This message is specifically for those who, like me, still aren’t ready to fire Pope. This message is not directed to the majority view, because your voice has already been heard.
I think those of us who still hold out some kind of hope may be best in abandoning that hope if we lose to Indiana. Yes, I am aware it is unfair —- Pope exceeded expectations in year one and shouldn’t be fired this soon in a perfect world. However, no matter how much we love the idea of what Pope *can* mean to this program at his best, the fan support will not be recoverable if we lose this game. Not only is this the fifth of five games against decent competition, it also is a rival and a rival that has been beyond awful for decades ——- also, this game is at home. I don’t know if we have thought about this yet —- but those loud boos we heard in Nashville are going to travel. The boos are coming home with us if we lose this game. The loss would be the fifth loss and create an almost untenable situation entirely where we would have to go on a tear in SEC play to even make the tournament. Truthfully, firing Pope is something I find disagreeable, perhaps even unforgivable this early in a vaccum. But we can’t give up the all-time wins lead —- even worse, we have to be mindful about these players being mentally checked out for good, no portal players will want to be here for anything but money which can create even more chaos next season. We can’t ignore the growing anger of the fanbase around us. If we lose to Indiana —- buyout Pope now. Don’t wait. Do it now, so that we can be first to market with all these coaches. We will have time to prepare the money, time to survey the portal, time to review the resumes. I say it with pain, but it’s honest. We may not survive another haymaker.
I think those of us who still hold out some kind of hope may be best in abandoning that hope if we lose to Indiana. Yes, I am aware it is unfair —- Pope exceeded expectations in year one and shouldn’t be fired this soon in a perfect world. However, no matter how much we love the idea of what Pope *can* mean to this program at his best, the fan support will not be recoverable if we lose this game. Not only is this the fifth of five games against decent competition, it also is a rival and a rival that has been beyond awful for decades ——- also, this game is at home. I don’t know if we have thought about this yet —- but those loud boos we heard in Nashville are going to travel. The boos are coming home with us if we lose this game. The loss would be the fifth loss and create an almost untenable situation entirely where we would have to go on a tear in SEC play to even make the tournament. Truthfully, firing Pope is something I find disagreeable, perhaps even unforgivable this early in a vaccum. But we can’t give up the all-time wins lead —- even worse, we have to be mindful about these players being mentally checked out for good, no portal players will want to be here for anything but money which can create even more chaos next season. We can’t ignore the growing anger of the fanbase around us. If we lose to Indiana —- buyout Pope now. Don’t wait. Do it now, so that we can be first to market with all these coaches. We will have time to prepare the money, time to survey the portal, time to review the resumes. I say it with pain, but it’s honest. We may not survive another haymaker.