zero March resume, and throwing out any name of a coach who doesn't have that resume is just rolling the dice, which got us in this mess in the first place.

 

[Phil_The_Music2]

Big Blue Nation, are you ready to rumble with our new head coach, from the undead himself, Bruuuuuuce Peaaaaaarl.

View attachment 1529576

Nice!

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

You know Todd Golden is Jewish, right? I feel like he wouldn't laugh maniacally if he was offered the #1 coaching salary in all of college basketball. Just saying.

Are we gonna offer more than the Golden State Warriors? And no, I was unaware of his religion. Religious stereotypes are often low hanging fruit for people to attack. Not that I care one way or another about a person's religion. Pope could worship the great spaghetti monster in the sky for all I care. Congrats. Now go win ball games. For the exact same reason I don't care if we hire a sleezeball if the guy can coach. (though there are certain levels to that, kind of like the prison yard when you show them your papers. Bad paperwork is a no go).

 

[kfwa]

I’ve posted this here several times. Josh Shertz is my one and only choice. I do not want, nor do I believe Kentucky would consider, Pearl or Donovan. Oats and Golden would listen to UK, but publicly turn us down- which is a very bad look for a blue blood.
Shertz will have a new job next season- it should be in Lexington.

one NCAA tournament win ? is that right?

 

[BluWildcatz]

Are we gonna offer more than the Golden State Warriors? And no, I was unaware of his religion. Religious stereotypes are often low hanging fruit for people to attack. Not that I care one way or another about a person's religion. Pope could worship the great spaghetti monster in the sky for all I care. Congrats. Now go win ball games. For the exact same reason I don't care if we hire a sleezeball if the guy can coach. (though there are certain levels to that, kind of like the prison yard when you show them your papers. Bad paperwork is a no go).

He's ethnically Jewish, and it's just a joke. Relax. I have no issue with Jewish people. Also, slow your role. I don't disagree with you about Golden State, but you made it seem like our job is laughable, when it simply is not. I'll clue you in on a little something: Humans like lots of money. We have more money than Florida; it's just a fact. Check my edited post.

 

[BookofMormon]

Nice!

Why not summon the man himself.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

He's ethnically Jewish, and it's just a joke. Relax. I have no issue with Jewish people. Also, slow your role. I don't disagree with you about Golden State, but you made it seem like our job is laughable, when it simply is not. I'll clue you in on a little something: Humans like lots of money. Check my edited post.

I am completely relaxed. I don't care that you made a joke about Jews and money, you do you. There is no role to slow big guy. In case you haven't been watching, UK men's basketball is getting laughed at on just about all fronts. To pretend like several established, successful, high major coaches wouldn't laugh at being offered the position is naive and kidding yourself and propping UK up too much. This isn't everyone's white whale.

 

[BluWildcatz]

I am completely relaxed. I don't care that you made a joke about Jews and money, you do you. There is no role to slow big guy. In case you haven't been watching, UK men's basketball is getting laughed at on just about all fronts. To pretend like several established, successful, high major coaches wouldn't laugh at being offered the position is naive and kidding yourself and propping UK up too much. This isn't everyone's white whale.

You didn't address the substance of my posts, so I'll accept your concession. He was shocked by how much money we had when we stole DA from him. He wouldn't laugh at being offered far more money than what he's currently making. Obnoxious morons on the internet might laugh at stupid posts, talking heads might laugh at Mark Pope, but serious people don't laugh at serious job offers.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

You didn't address the substance of my posts, so I'll accept your concession. He was shocked by how much money we had when we stole DA from him. He wouldn't laugh at being offered far more money than what he's currently making. Obnoxious morons on the internet might laugh at stupid posts, talking heads might laugh at Mark Pope, but serious people don't laugh at serious job offers.

My bad i didn't realize you and Todd shared the same Rabbi and attended Synagogue together.

There was no substance to your post to address. You made an antisemitic joke and then now grandstand and pretend like you won an argument that didn't even take place. Weird flex my guy. Like I said, you do you.

Todd Golden will never be the head coach at the University of Kentucky.

 

[FLBBNFAN]

It’s too easy to suggest the same old tired names for Pope’s replacement. There is no energy in Pearl or Donovan. We need an AD that can evaluate coaching talent and potential at UK. Our AD should be able to find a winner, ready to advance to a coveted position in Lexington.
Just frickin call Shertz and make it easy on yourselves and give the fanbase a coach we deserve.

I just want a real thorough search for the next coach. The coaching search was a utter joke when we hired Pope.

I am not married to anyone just need a great hire.

 

[BluWildcatz]

My bad i didn't realize you and Todd shared the same Rabbi and attended Synagogue together.

