Put on your Muck boots before reading this one because there's a lot of bull 💩 to sort through.

[Creed Bratton]

Apparently everyone turned us down, we expect Pope to win a title every year and the gap between the UK job and Iowa St, Baylor and Alabama has closed so much that their coaches turned us down. It apparently didn't have anything to do with God telling Drew to stay put, Oates marital situation or the fact we never had any interest in the Iowa St coach. 🤣

ESPN article here

 

[kats23]

Myron is a big Cal guy just like Seth Greenberg so you have to take his opinion worth a grain of salt. I think the article is more touching on how the big jobs aren’t what they once were regardless of expectations at Kentucky. Duke and UNC went with no experience. They probably wasn’t a choice at the end of day. Same with the hiring of Pope.

 

[Coach Marrow]

My honest opinion on the search:

Drew was initially Mitch’s one and only choice.

After Drew fell through because family didn’t want to move, the boosters wanted to check with Hurley (and probably Oats as well) which didn’t go anywhere.

Pope likely reached out early on and showed way more interest than anyone else. It appears he could have been 2nd on Mitch’s list.

 

[Creed Bratton]

Myron is a big Cal guy just like Seth Greenberg so you have to take his opinion worth a grain of salt. I think the article is more touching on how the big jobs aren’t what they once were regardless of expectations at Kentucky. Duke and UNC went with no experience. They probably wasn’t a choice at the end of day. Same with the hiring of Pope.

That is a good point. I don't recall hearing any of these negative comments when Duke and UNC hired inexperienced and unproven guys.

 

[UKSanders]

Honestly, I didn't think the article was all that bad. Metcalf's comments at the end of the article seemed pretty reasonable to me.

"At its best, Kentucky is a job with incomparable fan support and buzz. The Wildcats' first-round loss to Oakland in the 2023 NCAA tournament drew 3.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched first-round game in men's basketball since 2019. As Calipari learned, it's also a tough job when things are less fortuitous. And the gap between those top jobs and other legit jobs in the game (think Baylor, Alabama, Iowa State and other teams with recent successful runs) is not as wide as it once was because so many schools are willing to pay top salaries for good coaches. -- Myron Medcalf"

 

[flacat22]

I am not giving ESPN the clicks (especially now knowing it is a Metcalf article, "Reed is the most duke-like player in Kentucky history") nor do I need to further confirm my disdain for the whole outfit by once again reading them bash UK. FSPN.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

Hey ESPN…..

 

[shaudyshaud]

I just want these people to answer one simple question .

Was Cal doing an acceptable job for the money he was getting paid ??? It’s that’s simple

 

[NociHTTP]

Any way to replace the "hate" words with the names of the "you're not a woman" and "you all ran CowPuree out" dorks creating new accounts here?

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Apparently everyone turned us down, we expect Pope to win a title every year and the gap between the UK job and Iowa St, Baylor and Alabama has closed so much that their coaches turned us down. It apparently didn't have anything to do with God telling Drew to stay put, Oates marital situation or the fact we never had any interest in the Iowa St coach. 🤣

ESPN article here

I knew Myron the moron had something to do with the article before I even looked.

 

[shaudyshaud]

After reading the actual article it wasn’t bad. I was expecting the article to take up for Cal .

 

[mcnicKY91]

Honestly, I didn't think the article was all that bad. Metcalf's comments at the end of the article seemed pretty reasonable to me.

"At its best, Kentucky is a job with incomparable fan support and buzz. The Wildcats' first-round loss to Oakland in the 2023 NCAA tournament drew 3.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched first-round game in men's basketball since 2019. As Calipari learned, it's also a tough job when things are less fortuitous. And the gap between those top jobs and other legit jobs in the game (think Baylor, Alabama, Iowa State and other teams with recent successful runs) is not as wide as it once was because so many schools are willing to pay top salaries for good coaches. -- Myron Medcalf"

Writers/journalists instantly lose credibility with me when they cannot even get statistics correct within their article...

UK/Oakland drew 6.2 million viewers (which is nearly double what Medcalf claims). Get your facts right if you want ppl to take your work seriously.

 

[CASblue]

That article really missed the whole picture. One sentence in there that stands out to me is "This is not a rebuilding effort". I call deep BS on this. While we weren't under sanctions, like after Sutton; the whole program has suffered and fallen from the ranks of teams that are considered elite. Our biggest accomplishments the past 4-5 years have been NOT who UK has beaten, but who has beaten us, how many times UK has lost at Rupp, our "outstanding" record against ranked opponents, and our Sahara-like tournament drought.

Sure the job has high expectations, always has...

