All the talk about him being fired, it’s not happening. After a sweet 16 appearance last year, he will get another year. It’s best we all accept that and start to get ready for next year.
Let’s be realistic — Pope gets another year
- Thread starter BleedBlue_22
- Start date
Well of course he does. This program is a joke. Look at who we hired when we had our first head coach opening in 15 years. Nobody that is in charge cares about winning, they just want us to be average enough so they squeak by and keep their jobs. So they hire as safe as possible and take 0 risk.
I tend to agree. But (you knew it was coming) I think there’s a world where he does get fired. Granted, it will be a “mutual decision to part ways” statement. It seems JQ has tapped out. I can’t imagine Lowe risks the shoulder much longer either. That happens, I definitely think what roster is left is bad enough to go 4-14ish in the SEC. That’s 13-19 overall with a certainty to lose a 20th in the SECT. You couple that with absolutely whiffing on every high profile HS recruit he’s gone after, and I think that’s enough. There’s a big part of me that thinks that’s where we’re headed also. Everyone knows how this story is going to end. Movies don’t need to be 2-2.5 hrs. Books don’t need to be 300+ pages. In the era of college athletics, coaches don’t need 3 yrs either.
He will get year #3 which I don’t think he deserves.
Remains to be seen how this year ends but he deserves another year in my opinion.
Agree. And I think next year will be even worse because the best players will avoid this mess.
Id certainly give the odds to that being the case. But like I said in that post, I think there’s a very real chance he doesn’t get year three. It’s just going to have to get THAT bad.
How? Because of a fluke s16 appearance? We lost 12 games and had the same problems last year as we do this year defensively
At this point guys.... if our season continues to be a train wreck and people are still posting "he will get year 3 accept it" or "he deserves year 3 because of so and so reason" .... im assuming you are a troll from another fan base that wants us to keep him as long as you can because you know we are trash with him and not a threat.
Same reason I want Carolina to keep Hubert Davis...I tend to think his one tournament run was luck like indianas last final four with Mike Davis...or Kevin Ollie uconn run...BTW uconn fired Kevin Ollie shortly after winning a title. And we think a sweet 16 deserves something lol
Same reason I want Carolina to keep Hubert Davis...I tend to think his one tournament run was luck like indianas last final four with Mike Davis...or Kevin Ollie uconn run...BTW uconn fired Kevin Ollie shortly after winning a title. And we think a sweet 16 deserves something lol
3rd year? I’m on board with 8-10+ years! Why are we trying to run him off after just 3 years?
Would you appreciate being pushed out of your dream job after 3 years? Yeah, and neither would Pope! Leave the man alone, and let him cook!
Would you appreciate being pushed out of your dream job after 3 years? Yeah, and neither would Pope! Leave the man alone, and let him cook!
This. It’s bizarre how some people think, but I think you’re right, they’re probably trolls that want Pope to stick around. If they truly are fans, I guess Mitch has blinded them into accepting historically bad seasons as foregone conclusions and acceptable outcomes.
He will get a 3rd year barring something crazy. He should not have gotten a first year. That's the problem.
This year has unraveled in a way few imagined. No recruits. Losing games but more importantly it's how we are losing them. When the media turns in high numbers that is when the pressure will really mount.
This year has unraveled in a way few imagined. No recruits. Losing games but more importantly it's how we are losing them. When the media turns in high numbers that is when the pressure will really mount.
Idk if he continues losing, and I mean LOSING like we did against the Zags, then it’ll be hard to keep him around due to the fanbase all but giving up on the program. Who wants to go to a game and see UK lose by 20?
Coach K is a great example of a team giving a new head coach some time, but coach k was never this bad. His teams never quit on him or gave up midway through the game. If they did, he benched the entire starting 5. Pitino would do the same thing and Rupp was about as respected as God himself in Lexington. Pope is a disgrace and needs to go. Another year isn’t going to make a difference, especially when his dumba$$ hasn’t landed anyone. And yes I’m being cruel. This man is making more money than this entire board combined and knew what this job entailed. Screw his feelings.
Coach K is a great example of a team giving a new head coach some time, but coach k was never this bad. His teams never quit on him or gave up midway through the game. If they did, he benched the entire starting 5. Pitino would do the same thing and Rupp was about as respected as God himself in Lexington. Pope is a disgrace and needs to go. Another year isn’t going to make a difference, especially when his dumba$$ hasn’t landed anyone. And yes I’m being cruel. This man is making more money than this entire board combined and knew what this job entailed. Screw his feelings.
