Toggle sidebar

Pope is not the guy to blame

BlueBloodKyFan73

BlueBloodKyFan73

All-Conference
Oct 29, 2010
3,944
4,961
113
UKCowboys said:
MB retiring certainly changes the equation. If we bring in a legit AD, it would be normal for him to want "his own people" running the programs. Obviously the new football coach is safe, but he could let Pope go without the egg on his face MB would have since he was MB's choice to run the program after he was slapped in the face by his first choice Scott Drew, who is 15-14 at Baylor. If the new guy wants to make a name for himself and get BBN firmly in his corner, making a Homerun hire for Men's Basketball would do that instantly. If the new AD is one of MBs cronies and hires Scott Drew or the like, the program could be in serious danger of melting down completely
Click to expand...
Shocked if Pope didn't get a year 3 unless he steps down from pressure which I don't think he will. If it's a MB clone he won't fire Pope would make it look bad on Mitch. If it's someone outside KY then i say he gives Pope 1 year and then reviews it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KFuqua, *Fox2Monk*, KyKevin and 1 other person
U

UKCowboys

All-American
Oct 14, 2019
3,456
5,935
113
BlueBloodKyFan73 said:
Shocked if Pope didn't get a year 3 unless he steps down from pressure which I don't think he will. If it's a MB clone he won't fire Pope would make it look bad on Mitch. If it's someone outside KY then i say he gives Pope 1 year and then reviews it.
Click to expand...
Most likely
 
  • Like
Reactions: KFuqua
dynastydreamuk

dynastydreamuk

All-Conference
Nov 18, 2010
1,862
1,410
113
UKBB4Ever said:
Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.
Click to expand...
lots of good points here.

I'm glad it wasn't Drew, but that may have been slightly better than what we have now but wouldn't have worked in the end either.

Cal's downfall was his post season success diminishing, pissing off fans, not starting the best players the most, etc etc... but yea the regular seasons were maybe okay or average for UK as opposed to below average now.
Ive said many times I would have wanted to keep Cal had I know Mitch would totally mess up the new hire ... but I don't know how that would have worked with NIL support for Cal going forward at that point.

Drew was Mitch's guy and it sounds like The mormon Mark Pope was the Mormon Mark Hill's guy, hope that didn't have an influence in the decision.
 
ZaytovenCat

ZaytovenCat

All-American
Apr 25, 2013
23,947
8,539
97
UKBB4Ever said:
Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.
Click to expand...
One bad season my ***! 😂😂😂
 
  • Like
Reactions: RunninRichie, UKortho and NociHTTP
G

Goingfor9

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2003
16,093
2,893
113
UKBB4Ever said:
Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.
Click to expand...

Early outs when you’re a 2-3 seed are bad seasons. An 8/9 seed where we make it to the finals is a good season. Idk where some of you came from but if we aren’t hanging banners (and cal was becoming a personal loser in Nashville). The quickly maxey Richard’s team was the last good season. Since then as soon as Cal got that contract we went to crap. No good seasons. That season with wheeler out of control win a game lose a game. It was easy to read what would happen that season because cal went all in with Wheeler. We went from guys like ulis, maxey, fox running our team to wheeler. Until we get a stud pg who can do it all but mostly has it between the ears. Until we land that type of pg we are going to eat scraps
 
  • Like
Reactions: NociHTTP
G

Goingfor9

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2003
16,093
2,893
113
Seth_C said:
I don't blame Pope for taking the job, but his failure to accomplish the job to an acceptable level I obviously blame on him. I also won't feel any pity for him if he loses his job after a few months or a year.
Click to expand...
He’s incapable. Look at his go to coach. Mark Fox. That’s on pope but he doesn’t have the connections needed to bring a great up and coming assistant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RunninRichie and *Fox2Monk*
W

wildcat111

All-Conference
Dec 9, 2020
1,540
1,736
113
21Goose said:
Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.
Click to expand...

21Goose said:
Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are right, but it is painful to watch the program go down the toilet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: *Fox2Monk* and 21Goose
AllBall

AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,545
5,840
93
21Goose said:
Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.
Click to expand...
Gonna be waiting awhile. His golden parachute allows him to meddle around and further screw things up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: *Fox2Monk*
AllBall

AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,545
5,840
93
TTTblue24 said:
Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.
Click to expand...
Mitch made his job insufferable. Cal had resources stripped away and didn't like the trajectory of our NIL. JMI deal tells the story.
 