 

[KYWC36]

I honestly don't care what anyone outside of the UK base says, never understood why people get so worked up over others opinions. Pope is the coach, that is really all that matters. How, why, when, or how we compare to another school is ultimately irrelevant. Please take UK lightly in all ways, it will be that much better when it costs you

 

[rick64]

My honest opinion on the search:

Drew was initially Mitch’s one and only choice.

After Drew fell through because family didn’t want to move, the boosters wanted to check with Hurley (and probably Oats as well) which didn’t go anywhere.

Pope likely reached out early on and showed way more interest than anyone else. It appears he could have been 2nd on Mitch’s list.

I would tend to agree. Drew was #1 on the list, and he said no thanks as his family wanted to stay at Baylor.

Hurley wasn't interested but Mitch had to inquire to appease the fan base. Same with Oats I suspect.

Pope's an up and coming coach. He absolutely loves UK so Mitch decided to roll the dice a bit.

 

[UKSanders]

That is a good point. I don't recall hearing any of these negative comments when Duke and UNC hired inexperienced and unproven guys.

I wasn't really paying attention when Duke and UNC made their hires, so help me out

• Duke had already named Scheyer head coach in waiting, right?
• How many candidates did UNC offer before hiring Davis?

I think the issue was the UK Coaching search was so public with denials from a couple of major candidates is what caused of lot of the "woe is KY" journalism. Well, that and click bait / drama creation on sports talk shows to increase listeners/viewers/readers.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

If you don't see that there's SOME truth in that article, then the next few years are going to be a tough ride for some of you.

A very crucial next few years ahead of us. We need Pope to not only prove he's an elite coach (I think he can be), but also have a persona that can handle the UK job and also draw in recruits (remains to be seen). Believe it or not, a place like Kentucky needs more than just an X's and O's guy. Pope can't JUST be the anti-thesis to Calipari, that just won't work.

 

[UKSanders]

That article really missed the whole picture. One sentence in there that stands out to me is "This is not a rebuilding effort". I call deep BS on this. While we weren't under sanctions, like after Sutton; the whole program has suffered and fallen from the ranks of teams that are considered elite. Our biggest accomplishments the past 4-5 years have been NOT who UK has beaten, but who has beaten us, how many times UK has lost at Rupp, our "outstanding" record against ranked opponents, and our Sahara-like tournament drought.

Sure the job has high expectations, always has...

I agree with you on the "it isn't a rebuilding effort" comment. Not even considering the fact that Cal's teams have been significantly underperforming for the last 5 or so years, consider the following.

So, let me get this straight... for incoming Coach Pope, there are exactly ZERO returning players from the 2023-2024 roster, and there is exactly 1 recruit staying committed from the 2024 recruiting class.

So, out of 13 scholarship players, there was 1 spot filled by an incoming freshman, but yet it isn't a rebuilding effort? Oh, and by the way...the new coach wasn't hired until the spring signing period is already started.


IF replacing your ENTIRE roster isn't a rebuilding effort after a few disappointing seasons, what is?

With that logic, there will NEVER be a rebuilding effort for any coach in any sport.

 

[know1]

A very crucial next few years ahead of us. We need Pope to not only prove he's an elite coach (I think he can be), but also have a persona that can handle the UK job and also draw in recruits (remains to be seen). Believe it or not, a place like Kentucky needs more than just an X's and O's guy. Pope can't JUST be the anti-thesis to Calipari, that just won't work.

And Cal hasn't done any of those things. He hasn't been an elite coach for many years and he didn't have a persona that could handle the UK job. He also wasn't an X and O guy. The bar is very low at this point.

 

[Jjohnb5393]

Back in the day , you could take a guy making $350K and offer him $2 million @ UK …which is a complete lifestyle change and it makes your grandkids wealthy . Today , taking a guy making $2.5 mil and offering $5-6 mil just isn’t the same . Everyone in power 5 is able to pay $2-4mil per yr if they wanted ..or more

 

[LineSkiCat14]

And Cal hasn't done any of those things. He hasn't been an elite coach for many years and he didn't have a persona that could handle the UK job. He also wasn't an X and O guy. The bar is very low at this point.

Well Cal DID do some of that over his first 7-8 years. It worked. And then it didn't.

I don't know why people keep going with this whole "It can't get any worse!" bit.. Like, sure, we all agree to that.. but that doesn't mean that simply doing a little bit better isn't also problematic.

We shouldn't be rooting for Pope to win his 1st round games just so we can say he's better than Cal, we need him to do a heck of a lot better than what Cal did in these last 4-5 years.

 

[Stan the caddy]

This kind of thin skinned reaction to a very reasonable article is what makes our fans the worst (and the best.)

