Hey folks -- I had been wanting to write this a while back, but life got in the way. Now that we landed Pope, I wanted to share some thoughts. For some perspective, I have never coached (though I did play competitively in another discipline though college), but I have been in positions of leadership that are very similar to being a HC.
1. Leadership starts at the top. Part of the post-mortem analysis from the Cal-era is that leadership matters. How the HC carries himself (or herself) directly translates into the posture of the players, parents, posse, and fans. I am excited that Mark Pope will lead by example. In this regard, I think Cal was hit or miss. I do think Cal put players first (a good thing), but also played favorites (a bad thing). I also think he cared about the brand of "Cal" more than "Kentucky". It's not always a bad thing (i.e. if you don't work at a brand, YOU are the brand), but it wasn't the right fit for Kentucky.
2. If we fall in love with our myth, we forget what made us legends. Cal learned how to innovate and move faster than others at the head of the one-and-done era. His creativity in assembling rosters won us a Championship and four final fours. However, he stopped responding to the changes in the macro environment, and instead keep repeating the same mistakes. This has hurt us in the NIL-era.
3. Excellence is cultivated, not bestowed. Just because you start as a five-star recruit, it doesn't mean you leave UK at the five-star caliber. Excellence requires obsessive dedication and effort, often requiring visceral trade-offs with respect to luxury and comfort. UK doesn't need new facilities. There are plenty of world-class resources that many would die to access. It deserves coaches and players who respect the opportunity to be there, and dedicate themselves to being the best at their discipline.
4. Process in hiring matters, and contracts do too. I have spent a lot of my career hiring (and firing) people whose compensation is in the range of head coach hires (higher ceiling, lower floor). When making these expensive hires, process discipline matters. In rushing offers, giving out poorly incentivized and structured contracts, the hiring committee for UK has created problems that should not exist. Should we need to do another coaching replacement, it is my hope that we are disciplined. Compensation is an art, not a science: too little AND too much gets you poor results.
5. Aptitude and desire. Both are required for these types of positions. It is clear Cal had the former, I do not think he had the latter for the past 6 years. With Pope, it's reversed, but I am certain he will try his hardest to succeed.
Be well and go cats!
1. Leadership starts at the top. Part of the post-mortem analysis from the Cal-era is that leadership matters. How the HC carries himself (or herself) directly translates into the posture of the players, parents, posse, and fans. I am excited that Mark Pope will lead by example. In this regard, I think Cal was hit or miss. I do think Cal put players first (a good thing), but also played favorites (a bad thing). I also think he cared about the brand of "Cal" more than "Kentucky". It's not always a bad thing (i.e. if you don't work at a brand, YOU are the brand), but it wasn't the right fit for Kentucky.
2. If we fall in love with our myth, we forget what made us legends. Cal learned how to innovate and move faster than others at the head of the one-and-done era. His creativity in assembling rosters won us a Championship and four final fours. However, he stopped responding to the changes in the macro environment, and instead keep repeating the same mistakes. This has hurt us in the NIL-era.
3. Excellence is cultivated, not bestowed. Just because you start as a five-star recruit, it doesn't mean you leave UK at the five-star caliber. Excellence requires obsessive dedication and effort, often requiring visceral trade-offs with respect to luxury and comfort. UK doesn't need new facilities. There are plenty of world-class resources that many would die to access. It deserves coaches and players who respect the opportunity to be there, and dedicate themselves to being the best at their discipline.
4. Process in hiring matters, and contracts do too. I have spent a lot of my career hiring (and firing) people whose compensation is in the range of head coach hires (higher ceiling, lower floor). When making these expensive hires, process discipline matters. In rushing offers, giving out poorly incentivized and structured contracts, the hiring committee for UK has created problems that should not exist. Should we need to do another coaching replacement, it is my hope that we are disciplined. Compensation is an art, not a science: too little AND too much gets you poor results.
5. Aptitude and desire. Both are required for these types of positions. It is clear Cal had the former, I do not think he had the latter for the past 6 years. With Pope, it's reversed, but I am certain he will try his hardest to succeed.
Be well and go cats!
