So was Kelvin Sampson and he took Houston to the title game.
Bruce Pearl
- Thread starter Henogee1975
- Start date
by comparison Pitino ain't applying for Sainthood anytime soon
Florida had to conduct its own sexual misconduct investigation into Golden.
its not necessarily inclusive but coaches aren't required to be Mother Teresa and there is a long list of character flawed coaches with national championships to their name.
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I'll be honest. Since Pope already brought Pitino back to help restore his good graces I'd rather just bring him back for a couple seasons to see if he can knock out one more championship.
We need an up and comer. There's no established Calipari tier hire out there that makes sense that I know of.
prior to 2015, Auburns last win against UK was in 2000.
After 2015, UK and Auburn have been 9-8
Ask me what year Pearl started coaching Auburn.
Would take him in a heartbeat.
Will pump up the fanbase to maximum levels and will recruit and COACH the heck out of it.
Will pump up the fanbase to maximum levels and will recruit and COACH the heck out of it.
Pearl, Pitino, Donovan
I'd take any of them just as long at UK wasn't married to them for 5 years with a stupid buyout.
I'd take any of them just as long at UK wasn't married to them for 5 years with a stupid buyout.
Man who gives a F about baggage. He had a BBQ cookout. Who the hell cares I want to win.
No they didn't. They opened a Title IX investigation that was reported to be "very narrow in scope." With the girls paid off not to cooperate, the incident was easily resolved and Florida went on to win the NCAA Championship. This isn't the first time Florida boosters have paid to make off field issues go away.
I thought by wording it the way I did, I was implying Florida didn't take it seriously
Kind of reminds me of the UNC years after Smith left and they brought in Daughtrey.
You are not going to like it, but the team needs a coach that is Kelsey-like. He needs to be a better coach but has that same enthusiasm. If he were here, fans would love it. He has a lot of that Pearl attitude that basketball is fun.
The guy is a millionaire, played ball at UK and has a championship, you probably live at home, work at Mcdonalds, and are posting your obsession with Pope on a message board, who is the loser again???
What baggage? He invited some players to his house for a bbq? My god, the humanity!
Pearl is a lot better than we have right now. As far as Donavan and Hurley goes. I wouldn't want him. In the history of D1 college basketball. Only 1 coach has won the National title at 2 different schools.
Why does everyone want a coach that has already won it all ??? Only 1 coach has won it all at 2 different schools.
Resignmarkpope is Elon Musk. Hard to believe but true. The dude is a self-made winner! Makes everyone else look like a loser by comparison. So, his simple-minded continuous blasts at Mark Pope are understandable.
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.
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.
Ok so, is he a bad person because he is political........or is it because he doesnt'share YOUR views?
As far as the NCAA you're talking about one of the most corrupt organizations in our country. An organization that for decades denied Americans the right to earn a living all while profiting off student athletes themselves. This is the same NCAA that said it was a rules violation to provide cream cheese with their bagels. Pearl once invited a kid to his cookout when he shouldn't have. For THAT, you think he is a bad person? You are ready to side with the NCAA on a morality issue?
I just don’t think it’s reasonable to judge a college basketball coaches success solely off a one and done tournament.
Historical shows sustained regular season dominance over a long time will lead to ncaa tournament success.
30 win seasons. Conference regular season titles. 1 seeds. To me those are a better indicator of whether or not you should pursue or keep a coach.
I do agree that in the current landscape a coach worth keeping at a place with level of investment of Kentucky will be able to accomplish those things very quickly.
For me it’s 3 years. And that’s only if their first 2 seasons arent like Kenny Paynes at Louisville. There has to be SOME success in the first 2 years. Pope has at least made the tourney and an S16.
I’m one more ugly loss before december away. and i’m not saying wait till the end of the season. Say we drop one of these home buy games or get blown out by IU or Virginia or something. that would be it. Conversation happens the next day. Followed by a press conference announcing Mo Williams is taking over in the interim while we start the search.
Yeah, I don’t get the obsession with him either. He basically had a lifetime gig at Auburn if he wanted it, but retired, so I have to assume he doesn’t even want to be on the sideline anymore. And no, I don’t think there’s much evidence that he would give up anything just to coach at Kentucky just because he would occasionally flatter us as a rival coach.
Even if he were somehow interested, I also feel like he’s a bit overrated by his fan club. He’s a good coach, but not the contend for a championship yearly kind of great coach he’s sometimes hyped up to be. He was at Auburn for 11 years and really only had one dominant team that deservedly made the Final Four. Besides that, he only made it out of the second round once. If that didn’t happen to be a bit of a fluke Final Four run with a 5 seed that survived New Mexico State by 1 point before going on an improbable hot streak, I feel like he’d probably be looked at differently.