  • Like
Reactions: *Fox2Monk*
K

KyKevin

All-Conference
Dec 28, 2021
1,678
2,535
113
21Goose said:
Just curious why did you think Pope was a home run hire? The only reason could be the nostalgic nature of him being a former player. I got caught up in that some too but hindsight tells me I was wrong. Go Cats
Click to expand...



I don't think anyone if being honest, thought Pope would have a problem recruiting at Kentucky. Hope it turns around soon.
 
AllBall

AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,545
5,840
93
Anon1768290537 said:
The sad reality is the fact that it probably will be one of his cronies, like the chick married to the JMI "Hill" guy i believe? The prominent boosters need to step in & have a say in all of this, I'm fairly certain they're as fed up with **** as we are, probably even worse since they're paying millions to watch this **** show.
Click to expand...
That's backwards. Marc Hill works as assistant/deputy AD and the woman is a JMI employee.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anon1768290537
K

KyKevin

All-Conference
Dec 28, 2021
1,678
2,535
113
Anon1768290537 said:
Sugar Ray Leonard wouldn't knock him out but he would definitely hit him more times & get the win lol. Then Hagler would say he never hurt me 🤣🤣 I watched that fight, Sugar Ray Leonard was my favorite boxer.
Click to expand...



I loved Sugar Ray also, hit me if you can. He was a fast man.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Anon1768290537
*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
45,273
81,777
113
TTTblue24 said:
Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.
Click to expand...
It’s an administration failure all the way around.
 
Z

Zuma75

All-Conference
Mar 19, 2017
892
1,218
93
KyKevin said:
I don't think anyone if being honest, thought Pope would have a problem recruiting at Kentucky. Hope it turns around soon.
Click to expand...
That was the one shred of hope I had when I heard the news ... that he'd have better players than he'd ever had before, so maybe he could jump to a level he hadn't shown yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KyKevin
*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
45,273
81,777
113
Skyguyb27 said:
I’d say described sane person would know there are all types in forums especially in a team’s board after another embarrassing performance from an unqualified coach again. So what was the point your were trying to make? You seem to like to put other posters down directly and indirectly that down agree with your nut hugging mentality
Click to expand...
It’s almost time for a name swap again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skyguyb27 and UKortho
Catman100

Catman100

Heisman
Jan 3, 2003
7,018
10,456
96
I agree, Barney is the main culprit and should never have hired Pope.
But Pope is coaching like a JV high school coach as well.
 
S

sk73

All-Conference
Feb 16, 2013
3,190
3,243
113
TTTblue24 said:
Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.
Click to expand...
Cal is the reason that Pope sucks? Hmmm?
 
C

CatBlueBlood

Sophomore
Feb 18, 2026
81
172
33
21Goose said:
Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.
Click to expand...
I support your assertion that Pope is not to blame. He was offered his dream job—a once is a lifetime opportunity—and he took it. Barnhart's judgment was horrendous and it will ultimately damage the program while also hurting Popes future prospects. When Pope is shown the door—as I expect—where does he go? Back to the minor leagues of college basketball? Having failed at Kentucky is not a great resume builder. Pope would have been much better off had Mitch not offered him the job.
 
Z

Zuma75

All-Conference
Mar 19, 2017
892
1,218
93
CatBlueBlood said:
I support your assertion that Pope is not to blame. He was offered his dream job—a once is a lifetime opportunity—and he took it. Barnhart's judgment was horrendous and it will ultimately damage the program while also hurting Popes future prospects. When Pope is shown the door—as I expect—where does he go? Back to the minor leagues of college basketball? Having failed at Kentucky is not a great resume builder. Pope would have been much better off had Mitch not offered him the job.
Click to expand...
I feel like Pope would be a really awesome top assistant ... turn him loose on the analytics and the X/O stuff, let him go wild. But I just think has a big blind spot when it comes to the "softer" aspects the head coach's job.

Would be happy for him to prove me wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom