Thank god our athletic director...

[BlueMan1102]

Had the balls to make the right hire, rather than the safe hire, knowing the criticism he would take. He knew Pope was exactly what we needed in this point in time. I said this in another post, but if we can be successful, winning with Pope as our coach will be far more fun than any other coach. This is already so much fun! GBB!!!

**Addition**
Just want to elaborate I'm not saying this hire is guaranteed to be successful. I'm saying it's exactly what we needed in this particular moment, a 180 degree culture change and it was immediate. There's definitely risk in this hire, and the true success of it will ultimately depend on wins and losses, but there was risk in every hire we could have made.

 

[kydmb99]

The sooner Mitch is gone the better

 

[BlueBomb]

Just because Pope said the right things doesn't mean he's going to succeed.

However, it's refreshing to have a coach that understands athletes should still play for the name on the front of the jersey. Thankfully, the "players' first program" is in the rearview.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

The sooner Mitch is gone the better

Elaborate?

 

[rick64]

Talked to many KY fans since the news of Pope being tapped as the new HC. Several of them wonder if maybe Pope was really #2 on his list after Drew. He made the pitch to Hurley and reached out to the other high profile coaches because BBN would absolutely crucify him if he hadn't. Something to think about.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

I personally think Mitch is an excellent AD. If you believe differently, I’d like to know the reasons outside of the lifetime contract, that was given before the decline of Cal.

 

[jrpross]

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Pope era but his hire was a HUGE gamble when a week could have probably landed Billy Donovan. If Pope flops, Mitch is going to look like a blooming idiot.

Spoiler: Spoiler alert…

He is.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Just because Pope said the right things doesn't mean he's going to succeed.

However, it's refreshing to have a coach that understands athletes should still play for the name on the front of the jersey. Thankfully, the "players' first program" is in the rearview.

No, it doesn’t. However, he did extremely well at BYU. Even overachieved there, with the talent level he had. No way he could possibly be as bad as Cal has since 2020. No way.

 

[sambowieshin]

Had the balls to make the right hire, rather than the safe hire, knowing the criticism he would take. He knew Pope was exactly what we needed in this point in time. I said this in another post, but if we can be successful, winning with Pope as our coach will be far more fun than any other coach. This is already so much fun! GBB!!!

It was a risky hire in many ways. I admit I didn't love it when the news broke but am 100 percent behind it today.

 

[BlueMan1102]

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Pope era but his hire was a HUGE gamble when a week could have probably landed Billy Donovan. If Pope flops, Mitch is going to look like a blooming idiot.

Spoiler: Spoiler alert…

He is.

We all know Pope this hire could result in an unsuccessful campaign. Nobody is saying we're automatically successful now. I just meant this was the right hire for the culture change that was greatly needed here. And further, we should all realize there was risk for any hire we could have made short of Hurly, and even that wouldn't bring guaranteed success. I thought hiring Donovan had it's own risks considering he hadn't coached college in over 10 years, has spoken publicly about his lack of desire to recruit, probably wouldn't have the same hunger and drive he had during his Florida tenure, next year's roster would have started from scratch, etc.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Pope era but his hire was a HUGE gamble when a week could have probably landed Billy Donovan. If Pope flops, Mitch is going to look like a blooming idiot.

Spoiler: Spoiler alert…

He is.

Would look more like an idiot of offer the best job in college basketball to a dude that’s not coached college basketball in a decade and rejected us twice in the past.

Billy isn’t the coach our fans want to believe he is. He just isn’t.

 

[IFerg1969]

I personally think Mitch is an excellent AD. If you believe differently, I’d like to know the reasons outside of the lifetime contract, that was given before the decline of Cal.

The BCG hire, the Joker hire. Look, I don't think he's terrible. But if we're honest with ourselves, the only 2 sports that matter are men's basketball and football. Every other sport floats and is allowed to exist because those two bring in the lion's share of the money. It's nice that the program has good sports all around, but the only ones that really matter should always be the focus. You need to get those right.

 

[kydmb99]

Lots of delusion in here. Thursday Night people were rightfully upset about hiring a guy who has never won a tournament game. Now they’ve convinced themselves we’ve hired Danny Hurley.

As far as Mitch goes, his days are numbered.

https://x.com/faranfostertv/status/1779012081053778171?s=46&t=MaubDhpDnTk6AXZVlYHAaA

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

TIME will tell if this is a good or bad hire. WORDS will not.

One would think Mitch would be more focused on his swim team than sending new accounts here to brag.

