If he can’t sign any of the top tier high school kids he must go. Billy Clyde had the same issues. Our recruiting should be top 5 every year.
I like Mark Pope but…
- Thread starter TNCatfanforever
- Start date
I have criticized his recruiting as much as anyone but man I want him to succeed being our coach. I hope he can figure it out!
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Totally disagree, BCG reeled in Dakotah Euton.
Fire them all. All of their asses. Everyone.
Solid, original thread here. They say misery loves company, and RRs will certainly bring out the most miserable of the miserable.
Yes, things are bad, but Pope has 1.5 recruiting classes under his belt. I HOPE this year’s roster mismanagement is a giant lesson for our HC. He needs to do better next year. But for everyone saying he needs to leave, simmer down. He’s not going anywhere after this year unless he leaves on his own or he does some crazy awful thing that breaches his contract (which I’d guess is pretty unlikely). Pope proved he can coach last year, now he needs to prove to us he can manage buying players in this NIL era.
Yes, things are bad, but Pope has 1.5 recruiting classes under his belt. I HOPE this year’s roster mismanagement is a giant lesson for our HC. He needs to do better next year. But for everyone saying he needs to leave, simmer down. He’s not going anywhere after this year unless he leaves on his own or he does some crazy awful thing that breaches his contract (which I’d guess is pretty unlikely). Pope proved he can coach last year, now he needs to prove to us he can manage buying players in this NIL era.
So is this like the 6th consecutive year that you’ve yelled “fire the coach” from the rooftops?
Liggins and Orton too. Deandre Jordon at TAM
*counting on one hand….now second hand…
1st round losses, decades long final four droughts, and 6-4 starts 0-4 to good programs 3 straight to Alabama - will do that. This Tennessee or Kentucky?
But nah I wouldn’t move on Mark yet unless it’s necessary because I think they’ll come easy after this season if necessary so there’s no reason right now and I’d like him to be something we need. A basketball guy with pull.
There's an article posted on another thread about how we are handling NIL and from what I can gather, it may not all be Mark's fault that he is missing on some of his targets.
If it does then it does. I personally don’t see it turning around. This is the worst time for something like this to hit. He doesn’t have the name recognition or the power to offset problems this big in all likelihood. Players will be timid and with this JMI contract I doubt it turns around. I see it more likely he doesn’t improve enough to warrant keeping in his 3rd season.
This is Kentucky. You don’t get to survive losing your *** this way. We are a blue blood, the top blue blood. No football or basketball blue blood retains this kind of thing long. So if he wants to turn it around and be a top team next season I’m in. But you need to sustain that beginning to end of most seasons. I’m having trouble seeing him do that now.
I see. I didnt know what you were implying.
we are in hell. I’m not getting into a call debate. But we were better off with him. The grass is not always greener and we are finding out the hard way. I suspect we will finish this season with a losing record. Then we will be marginal next year and there will be a mutual separation after year 3.
back to the drawing board.
The problem is we don’t know if the grass would be greener this time either. Perception can become reality. Whether we think the way Cal was handled was fair or not doesn’t matter —- it’s what other coaches think about it. Coaches have been outspoken that we were unfair to Cal. How much worse is it going to be if we fire one of our own too early? I think it will be bad. Problem is you got a catch 22, because if you keep Pope longer and the fans do not give some breathing room, the toxic environment gets worse and we commit even more self-inflicted wounds as a fan base. Coaches should, theoretically, want to follow in Pope’s footsteps—- if we play this right. If we hit the gas too soon, we get a worse reputation and remind coaches why they didn’t want to be here in the last cycle. That’s my opinion of the situation.
This is not a program to try and learn how to coach on the job. He should have figured that out at BYU or Utah Valley.
Wow, interesting thread, haven't seen one like it yet
We're to the stage of grief where you make posts about every thought that comes to mind
We're to the stage of grief where you make posts about every thought that comes to mind
Well, there’s Mitch, who would absolutely bring Pope back for a 3rd year. But I firmly believe that if this season goes how many of us are expecting, a losing season, boosters will demand a coaching change. At the very least, Pope will have to make major changes to his coaching staff’s and I doubt he’ll be willing to do that.
Most likely boosters will revolt and demand a major hire in vein of Calipari in 2009.
