Pope has certainly done himself no favors, from stubbornly refusing to hire a GM and instead hiring an unqualified stats junkie that happened to be his buddy, to his terrible substitution patterns, stoking rumors by teasing that something major happened before the UL game, etc... It's a pretty large list. Having said that, the media is absolutely hurting UK in recruiting right now, specifically KSR and Matt Jones.
I do have a source inside JMI that is at the executive level and I can tell you with 100% certainty that UK staff and administration is very pissed off at Matt Jones and KSR. Unsourced and unverified articles like Pilgrim put out last year most definitely hurt UK on the recruiting trail. It's become very apparent that Matt Jones has decided to follow the "rage-bait" model that so many other websites have gone to. Fact is, outrage gets clicks. Jones is a smart guy and is seeking to take advantage of that. The most disgusting part of that for me is that, he hides behind this facade at as #1 UK super-fan, all the while intentionally doing things that he knows deep down hurts the program.
This isn't just speculation on my part. The concern from UK has become so great that they have asked JMI to consider bringing Jones into the fold and offer him a job. I have no way of knowing if that was his intent all along, but I do know that at the end of the day, Matt Jones is only concerned about what will give him a higher national profile. He can open 10 KSR bar and grills, host a million podcasts proclaiming his love for UK....whatever. He's an opportunist and anything that he (and KSR) does should be viewed through that lens.