 

[blubo]

Talked to many KY fans since the news of Pope being tapped as the new HC. Several of them wonder if maybe Pope was really #2 on his list after Drew. He made the pitch to Hurley and reached out to the other high profile coaches because BBN would absolutely crucify him if he hadn't. Something to think about.

i think that’s exactly what happened and i for one am glad it did. i never wanted hurley or donovan. billy donovan had a great run at fla but he’s been away from the college game too long imo. i’m still not convinced hurley is a great coach. his last two years have been great for sure but his resume previous was average. i keep thinking of kevin ollie. he was great for one year
like someone else said pope has said all the right things now we’ll see what he can do

 

[NociHTTP]

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Pope era but his hire was a HUGE gamble when a week could have probably landed Billy Donovan. If Pope flops, Mitch is going to look like a blooming idiot.

Spoiler: Spoiler alert…

He is.

We were not getting Donovan. You're just upset that the coaching hire wasn't all over ESPN, and that the top ranked recruits won't be lining up at the door. The guy turned us down twice, and drug out the process each time.

 

[DreadLox]

No, it doesn’t. However, he did extremely well at BYU. Even overachieved there, with the talent level he had. No way he could possibly be as bad as Cal has since 2020. No way.

I’ve been watching BYU complete games, and a BYU athlete is an exotic beast. The tempo Pope drove that team at was ridiculous. Lots of flubs and near misses. Lots of improbable shots. But unbelievable effort and— I suppose— faith in the coach and his system.

If you want high wire basketball, you have the right guy. Often “what the f..” but always entertaining.

 

[incREDulous]

Mitch nailed this one. To say anything else is just sour grapes and a simple matter of not wanting to admit you were wrong. Big boy up and give the guy his dues.

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

Mitch nailed this one. To say anything else is just sour grapes and a simple matter of not wanting to admit you were wrong. Big boy up and give the guy his dues.

Look, and yet another new poster here to blow sunshine up Mitch's keister. (shrug)

Pope seems like a good guy, but WORDS at introductory press conferences do not hang banners.

 

[fisherscatfan]

I personally think Mitch is an excellent AD. If you believe differently, I’d like to know the reasons outside of the lifetime contract, that was given before the decline of Cal.

Joker Phillips, Kyra Elzy, Billy Gillispie, slow to accept NIL, Mark Stoops in top 10 highest paid coaches, hiring Lars Jorgensen. Despite the outpouring of support yesterday, Mitch has stubbed his toe on more than 1 occasion.

 

[BBUK]

Barn Door didn't know squat... he lucked out... Nothing more on his part...

 

[jrpross]

Mitch nailed this one. To say anything else is just sour grapes and a simple matter of not wanting to admit you were wrong. Big boy up and give the guy his dues.

To say it wasn’t incredibly risky to hire a coach who’s never won a tournament game is looking through blue tinted glasses.

The excitement around the program is palpable right now and seriously, I feel it too. I’m excited at the possibilities but I’m just being realistic here. We have NO IDEA what the program will look like under Pope. You’re acting like I’ve already been proven wrong when they haven’t won a single game or even brought in a single player yet.

 

[yoshukai]

The sooner Mitch is gone the better

From where I’m sitting, the baseball program is at an all time high, the football program Is having the most successful in my lifetime, seems like the Womens basketball program is in great hands now , all the lesser programs seem to be doing great. He made a couple of bad hires that he quickly rectified. We haven’t had a hint of ncaa problems under his watch. Time will tell how this mens basketball coaching hire works out .

His biggest mistake was signing off on that ridiculous contract for Cal . But some insiders say he was persuaded to do so by the administration. So you’ll have to explain your position on this for me to take you seriously.

 

[incREDulous]

Look, and yet another new poster here to blow sunshine up Mitch's keister. (shrug)

Pope seems like a good guy, but WORDS at introductory press conferences do not hang banners.

Big boy up. It’s in you somewhere. Find it.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

The BCG hire, the Joker hire. Look, I don't think he's terrible. But if we're honest with ourselves, the only 2 sports that matter are men's basketball and football. Every other sport floats and is allowed to exist because those two bring in the lion's share of the money. It's nice that the program has good sports all around, but the only ones that really matter should always be the focus. You need to get those right.

You want him fired for a bad hire nearly 20 years ago? Makes zero sense. Football, baseball, basketball, girls basketball all are thriving. Probably more sports but these are the ones I follow.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

Joker Phillips, Kyra Elzy, Billy Gillispie, slow to accept NIL, Mark Stoops in top 10 highest paid coaches, hiring Lars Jorgensen. Despite the outpouring of support yesterday, Mitch has stubbed his toe on more than 1 occasion.