I feel like his actual greatest skill was that although it could come off as corny at times to us, he was able to make a lot of noise and generate fan enthusiasm at places that historically haven’t been basketball crazy. That’s not actually a problem we need to solve though. I feel like a lot of our fans would actually be at least mildly disappointed by the actual on court product if he came here. There’s better, younger options out there to try and get us back to championship contention.
Even if he were somehow interested, I also feel like he’s a bit overrated by his fan club. He’s a good coach, but not the contend for a championship yearly kind of great coach he’s sometimes hyped up to be. He was at Auburn for 11 years and really only had one dominant team that deservedly made the Final Four. Besides that, he only made it out of the second round once. If that didn’t happen to be a bit of a fluke Final Four run with a 5 seed that survived New Mexico State by 1 point before going on an improbable hot streak, I feel like he’d probably be looked at differently.
I feel like his actual greatest skill was that although it could come off as corny at times to us, he was able to make a lot of noise and generate fan enthusiasm at places that historically haven’t been basketball crazy. That’s not actually a problem we need to solve though. I feel like a lot of our fans would actually be at least mildly disappointed by the actual on court product if he came here. There’s better, younger options out there to try and get us back to championship contention.
bUt hE gOt iN tRuBbLe OvEr a CoOkOuT!!1!!!!!! Yep, Slimy Bruce has had issues at every stop. Besides, do the people who clamor for Donovan, Pearl, Stevens, Wright, etc. not stop to think that maybe if they wanted to coach college basketball, that they'd still be coaching college basketball.
I don't know how anyone looks at what Pearl ended up doing at Auburn with his son and think he was even close to a realistic option. He was going to stay at Auburn and retire there because his son was the coach in waiting. He wasn't leaving Auburn for another SEC school to coach against his son, and he wasn't leaving Auburn in a way that would jeopardize his son's position after he left. Just because they guy said some complimentary things about UK doesn't mean he was ever thinking of coaching here.
Nobody will like to hear this, but the bridge coach was Cal. That was my argument the last couple years because there was never a clear cut replacement. My concern was always that we were going to be rolling the dice on someone unproven, and if you miss with that you do it again. And if you miss again you're quickly Indiana. Well it looks like we've got the first miss under our belt. We've seen time and time again how blue blood programs don't attract coaches like they did 20 years ago. UNC just learned it, too. And on top of all of that Mitch was the one who was going to be leading the coaching search...
Cal obviously lost a step and wasn't the Cal of his first decade here. To be fair no one would be because that was a generational run. But Mitch should have done with a good AD does and smoothed things out between Cal and the boosters, put his ego and dislike for Cal aside and just swallowed his pride. Seeing what Cal could do with highly ranked recruiting classes and a few key transfer pieces each year for a few years until there was a couple clear cut replacement candidates was the path to take.
Before anyone yells at me and says Cal left on his own, yes he technically did. But the entire environment around the program was a gigantic factor in that and Mitch did nothing to help things. Mitch had been largely antagonistic to Cal since Cal got here and never wanted him to be the coach anyway.
Nobody will like to hear this, but the bridge coach was Cal. That was my argument the last couple years because there was never a clear cut replacement. My concern was always that we were going to be rolling the dice on someone unproven, and if you miss with that you do it again. And if you miss again you're quickly Indiana. Well it looks like we've got the first miss under our belt. We've seen time and time again how blue blood programs don't attract coaches like they did 20 years ago. UNC just learned it, too. And on top of all of that Mitch was the one who was going to be leading the coaching search...
Cal obviously lost a step and wasn't the Cal of his first decade here. To be fair no one would be because that was a generational run. But Mitch should have done with a good AD does and smoothed things out between Cal and the boosters, put his ego and dislike for Cal aside and just swallowed his pride. Seeing what Cal could do with highly ranked recruiting classes and a few key transfer pieces each year for a few years until there was a couple clear cut replacement candidates was the path to take.
Before anyone yells at me and says Cal left on his own, yes he technically did. But the entire environment around the program was a gigantic factor in that and Mitch did nothing to help things. Mitch had been largely antagonistic to Cal since Cal got here and never wanted him to be the coach anyway.
I remember all the tight **** saying the same nonsense about Cal. Funny how we never heard that complaint again about the program needing to be lily white once Wall and the gang committed to us. You play to win and Pearl, Pitino etc are winners . Stokes and Kinney would be here if we had Pearl or someone like him who coaches their a** off.
I'm tired of reliving 2012 , 98 and 96. Those were great times but how about we start winning at an elite level again. BBN doesn't need to quiet down but rather we should be impossible to ignore for a coaching change this spring if the team lays another egg.
