Assistant coach rumor news

rick64

Heisman
Jan 25, 2007
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No doubt changes are needed. Seems he just brought his buddies with him. If they're top tier talent, then that's fine. Otherwise, bring in the best.
 
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deplion

Senior
Nov 6, 2007
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i can see why fans would get excited about that news but in reality its a terrible sign. in any other business when you have that kind of defection it means the personnel have lost faith in leadership and are getting out now before it gets real bad.
I'm not excited about this news, but if Pope HAS to come back, I'd rather it be with an entirely new staff so there's no excuses for whatever happens next year.
 

Wildcat_in_DC

Senior
Nov 25, 2025
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I'm not excited about this news, but if Pope HAS to come back, I'd rather it be with an entirely new staff so there's no excuses for whatever happens next year.
2 years ago we were all told how great this staff is. i think its fair to say the under performed but my guess is they are frustrated and concerned about their own coaching future. mark is making them look bad by not being able to land recruits. which is how you make your mark as an assistant.

i dont think a change will make much difference. unless a new assist coach brings a player with him. and i doubt pope will play that card/game.
 

BMR1987

Senior
Mar 5, 2025
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They all need to go.

I don't see ANY assistant we do hire being able to fix Pope's recruiting inadequacies, though.

If he's truly coming back he needs to reach out and see if there's any interest from retired NBA player development + strength and conditioning guys (no current one in their prime is coming to this) in order to better develop the players he is able to bring in. And one spot for a defensive coach that's an expert at the style Iowa State runs (or really any style more aggressive than the weak sauce we run). Coaches that only bring "recruiting" to the table but can't recruit because players can't relate to Pope are useless here. Bring in talent developers and actual basketball minds.
 
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Anon1760284409

Freshman
Oct 12, 2025
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mark fox, Cody fueger, Alvin brooks, Jason hart, mikhail McLean, nick robinson, Randy towner, Brandon wells, Matt Santoro, Brian Fitzpatrick, Jaylan green, Willis Mackey, Gabriel McKay, Ryan berry, Jt carmer, will Corbin, Megan summers, mark Evans, Linda carmack, Michael stone, Deb Moore, Greg welsh, Nathan Schwake, Craig hornberger, Ryan Duffy, Addison fieldhouse, Chet white, rob hosey, Scott mair and finally, mark pope leaving would be a good start.
 

Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
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No more of this !!??

a woman in a red jacket is sitting in a chair and says boom .
 

Wildcat_in_DC

Senior
Nov 25, 2025
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mark fox, Cody fueger, Alvin brooks, Jason hart, mikhail McLean, nick robinson, Randy towner, Brandon wells, Matt Santoro, Brian Fitzpatrick, Jaylan green, Willis Mackey, Gabriel McKay, Ryan berry, Jt carmer, will Corbin, Megan summers, mark Evans, Linda carmack, Michael stone, Deb Moore, Greg welsh, Nathan Schwake, Craig hornberger, Ryan Duffy, Addison fieldhouse, Chet white, rob hosey, Scott mair and finally, mark pope leaving would be a good start.

this is what cracks me up about everyone screaming for a GM role. mark has a team of 6 under him already. each make probably 500k to 1M a year. what is adding 1 more guy really going to achieve?
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
41,472
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Whispers and sources. Anyone could guess that after the second year some coaches might move on. But, we have whispers and sources.
 

Madhuvan

Junior
Aug 11, 2024
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2 years ago we were all told how great this staff is. i think its fair to say the under performed but my guess is they are frustrated and concerned about their own coaching future. mark is making them look bad by not being able to land recruits. which is how you make your mark as an assistant.

i dont think a change will make much difference. unless a new assist coach brings a player with him. and i doubt pope will play that card/game.
It’s just like in football where a doomed coach is allowed to scapegoat coordinators a year before he gets canned himself. It buys the administration more time to do essentially nothing.
 

FitchandMurray29

All-Conference
Dec 11, 2021
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Honestly outside of the Hart-Pate connection, it would be hard to put any obvious connection/value of the current guys over their possible replacements.

Here’s how assistant coach news goes:
-guys leave/get fired
-we dismiss them
-we hire new ones that insiders/sources tell us are great
-wait a couple of years and restart this
 

SenseMaker_Cats

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
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this is what cracks me up about everyone screaming for a GM role. mark has a team of 6 under him already. each make probably 500k to 1M a year. what is adding 1 more guy really going to achieve?
The old school (pre nil) recruiters had connections on the AAU circuit. A GM should be brought in that has strong connections with the agents. Not saying that’s a steadfast rule but going forward, it needs to be considered.
 
Nov 18, 2025
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Who hired the incompetent assistants, is the same person responsible for recruiting the misevaluated players.

Pope is the critical or root cause at this point (since Mitch was pushed aside).

What does Pope have on the President or Board of Trustees to prevent getting fired? Were several in the Epstein files?

If it is about money/contracts, well that was dispelled with Cal “lifetime” contractual exit I would think. If not, that is what lawyers are paid for.

If you are motivated to get you out of a contract, there is always a way.
 
Jan 10, 2015
18,698
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Instead of cutting the head of the snake off let's just get rid of all the assistant coaches..... Still going to have a head coach that's been coaching for his 14th year with a career 63% winning percentage and just 3 tournament wins. No elite 8's, No Final 4's , and No Championships in 13 seasons as a head coach....