So we fire him for bad hires that happened nearly 20 years ago? Drop those agendas and accept that you aren’t right all the time and get behind this team or get left behind.

 

[kydmb99]

From where I’m sitting, the baseball program is at an all time high, the football program Is having the most successful in my lifetime, seems like the Womens basketball program is in great hands now , all the lesser programs seem to be doing great. He made a couple of bad hires that he quickly rectified. We haven’t had a hint of ncaa problems under his watch. Time will tell how this mens basketball coaching hire works out .

His biggest mistake was signing off on that ridiculous contract for Cal . But some insiders say he was persuaded to do so by the administration. So you’ll have to explain your position on this for me to take you seriously.

You don’t listen to the news do you?

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

Big boy up. It’s in you somewhere. Find it.

Incoherent nonsense.

 

[Farsight]

Pope has succeeded the first third of the challenge as the new hire as the coach.

The next third is recruiting and roster.

The final third is winning games next year and being competitive.

Pope has work to do!

I think the fan base trusts him to do his job because he truly understands it.

He even said that if he can't win here then he knows he shouldn't be here.

 

[yoshukai]

You don’t listen to the news do you?

I don’t pay much attention to it nowadays. Never know what’s true. Is that situation the only reason you are so against him ?

 

[fisherscatfan]

So we fire him for bad hires that happened nearly 20 years ago? Drop those agendas and accept that you aren’t right all the time and get behind this team or get left behind.

You asked for examples, you get them, you bitch about examples and accuse others of an agenda. OK.

If the stuff on the swim coach turns out to be true, and he was well known to be a problem when he was hired, that alone is enough for termination.

 

[permdaddy]

I personally think Mitch is an excellent AD. If you believe differently, I’d like to know the reasons outside of the lifetime contract, that was given before the decline of Cal.

Gillispie, Joker, Elzy. Have you seen Stoops buyout? Elzy's buyout was completely unnecessary as well. Now you have potential shame of the lawsuit. There are plenty of reasons to think UK can do better.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

You asked for examples, you get them, you bitch about examples and accuse others of an agenda. OK.

If the stuff on the swim coach turns out to be true, and he was well known to be a problem when he was hired, that alone is enough for termination.

🤦🏻‍♂️

 

[cat_in_the_hat]

Joker Phillips, Kyra Elzy, Billy Gillispie, slow to accept NIL, Mark Stoops in top 10 highest paid coaches, hiring Lars Jorgensen. Despite the outpouring of support yesterday, Mitch has stubbed his toe on more than 1 occasion.

How many ADs have not stubbed their toe. What I find ridiculous about the argument that he has missed on some coaches is that anyone who hire people for a living miss on some hires. Alabama football went through years of missed coaches. It's not uncommon. Any AD who works here for a extended periods of time will miss on coaches. It's just a fact of hiring people.

 

[kydmb99]

I don’t pay much attention to it nowadays. Never know what’s true. Is that situation the only reason you are so against him ?

No but that’s a pretty big “situation”

 

[R.O.T.Muckinfush]

So does everyone think the issue with the swim team/coach will just "go away" for Mitch.... I dont see how it can unless it is an abject lie.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Had the balls to make the right hire, rather than the safe hire, knowing the criticism he would take. He knew Pope was exactly what we needed in this point in time. I said this in another post, but if we can be successful, winning with Pope as our coach will be far more fun than any other coach. This is already so much fun! GBB!!!

**Addition**
Just want to elaborate I'm not saying this hire is guaranteed to be successful. I'm saying it's exactly what we needed in this particular moment, a 180 degree culture change and it was immediate. There's definitely risk in this hire, and the true success of it will ultimately depend on wins and losses, but there was risk in every hire we could have made.

Go to YouTube and watch him coach against the kingpins of the B12 this year. THE POPE CAN COACH!

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Joker Phillips, Kyra Elzy, Billy Gillispie, slow to accept NIL, Mark Stoops in top 10 highest paid coaches, hiring Lars Jorgensen. Despite the outpouring of support yesterday, Mitch has stubbed his toe on more than 1 occasion.

Now pope is one of the highest paid basketball coaches. His contracts are absolutely absurd.

 

[fisherscatfan]

🤦🏻‍♂️

Cool to know you are on board Jorgensen hire.

 

[dl51344]

Any coach hired only for the money was never going to bring that enthusiasm that was needed either for the new coach or program. It would have ensured being competitive but not banners. For banners you need a rising coach still chasing, not one on top just holding. Most coaches only hold the needed fire so long then begins to go out. Watching Pope coach I could see no one who he went up against who were better, including Self.