I’d say there’s about a 75% chance Pope is the coach next year. Before the Missouri game I would have said it’s probably greater than 90%. The recipe for Pope to NOT return as coach would be:
- Missing the NCAA tournament
- Unprofessional media behavior
- Losing control of the locker room fuels leadership concerns
- Lack of recruits for the upcoming season erodes hope.
- Continuing to lose by wide margins.
I don’t think it’s absolutely certain he gets a 3rd year — recent losses have opened that door for a scenario where it’s at least on the table.
- Missing the NCAA tournament
- Unprofessional media behavior
- Losing control of the locker room fuels leadership concerns
- Lack of recruits for the upcoming season erodes hope.
- Continuing to lose by wide margins.
I don’t think it’s absolutely certain he gets a 3rd year — recent losses have opened that door for a scenario where it’s at least on the table.
Maybe but those comments from him sound like a man who doesn't want to deal with the tremendous pressure being the HC at UK much longer.
Why should he get a third year other than that’s what Matt Jones says? I get that Barnhart is an idiot and likely will give him another year, but why are fans so eager to grant him a lifeline? Maybe I could see it if he had a top recruiting class coming in, but he has exactly zero players signed for next year and has proven to be one of the worst recruiters in the nation.
Mitch and Pope want to ensure Kentucky basketball never gets out of the depths of hell by returning, according to some of you so-called fans. That may be true for Barnhart, but I’m not so sure about Pope yet. I’d like to believe he understands the gravity of trying to run it back for another year if this is what he’s shown with a $20 million budget. If he’s gracious as we all think he is, he’ll understand he isn’t the right match for the program.
But as I’ve said before, If Pope values his sanity, he leaves at the end of the season. This offseason and next year will be extremely toxic. Pope has shown no capacity to deal with the media. And boosters and fans aren’t going to be happy to see a guy with a potential sub .500 record returning with no high school recruits and bargain bin portal transfers due to an NIL budget that’ll likely be a fraction of even last year’s budget. He’d be a fool to return. Or even worse, a greedy fool. Hopefully friends and family talk him out of this stupid possibility of a 3rd season.
Assuming Pope keeps losing, this talk of a 3rd year becomes more or less wishful thinking from trolls. Right now Pope still has an opportunity to turn it all around as much as I doubt he will, there’s a small amount of hope that things can change for the better. And if it does, he deserves that 3rd year. But that talk goes away the closer we are to having a losing season. Every loss is another nail in his coffin.
Matt Jones’ opinion that Pope will come back even if he loses out is absurd. This isn’t 2002 where a coach depends on high school recruits and 3-4 years to set things straight. This is 2026 where the NIL and transfer portal has made results near instantaneous. We know how a coach is going to succeed or fail within the first two years. And with a $20 million budget, there must be accountability for this failure to get positive results.
Of course he will. That is what gets so many even more concerned. I 100% want Pope to succeed because that means UK is successful and I enjoy UK being successful.
Pope can get the benefit of the doubt on screwing up the portal if he made mistakes evaluating/over-reacting but with how things are playing out in current recruiting it looks more and more like he didn’t miss on evaluation but he missed his targets and settled.
The recruits he landed this year- one he can’t coach up to get on the court and is highly likely to transfer. Another he couldn’t keep. One isnt good enough to avoid a redshirt in an underachieving season. Another is still passive and plays like a high schooler that got by on height alone. Year 2 players haven’t taken the step forward expected.
I highly suspect there will be several transfers out because it’s clear nobody is enjoying it here. So the concern is here UK sits going into year 3 with no stability in the program. No forward momentum.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing Pope is doing to give hope for next year. No recruits. When was the last time UK had zero recruits signed? His misses in the portal combined with the JMI issues don’t look favorably on the future. Barnhart hired a coach that doesn’t have the credibility to challenge Barnhart if in fact there truly is a problem. He is Mitch’s yes man. What Barnhart wanted.
Pope can get the benefit of the doubt on screwing up the portal if he made mistakes evaluating/over-reacting but with how things are playing out in current recruiting it looks more and more like he didn’t miss on evaluation but he missed his targets and settled.
The recruits he landed this year- one he can’t coach up to get on the court and is highly likely to transfer. Another he couldn’t keep. One isnt good enough to avoid a redshirt in an underachieving season. Another is still passive and plays like a high schooler that got by on height alone. Year 2 players haven’t taken the step forward expected.
