Coach Pope -$27.5 million / 5 years deal

[AJG-15]

Coach Pope salary deal details of $27.5 million over 5 years , plus performance bonus and extension has been released to the public.

Kentucky Basketball staff contract details

The details of the new staff’s contracts have been released.

www.aseaofblue.com

The deal makes Coach Pope in top 10 salary in country and tied for top 3 in SEC.

Is this too high , too low, about right, thoughts?

 

[AJG-15]

Interesting part about buyout is :

As for his buyout, it will be 33% of the remainder of his contract if Mitch Barnhart remains as Athletic Director. That number drops to 20% if Barnhart retires or is replaced.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

It’s perfect, couldn’t be a better contract.

 

[JASUN74]

That’s a heck of a deal for the state of Kentucky if you ask me. Pope already has brought the fan base back and gave us a reason to dream big again. It may take him a couple years to make a final four or they could surprise everyone and make it this season, no matter what, I’m finally excited again about my cats. Love the hire and love what he’s been able to do with the amount or time he’s had to do it. Also, most everyone had already picked a school from the high school ranks and we were behind on everything else as well. Fantastic job by him and this amazing staff so yeah, heck of a deal.

 

[Bluegrassking]

I don't much care how much coaches make.

It isn't like losing stings less because we got by cheap nor do I buy that any amount of money guarantees any results.

As far as I'm concerned he makes minimum wage for the job and if he isn't worth it then he ain't worth a quarter either.

 

[TucsonCat]

I don't much care how much coaches make.

It isn't like losing stings less because we got by cheap nor do I buy that any amount of money guarantees any results.

As far as I'm concerned he makes minimum wage for the job and if he isn't worth it then he ain't worth a quarter either.

You should care how much it is. We're just two months away from a situation where we were stuck with a bad coach because we couldn't afford to fire him. UK has to keep from being in that position ever again

 

[BlueSince92]

“Mitch bedda have mah money!”

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

 

[Bluegrassking]

You should care how much it is. We're just two months were in a situation where we were stuck with a bad coach because we couldn't afford to fire him. UK has to keep from being in that position ever again

Guarantees are structure not an amount.

I don't think we are in the "lifetime" situation, if we aren't on the proper trajectory after three we can cut bait without substantial pain and suffering and try again.

I cannot see worry with a telescope at this time though but I understood from the jump that some growth into job was baked into this cake.

I see no rational argument possible to contrary other than something akin to beginner's luck and see no point to relitigate the hire.

There is nothing for it but to move forward and to be rational about it too.

 

[BStockfan01]

Interesting part about buyout is :

As for his buyout, it will be 33% of the remainder of his contract if Mitch Barnhart remains as Athletic Director. That number drops to 20% if Barnhart retires or is replaced.

That is basically mitch tying himself to pope bc if, and i dont think he will, pope sucks and needs to be fired mitch will absolutely go first to save the 13%

 

[Fox2monk]

Coach Pope salary deal details of $27.5 million over 5 years , plus performance bonus and extension has been released to the public.

Kentucky Basketball staff contract details

The details of the new staff’s contracts have been released.

www.aseaofblue.com

The deal makes Coach Pope in top 10 salary in country and tied for top 3 in SEC.

Is this too high , too low, about right, thoughts?

Hell of a lot of savings over Cal. Sounds about right for the program and his previous performance.

 

[BStockfan01]

Hell of a lot of savings over Cal. Sounds about right for the program and his previous performance.

Cals buyout being voided paid for pope plus another 5.5 mill. Thats insane

 

[Snarks0]

Overpaid for a coach who has never actually won anything. Why not give him $3/mil (he was making $2/mil at BYU) and then give him $5.5 if he actually wins.

Also, hate the additional year for sweet 16 appearances. That’s not an amazing season for UK…..I could understand final 4 and or maybe even elite 8. Looks like Mitch hasn’t learned his lesson about overpaying coaches and locking UK into high buyouts.

 

[ncaaky]

That is basically mitch tying himself to pope bc if, and i dont think he will, pope sucks and needs to be fired mitch will absolutely go first to save the 13%

Pope gets 75 percent of remainder of his contract no matter who the AD is. The buyout is what teams would owe UK if Pope left for another job.

So in no way is Mitch tying himself to Pope.

 

[Snarks0]

Interesting part about buyout is :

As for his buyout, it will be 33% of the remainder of his contract if Mitch Barnhart remains as Athletic Director. That number drops to 20% if Barnhart retires or is replaced.

That’s only if Pope leaves. UK owes him 75% regardless. He could be on the hot seat, make it to a sweet 16……get another year automatically + 250k and we’d have to buy him out of 75% of that. Horrible deal for UK, but par for the course for Mitch!