We have the most passionate fanbase, plenty of NIL money so any coach who isnt a timid cuck would love to coach here. Just like coaches would crawl over glass to coach Duke and any other blueblood program. The fanbase isnt the problem.
I'm fine with Pearl being our coach. Also tbh it'd be nice to have AIPAC on our side as apparently they are flushed with cash and could help our NIL.
Why do you guys still think this is true? It hasn't been true in a long time and is even less true now. UNC just saw this and needed to go to a fired NBA guy. No big name college coach wanted the job. You can argue all you want that technically only Drew and Hurley turned us down, but Oats put out a statement that he was happy at Bama and Pearl wasn't leaving Auburn when he was just about to hand the reigns over to his son. Nobody big wanted this job in 2007. Calipari is the only big name who's wanted it over the last two decades plus. But yet everyone always says so and so would crawl over broken glass to come here but nobody actually does it.
Blueblood status is not a draw in 2026. It's more trouble than it's worth when you can just as easily win a title at a place like Florida or Michigan.
Pearl would be perfect to unite the fan base
He plays a fast, high scoring game. His team's play hard. He can recruit.
He knows and loves the game.
He is the polar opposite of Pope in all phsas
I gurantee he would coach his butt off, and the players would play hard or they would be on the bench.
I have always thought Barnhart was the reason Cal pretty much said the hell with it at UK.
Dumb, Pearl ain't coming. Dude is happy in the booth with TNT, why would he come to UK?
Who actually wants the job is going to be a BIG question. I would look at established coaches on the ascent who want to win titles, in dire NIL situations. Hell, while institutionalized, why not tap Painter? Guy is playing with tier 6 money, has ZERO chance of getting close to another title game with that and is leaking oil with mid major talent at Purdue. Great coach, great developer.
Oats, McCollum, Otzlerberger are others. McCasland is probably happy with good NIL at TT. I'm not sure what Odom has.
Who actually wants the job is going to be a BIG question. I would look at established coaches on the ascent who want to win titles, in dire NIL situations. Hell, while institutionalized, why not tap Painter? Guy is playing with tier 6 money, has ZERO chance of getting close to another title game with that and is leaking oil with mid major talent at Purdue. Great coach, great developer.
Oats, McCollum, Otzlerberger are others. McCasland is probably happy with good NIL at TT. I'm not sure what Odom has.
This is fair, and you're probably right. Unfortunately, the masses won't judge off of anything except tournament results.
Keep in mind, it could work the other way as well. Coach has so-so regular season, even below standard, but the team turns it on in the post-season and makes a run to the final four.
Everytime I read a fellow fan say “who wants to come here, nobody wants the job” I cringe so hard. Stop reading ESPN writers who graduated from UNC and Duke, and watching field of 68.
Do you guys watch college football at all? Kiffin just left Ole Miss for LSU, Deboer was in the title game at Washington and left for Alabama. It’s just so dumb. Yeah, what hungry coach would want to coach, at a program with 20+ million dollars in NIL every year, unparalleled fan support, and all the resources you could need to win. All because the fanbase is too mean. Please get a grip guys. Mitch’s propaganda “nobody wanted the job! we offered everybody!” is BS as well. We offered Drew, he accepted it but his wife didn’t want to leave Texas. We offered Hurley, he said no. Pope was then hired. That’s Mitch being an awful AD, not the UK job being unattractive.
Do you guys watch college football at all? Kiffin just left Ole Miss for LSU, Deboer was in the title game at Washington and left for Alabama. It’s just so dumb. Yeah, what hungry coach would want to coach, at a program with 20+ million dollars in NIL every year, unparalleled fan support, and all the resources you could need to win. All because the fanbase is too mean. Please get a grip guys. Mitch’s propaganda “nobody wanted the job! we offered everybody!” is BS as well. We offered Drew, he accepted it but his wife didn’t want to leave Texas. We offered Hurley, he said no. Pope was then hired. That’s Mitch being an awful AD, not the UK job being unattractive.
The same reason Kiffin went to LSU so the same reason there would be a number of guys who would come here . Money, rabid fanbase and winning tradition. All that still counts. Stoke didn't go to a scrub school to just make money. He went to KU for their history , fanbase and a coach with two rings.
For sure guys like Drew didn't come her and that is good because its takes a certain mentality to coach here and a certain mentality to not be intimidated.
UNC got a guy who has a recent NBA ring as a coach. You dont think that appealed to Henry and probably Rosser. Then add in Nil funding and a good fanbase . Malone may absolutely kill it there. Pope has none of that experience. Some of you all act like BBN is a abused wife with no self worth.
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're 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.
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