I highly suspect there will be several transfers out because it’s clear nobody is enjoying it here. So the concern is here UK sits going into year 3 with no stability in the program. No forward momentum.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing Pope is doing to give hope for next year. No recruits. When was the last time UK had zero recruits signed? His misses in the portal combined with the JMI issues don’t look favorably on the future. Barnhart hired a coach that doesn’t have the credibility to challenge Barnhart if in fact there truly is a problem. He is Mitch’s yes man. What Barnhart wanted.
Worst case scenario is he gets a third year and is slightly better next year. Then we could be stuck even longer.
I'm sure he will get a third year because that has somehow become the standard...but you can usually tell by year 2 if its going to work out. The smartest decision would be to move on.
I'm sure he will get a third year because that has somehow become the standard...but you can usually tell by year 2 if its going to work out. The smartest decision would be to move on.
I agree, just hard to be optimistic with no recruits for next year. Unfortunately, Mitch is an expert of signing coaches to ridiculous contracts making UK have to hang onto them longer.
with Pope:
-Mitch paid BYU over $4mil to buy him out
-paid him over DOUBLE what he was making at BYU
-gave him an auto extension clause for making the sweet 16
all for a guy who wasn’t even qualified on the first place.
with Pope:
-Mitch paid BYU over $4mil to buy him out
-paid him over DOUBLE what he was making at BYU
-gave him an auto extension clause for making the sweet 16
all for a guy who wasn’t even qualified on the first place.
A lot of us have been called "cultists " because we have said from day one Pope isn't going anywhere next season. Nothing cult about it. Its called common sense. The ONLY way he isn't back next season is if MB is fired and the new AD wants to bring in his own guy. Otherwise, what a lot of folks are REALLY not gonna want to hear is that I would make the odds 50/50 that MB brings him back for a 4th year. He is MB's hire, and he doesn't give two squints what we think. He has proven that for years
You must have a low opinion of Pope if you think he lacks the grace to know that he isn’t a good fit for the program and resigns at the end of the season.
Train of thought - Logic you’re using:
PREMISE: Pope knows he isn’t a good fit AND will resign.
YOUR CONCLUSION: He is not of good character if he doesn’t resign.
^ To debunk this logically, we only need to demonstrate one logically possible scenario where your premise does not result in your conclusion or show logical errors in your premise.
First, your premise relies on the fact that you, a third person observer, have direct knowledge of what Pope thinks his capabilities are. This is epistemologically impossible to know — we can take some of his comments and make inferences, but no way to know for sure. So, already off to a bad start.
Second, your conclusion doesn’t naturally relate 100% to your premise in the first place. Suppose that Pope does currently KNOW that he is incapable of performing the job correctly today BUT expects that he can improve certain aspects of his life, approach and personality to reach every program goal. Him staying would be consistent with your premise but not your conclusion.
Also, NO COACH is going to just give up a bunch of money like that. Ain’t happening, man.
At this point in 2009 it was clear Billy G was getting a third year too. In fact, Meeks’ huge games against Tennessee and Arkansas hadn’t even happened yet on this date in 2009.
Don’t underestimate the combination of losing with a viable alternative available.
Don’t underestimate the combination of losing with a viable alternative available.
He deserved and earned a 3rd year from how last year went, but with how he has acted and coached this season…….he does not deserve a 3rd year.
Does anyone think he’s going to figure this out before next year??? Keep us in the top 10 or around it and have us competing for a FF??? All he knows is Lowe with a high ball screen so color me zero faith for year 3.
Does anyone think he’s going to figure this out before next year??? Keep us in the top 10 or around it and have us competing for a FF??? All he knows is Lowe with a high ball screen so color me zero faith for year 3.
He will get a third year assuming he finishes middle of the pack in the SEC. If he comes in dead last in the SEC he’s gone. The administration will not fire him after Year 2. But the administration only has so much control.
Finish dead last in the SEC at Kentucky with an unlimited budget and the decision is going to get made above Eli Capilouto’s pay grade.
Finish dead last in the SEC at Kentucky with an unlimited budget and the decision is going to get made above Eli Capilouto’s pay grade.
I don’t accept defeatism. It is a slippery slope in life.
Mitch needs to be fired immediately.
Pope, future employment contingent upon year end performance.
Anyone know head of UK Alumni Association?
Mitch needs to be fired immediately.
Pope, future employment contingent upon year end performance.
Anyone know head of UK Alumni Association?