There was no substance to your post to address. You made an antisemitic joke and then now grandstand and pretend like you won an argument that didn't even take place. Weird flex my guy. Like I said, you do you.

Todd Golden will never be the head coach and the University of Kentucky.

You still don't comprehend that there's a difference between being ethnically and religiously Jewish. Also, there's such a thing as a positive stereotype. Saying blonde haired babes are beautiful is not racist, right? Is it antisemitic to say that Jewish people are smart and like money? I didn't realize how mentally sensitive you are, or else I would have never replied to you. Posts is plural, not the singular "post." It's basic English, you know. I provided multiple links proving Kentucky basketball has much more to offer than Florida does, regardless of whatever social media thinks about the state of Kentucky basketball. Now you move the goalposts, because I never claimed Todd Golden would be the coach at the University of Kentucky; I simply refuted your claim that he would just laugh at us. He didn't laugh at us when we stole Denzel Aberdeen from him; he said he was saddened by the event, but he understood why DA would jump on such a tremendous opportunity.

 

[Anon1739778738]

Pearl would already have us in the top five who gives a _ _it if he had a barbecue.Pitino had his 15 secs on the table as long as he can sleep on his pillow and win nobody cares.

 

[HolySmokes]

Pearl has retired, he’s not coming here to compete against his son. Sampson is 71 and will stay at Houston until retirement and his son takes over as coach.
Why would Oats, and especially Golden leave their job(s) to come to Lexington? Both seem like future NBA coaches and their current jobs would match any offer UK made. None of these four are viable candidates and I don’t believe our admin would even contact Pearl or Sampson.

Im not saying Pearl would come here but I doubt he would mind competing against his son. Maybe he wouldn't want to tho. Me personally it would be amazing and I would try to kick my sons a**. I would try to beat his team by twenty and then I would call him immediately after the game and talk crap. All in good faith of course. Tough love.

 

[Jaime Chitwood]

You don't think Pearl wouldn't jump at the chance to coach Kentucky? I think he would push his old lady out of the way and a plate of barbecue to sign the contract.

I have no clue if Pearl would push his old lady for a chance to coach UK. What I do know is he will never be considered or offered the position of head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.

 

[PooPooPeePeePoo]

For one his past issues with the NCAA. The other is he is very political.

So because he has beef with a crap organization and has the balls to publicly express his feelings makes him a bad person?

 

[Feral Manatee]

We continue to hear about Pope and company having a hard cap. We continue to hear about not getting into bidding wars.

We were literally laughed at and trolled by a top recruit and Pope had no idea what was going on. His finger is farther from the pulse of young basketball talent than any man in history. Why do we continue to twist ourselves in knots trying to come up with excuses like "it's a hard cap, that's what the issue is" when the obvious is staring us in the face. His personality is completely unrelatable to the top high school talent he's struggling to recruit. It wouldn't be as much of an issue for me if he were building successful veteran rosters that played a modern offense and executed at a high level, but he isn't doing any of that. We're stuck watching the ugliest basketball imaginable with players looking like they don't have defined roles so we end up with bad shots from players who are out of position or one guy trying to generate offense on his own because, well... what else can you do when nothing seems to be organized or working in any discernable fashion? I don't even think Pope has the confidence of his convictions and what he has built with his own rosters at this point. He looks like a man that is out there hoping for a miracle (who knows, maybe I'll win the powerball ) but completely aware that he is in way over his head and this isn't going to end well.

 

[BluWildcatz]

Should we disavow Enes Kanter for being conservative?

 

[Feral Manatee]

Pearl is just a terrible human being

I'm curious what did Pearl do that's so awful that I'm clearly not aware of?

 

[Feral Manatee]

For one his past issues with the NCAA. The other is he is very political.

NCAA issues?!? Like a bbq recruiting visit technicality before NIL even existed? It's a violation approximating an overdue traffic meter fine in our current landscape. And I'm someone who loves Bernie Sanders but doesn't give two s***s if the basketball coach was Trump's chief of staff if he can win big here.

 

[Crestcat]

Pearl is just a terrible human being

A lot of the best coaches are/were terrible human beings, I think it comes with the territory.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

I’ve posted this here several times. Josh Shertz is my one and only choice. I do not want, nor do I believe Kentucky would consider, Pearl or Donovan. Oats and Golden would listen to UK, but publicly turn us down- which is a very bad look for a blue blood.
Shertz will have a new job next season- it should be in Lexington.

I’d take him or Odom for sure.

 

[megablue]

I thought Pearl got out of coaching because he said, after forty (40) years, it was about time ??
Do we really want to consider a coach who just left the profession because he was tired of it ??