 

[know1]

It's a far, far better contract for the university than was in place for the previous coach. So in that respect, it seems appropriate to me.

 

[anonymous_2011]

Overpaid for a coach who has never actually won anything. Why not give him $3/mil (he was making $2/mil at BYU) and then give him $5.5 if he actually wins.

Also, hate the additional year for sweet 16 appearances. That’s not an amazing season for UK…..I could understand final 4 and or maybe even elite 8. Looks like Mitch hasn’t learned his lesson about overpaying coaches and locking UK into high buyouts.

We definitely overplayed based on Pope's resume but we have pay a premium based off the prestige of the job to keep it appealing when we do our next hire. (Hopefully Mitch is gone)

 

[RunninRichie]

Overpaid for a coach who has never actually won anything. Why not give him $3/mil (he was making $2/mil at BYU) and then give him $5.5 if he actually wins.

Also, hate the additional year for sweet 16 appearances. That’s not an amazing season for UK…..I could understand final 4 and or maybe even elite 8. Looks like Mitch hasn’t learned his lesson about overpaying coaches and locking UK into high buyouts.

Sweet 16 clause was a head scratcher. Should be for elite 8s.

 

[DWDwildcat47]

At this point that is probably what the market would dictate, sounds about right to me

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Overpaid for a coach who has never actually won anything. Why not give him $3/mil (he was making $2/mil at BYU) and then give him $5.5 if he actually wins.

Also, hate the additional year for sweet 16 appearances. That’s not an amazing season for UK…..I could understand final 4 and or maybe even elite 8. Looks like Mitch hasn’t learned his lesson about overpaying coaches and locking UK into high buyouts.

Exactly. This is an overpayment by any objective measure. Then the low hanging fruit extensions. As a final touch, Mitch guaranteed 75% of it. All you can do is laugh at the contracts he hands out

 

[Elliott Tim]

Coach Pope salary deal details of $27.5 million over 5 years , plus performance bonus and extension has been released to the public.

Kentucky Basketball staff contract details

The details of the new staff’s contracts have been released.

www.aseaofblue.com

The deal makes Coach Pope in top 10 salary in country and tied for top 3 in SEC.

Is this too high , too low, about right, thoughts?

It's what was agreed on.Enough said in my opinion.

 

[Crums Bald Spot]

Definitely could have gotten MP for a bit less ($3-4M per year) and he would have been happy. But this is UK and I assume Mitch feels there's a floor to the salary due to the expectations and uniqueness of the job. However, the S16 auto year goes against that line of thinking, as a S16 is not a great year for UK BB, so who knows??

Hopefully, Pope will knock it out of the park and we'll only have to worry about Mitch giving him a lifetime deal.

 

[Snarks0]

We definitely overplayed based on Pope's resume but we have pay a premium based off the prestige of the job to keep it appealing when we do our next hire. (Hopefully Mitch is gone)

Don’t think a next coach really cares what the previous one got paid. They only care about their paycheck.

 

[CGblue]

Money well spent, breath of fresh air and hope for the future.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Maybe Mitch gave him the amount he thought would take to get him here.

It's not as if coaches were lining up for this position lol.

 

[ukfan1622]

Well, I hate to say this considering what the average person makes, but Pope might be a bargain right now. I think we'll pay him a BUNCH more on his next contract.

 

[bthaunert]

The Sweet 16 clause has been a head scratcher from the moment it was announced. It makes zero sense. He could technically go:

Sweet 16
Round of 64
Sweet 16
Missed tournajent
Sweet 16

He would then have 3 years added to his contract over that 5 year period and we would still owe him $12.5 million in a buyout that was added to his contract via the 3 Sweet 16’s.

It was like the Stoops 7 win automatic extension clause. Thank god they got rid of that.

 

[Snarks0]

The Sweet 16 clause has been a head scratcher from the moment it was announced. It makes zero sense. He could technically go:

Sweet 16
Round of 64
Sweet 16
Missed tournajent
Sweet 16

He would then have 3 years added to his contract over that 5 year period and we would still owe him $12.5 million in a buyout that was added to his contract via the 3 Sweet 16’s.

It was like the Stoops 7 win automatic extension clause. Thank god they got rid of that.

100% you’d think Mitch would have learned his lesson with these things by now. He would be fired with that record and the sweet 16 clause would cost UK a lot more $$$. I’d be fine if it were final 4s or maybe even elite 8s.

 

[FtWorthCat]

It used to be a factor in recruiting if a coach didn't have 4-5 years left on his contract. But I don't see that as much of a factor these days.

 

[It'saDoneDeal]

His salary is negative $27.5M?! Damn, he must've really wanted to coach here then.