If it is true that Jmi is requiring players to sign away all NIL rights and that Uk is the only school doing this it could entirely explain our inability to close the deal. Admittedly it is all pretty confusing but it could totally explain what is sabotaging Pope and undoing all his efforts. It could well be that this approach is more attractive to some players but a total no go for marquee elite type players.
Order of business #1 this off-season (preferably before SEC play) is to find a GM and have them in place by the time the portal opens. If JMI has us by the balls and Pope is getting emotional during negotiations, we need someone to take that load off of him and navigate the fuster cluck that appears to be JMI.
Without a GM, I have no faith that next year will be any better.
How in the hell were we better off with Cal??? He did less with more.....period. We are in a horrific slump right now no debate to that but Cals last 5 years is what has greatly diminished this program. We atleast made the second weekend and beat top ranked teams again which Cal wasnt doing either.
Would also explain why we have so many that show interest but walk away. Maybe Pope is good at getting in the door but then when players and their agents see the final details of the NIL they opt out. Maybe that's what Wilkerson meant when he said "I don't want to just be another player." He didn't want to sign away his own Name Image and Likeness.
One of the most famous names in Wildcat lore.
I'm not buying into this whole "the fans can create a toxic environment" bullshyte. The leadership at UK clearly eschews fan advice or we wouldn't have hired Pope in the first place. And any fan booing or criticism follows on the heels of lackluster performances that the coach himself is quite well aware of before he even hears from BBN. Some programs (aTm for example) actually care what their fans think. UK most emphatically does NOT.
We all like Pope. But its very clear that he can't recruit. It's increasingly clear that he's not all that great of a coach either. The results at both are not anywhere close to our standards. The sooner he moves on, the better off both parties will be.
Hire Bruce Pearl as the Basketball GM. Let him do his politics or enjoy retirement or whatever on the side. He gets his UK job in a way and the board doesn't have to make him the face of the program. Get a pit-bull in the recruiting room, not the labradoodle we have now.
The fans don’t give breathing room? Wow….what do you expect right now with how things are going
Did you not read what it said about Pope in that article? You blindly supported Stoops to so I’m not surprised that you’re completely ignoring that aspect. SMH idk how you guys get these man crushes on coaches that you can’t admit when they’re messing up LOL
He’s made some bad posts lately. It’s really surprised me. Defending trolls, bashing fans with guys that’s been banned from the board 1000 times.
There weas no reason to believe Pope could recruit at a high level. My one hope was that in the current climate of NIL that recruiting may not matter much and just come down to being a good talent evaluator and paying the most for the players you want. Unfortunately, it looks like recruiting still has some impact and Pope's talent evaluation is very suspect at least for this class. Despite Cal's flaws we always had lots of talent.
I can completely respect the viewpoint on this if you don’t agree with mine. I feel that I can make a compelling case on it, but it’s just my opinion.
Fans have EVERY right to be angry. I have different views than most on how constructive we should be. I want us to handle the current situation with care. Is there a chance Pope turns this around? I contend yes! But if he doesn’t? I want to set the table for the next coach to accept eagerly as possible.
Pope has time to fix his main issues, he just has to self reflect and take care of business. He needs to learn how to close the deals with players and he’s gotta fix the culture of his program. Most fans I’ve talked to are upset mostly about his teams lack of effort. He’s gotta keep holding them accountable like he did with Garrison.
I don't think Pope can realistically do this job. His emotions are already getting in the way badly and his inability to recruit leaves a rather hopeless future. He simply is not built for this gig. I was as aggravated with Cal as anyone and it had become nearly untenable. but he was built for the job and could bring in talent that could cover up his deficiencies. Most importantly, his kids played hard. I have no tolerance for a lack of effort. I really don't want to get into a Cal fight. This is more about where we are with Pope.
As with all things, I reserve the right to recalibrate my stance if new data becomes available. But it certainly does not look good for pope and kentucky right now.
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I don’t know why anyone wants to keep pope. We are in a race tone the winningest program in cbb. Kansas will catch us but another year of pope puts us in jeopardy to lose a lot of ground to UNCheat. Wake Up now!!! It’s not wise to procrastinate even if your heart is on the right place. Hopefully Mark leaves on his own. You need to be a certain person in to win at UK: You need a big ego. You need to command respect based on a history of personal winning? And you need to have an infectious personality so players want to play for you.
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