Was an assistant at UGA for a year and I thought he did a hell of job. I’ve followed his career since and he’s had some tough jobs but has always had good teams. I think he’s a hell of a coach. When UGA hired Kirby for football some fans didn’t like it because he had no experience. Two titles later we are on top. Give Pope a chance and if he can recruit the right players with NIL, UK will be back on top imo. Good hire!
UGA fan here… Pope
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You know its bad when a UGA fan comes here to convince us..
LOL Yeah because Nick Saban's assistant for tons of national titles is totally the same thing as a guy who has ZERO success and hasn't coached outside of Utah.
EDIT 6/8/24: Since LMD or some other guys bumped this, I have been on board since the pep rally like a lot of you. It was an initital and emotional reaction that many of us do as fans. I'm on board and happy with the change and the roster he has assembled.
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Even UGA fans trying to console us.
Yes, it has fallen to this.
Yes, it has fallen to this.
Kirby masterminded those great Bama defenses and won national championships prior to arriving at Georgia. Pope coached a basketball team.
Sir, a "good hire" for Georgia basketball is someone like Pope. This is Kentucky.
Nobody gave Kirby credit for those defenses but at least Pope has HC experience. I think he’ll win
Man, I think we all hope you're right. I think we're all in shock. I don't think Mark Pope was on ANYONE's radar here. He may have been way down a list of guys you could call after being turned down by 20 others, but not the 3rd guy we pursue.
I'll have to keep saying this because I feel terrible being down on this hire... but I love Mark Pope and his teams from the mid-90s, especially that 96 team that was one of the best ever. I'm supporting him, just venting a bit. Mitch will never be allowed to hire another coach at UK if this doesn't work out. It's really not fair to Pope to put him in this position, potentially devoured by the program and fans he loves so much. But I hope he does great. We shall see, one way or another.
I agree. I was hoping we would hire Pope at some point. He’s just jumping a UGA job and going straight to UK. I get it
Yeah, you think they would have experience with football championships or something.
Exactly. Love Pope, but not sure he's ready for the job, and damn mitch barnhart for putting him in this position. Perfect opportunity to hire a place-holder coach (pearl, pitino) for a few years while letting Pope (as well as golden and the other young guys we like) matriculate and show a little bit more. Love Pope, but pissed at barnhart. We can't get him out of Lexington quick enough...
Completely agree with this. I love Mark Pope and obviously want him to do well, but I don’t think Mitch Barnhart could have botched this coaching search any harder if he’d formulated a plan to do it.
There are a bunch of people here who know nothing and speak in absolutes. I might be one of them, but I'm excited for our new coach. I have missed my team for many years.
UGA has made two coaching hires since Mark Pope became a head coach. UGA chose not to hire the man twice. Don't come on here and try to make it sound like it was a solid hire. UGA didn't even think he was worth hiring. He may do great, but a lot more proven candidates should of been offered before Pope.
Thank you. This hire was a surprise. But, the worst part of it has been the fans.
Thanks for the kind words, I hope it works out. I understand some fans frustrations and a lot lies in that we didn’t even go past our first 3 candidates and give anyone else a look before him. I won’t trash a former NC player before he starts though. I think he has potential.
To be fair, you don't know UGA didn't contact Pope and was turned down. Based on his faith, I could see him staying in Utah unless a school like UK called.
Man I am tired of the Pearl and Pitino talk. Both would have been bad move for UK. Not the look you need at all. I do not care what they did 10 years, 10weeks, 10 days ago. We do not need another coach nearer the end of their career. I would rather have seen Billy D, Todd Golden because they have done it in the SEC but Pope coached BYU first year in the Big 12 and he did better than all experts said he would preseason.
Thanks but it doesn't make me feel any better, Mitch should be fired today, second worst hire and the first was Billy Gillespie and both on his watch. When Pope starts losing out of the gate and doesn't make the Tourney, BBN will eat him alive and it's a shame since he's one of our own
Hubert Davis is doing ok at UNCheats without any head coaching experience. Pope has some experience so maybe he does better for Kentucky than Davis has for the Cheats. If he doesn't do well Kentucky shouldn't wait for Barnhart to retire, he should be fired by this time next year.
It's not Pope that BBN will eat alive, it's Barnhart that will get it. He will be booked at every event he's at, so his career and legacy is riding on Pope doing good. I don't blame Pope for taking the job, what former Kentucky player who's a coach wouldn't take it if offered it.
Lol. Pope has been a head coach for about 8 seasons now. 0 tournament wins, 0 conference titles. It's a joke of a hire.
Pope has exceeded expectations on both his prior coaching jobs. Very rare. He is a brilliant coach with nil money for portal he will build a legend here.
Top SEC football program & he’s showing some class. Wish we really had something going to feel entitled about
Wtf does UGA know about hiring basketball coaches? They hired Crean FFS. Now they have Mike White and Florida is laughing at them because Golden is better. To say Pope isn’t worthy because UGA chose not to hire him is dumb.
Sorry. I usually agree with most of your posts. but I just don't agree with you regarding Pope. Would he have been one of my top choices...no. But, those top choices said no. Mark Pope will give his everything for Kentucky. A former player with NBA experience, coaching experience, Kentucky experience, runs actual offensive and defensive sets... all of that is good for me. You can't compare BYU to UK. Kentucky itself gives you many opportunities as a coach that you would never have at BYU, so even though he wasn't on my list of top candidates, I will stand by Mark Pope and wish him the best and for me, who was done with watching Kentucky basketball as long as Cal was still coach...I'm all in and will be rooting for Pope to bring Kentucky back where it should be.
Dude, we literally offered 2 people. You don't go from the top of tier A, to the bottom of tier D. That's not how this works, but defend it, whatever yall gotta do.
I love Mark Pope and will support him and pray that he can wildly exceed expectations. But I think this hire also confirms that Mitch Barnhart is a complete and total idiot and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near our athletic department, much less be running it. Mark Pope has the worst resume of any coach in the SEC. He has not won a single NCAA tournament game. Why make a hire with such a high risk of failure when there were still multiple, more proven options available? Mitch knocked it out of the park when he hired Kenny Brooks because he had been to a final four and actually accomplished something during his career at a P5 program. The odds that Brooks will succeed are high based on his resume. Why not pick someone with a similar resume to lead our men's program instead of going with someone totally unproven who is facing an extremely high probability of failure? It makes no sense. Geez. I mean couldn't Mitch have at least gone after someone who's made an Elite 8 at least once in their career?
Maybe a touch of class is what this board needs.
Right here ... THIS. F**king ALL DAY LONG. That carpetbagging lying-*** Calipari is gone thanks to the ignorance of the Arkansas Athletic Dept (bless their hearts) and anybody would have been an upgrade over Cal. We didn't get an "anybody" ... we got someone DEVOTED to getting it done the right way for the right reasons ... refreshing. I'm all in.
They help him with his coaching duties at UNC. Lifetime benefits for cheaters. That's what they do.
Both you and Mike could strike it rich in the cinemas.
Dumb & Dumber III
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