 

[IL Wildcat]

I can't take articles like this very seriously because of the obvious bias throughout. As someone else has already mentioned, Myron Medcalf is a big Calipari fan. So, he's going to always state things from Cal's point of view when it comes to UK. Yes, UK fans are fanatical, nobody would deny that, but that fanaticism is what makes the UK program great. Here's the thing: yes, UK fans will be critical of coaches who fail, especially if they fail repeatedly without making significant changes. (and that's exactly what Calipari did- worst season in UK history, first loss to a double-digit seed in UK history, 2nd loss to a double-digit seed in UK history, first 4-game home losing streak in UK history- these aren't just bad losses, they're historically bad and UK fans SHOULD have been upset) Having said this about the negative side of UK fans, think of the other side. When a coach does well and his teams win, this fanbase can literally WILL them to more wins. If you feed this this BBN monster and even compliment the fans and try to please them, the relationship can be a thing of beauty! That's exactly what Calipari had in his first 5 seasons at UK. Kentucky became like a machine and Final Fours and competing for championships was the norm. Why did that end? It wasn't because BBN gave up on Cal or burned bridges with him. It was the exact opposite of that. I don't know why (other than maybe just a huge ego) Calipari decided BBN was his enemy, but it seems clear that's what he came to believe. And things continued downhill to the end from there. Cal isn't a victim. He's the perpetrator of the entire thing.

 

[clevenger32]

I wasn't really paying attention when Duke and UNC made their hires, so help me out

• Duke had already named Scheyer head coach in waiting, right?
• How many candidates did UNC offer before hiring Davis?

I think the issue was the UK Coaching search was so public with denials from a couple of major candidates is what caused of lot of the "woe is KY" journalism. Well, that and click bait / drama creation on sports talk shows to increase listeners/viewers/readers.

North Carolina at Chapel Hill does not have candidates for that position. They place one of their former players in the position because they know how the Dean E. Smith academic fraud system programs operates and they have to have someone who is sworn to the system and understands how it operates. When they move Hubert aside, they will identify who is the next former player to take the seat. If that ever changes, you will know that they are no longer running the system and unfortunately for their players they are now having to go to school.

 

[fastpaste101]

I think it’s the same for coaches as it is for kids. Money and situation are more important than tradition to them both these days.

 

[thedahc]

Honestly, I didn't think the article was all that bad. Metcalf's comments at the end of the article seemed pretty reasonable to me.

"At its best, Kentucky is a job with incomparable fan support and buzz. The Wildcats' first-round loss to Oakland in the 2023 NCAA tournament drew 3.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched first-round game in men's basketball since 2019. As Calipari learned, it's also a tough job when things are less fortuitous. And the gap between those top jobs and other legit jobs in the game (think Baylor, Alabama, Iowa State and other teams with recent successful runs) is not as wide as it once was because so many schools are willing to pay top salaries for good coaches. -- Myron Medcalf"

Yep

 

[thedahc]

I can't take articles like this very seriously because of the obvious bias throughout. As someone else has already mentioned, Myron Medcalf is a big Calipari fan. So, he's going to always state things from Cal's point of view when it comes to UK. Yes, UK fans are fanatical, nobody would deny that, but that fanaticism is what makes the UK program great. Here's the thing: yes, UK fans will be critical of coaches who fail, especially if they fail repeatedly without making significant changes. (and that's exactly what Calipari did- worst season in UK history, first loss to a double-digit seed in UK history, 2nd loss to a double-digit seed in UK history, first 4-game home losing streak in UK history- these aren't just bad losses, they're historically bad and UK fans SHOULD have been upset) Having said this about the negative side of UK fans, think of the other side. When a coach does well and his teams win, this fanbase can literally WILL them to more wins. If you feed this this BBN monster and even compliment the fans and try to please them, the relationship can be a thing of beauty! That's exactly what Calipari had in his first 5 seasons at UK. Kentucky became like a machine and Final Fours and competing for championships was the norm. Why did that end? It wasn't because BBN gave up on Cal or burned bridges with him. It was the exact opposite of that. I don't know why (other than maybe just a huge ego) Calipari decided BBN was his enemy, but it seems clear that's what he came to believe. And things continued downhill to the end from there. Cal isn't a victim. He's the perpetrator of the entire thing.

Serious question. How does BBN literally will the team to more wins?

 

[thedahc]

I knew Myron the moron had something to do with the article before I even looked.

What did you disagree with after you read it?

 

[ukfan1622]

Calipari had underperformed at UK for years but it was sticking with DJ and Edwards all year ahead
of clearly better players did him in. Admitting it was because he thought DJ and Edward would
have quit if he had started the better players will haunt him in the future.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Serious question. How does BBN literally will the team to more wins?

By passionately supporting the team and showing up, home, road, or neutral, to support and cheer on the team. I've seen BBN push the team over the tip multiple teams. It used to happen every year in the SEC-T, until Calipari made it clear the SEC tournament didn't mean much to him.