Do you think it’s fair to say that Cal kind of messed things up leaving like he did? What other choice did Pope have in the time frame to assemble his first team? Even then year two is likely to be rough losing the seniors. Losing Butler last year was a devastating blow to the team.
I would not say the initial season was bad given he literally had to throw a team and staff together in short order. He coached that team to a UK record 8 wins against top 15 opponents.
Have you really given Pope a fair chance though? Most if not all the coaches on everyone’s list would have been fired by their standards in the first few seasons.