It's time for coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get
off our show, idiot. The kids are crying or trail off. The
countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play
Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Now? Here's Nick coffee? All right? So today is one of those
days where I typically would be entering the studio, starting the show, needing
the show in a major way to enhance the vibes to snap me out of
a bad mood. But this new energy, this new life essentially that I
feel like the Louisville Kentucky rivalry has now. It made it to where my
bad mood went away pretty quickly, and I got to remember to do something
that you told me that you do long ago. John the company man is
a lot wiser than I am, because before he has to take off for
any destination, I don't know if you do it every time, but he
puts it in GPS knowing that he knows where he's going, but he wants
to see if there's any potential re routing that needs to take place because of
traffic exactly. Well, I didn't do that, and I was. I
was near Newburgh. The Newburgh exit Newburg Barshown Road area exits on the Waterson
and I knew it would take me very little time to just hop on the
waters and hit sixty five North and boom, I could be you know,
destination and destination. I would have been here, probably a no joke,
fourteen minutes. But once I got on the waters and it was completely stopped,
I sent John a picture. I think I posted a picture on Yeah,
I did post a picture on Twitter that shows it completely blocked off,
like nobody could move. Uh, And I'm thinking this and I don't do
well in traffic. Who does, right? But my traffic issue is not
about well, It is about impatience and whatnot. But I have like really
bad anxiety when it comes to that kind of stuff, like if nobody's moving
and I can't go anywhere in my vehicle. At times, I've thought about
getting out and just running away. I mean, I don't think I would
ever do that, but like being you know, I guess it's almost like
being claustrophobic. But anyways, they eventually ended up clearing it out and I
made it here just in time, and I'm ready to rock and roll here.
Yeah, And I'm just going to open up and be honest with you
guys. I don't know if you if you all have that thing that occasionally
enters your mind then and then you instantly realize you're a sixth son of a
bitch, You're an awful human being? Why would you think that? And
I never wish for anybody to be hurt in an accident, Trust me,
I know that's probably where everybody's mind was going when I said that. But
when I do get to the scene of the accident after waiting in traffic,
and I see that everyone is fine and safe, and I'm just like,
can you learn how to drive? I mean that is that? Is that
out of line? Does that make me a I mean, I hate that
they had a bad day. Clearly they weren't trying to wreck I wouldn't assume,
but that makes me feel like I'm an awful human being. And then
I quickly say, Nick, you're awful. Go home, pray on it,
Like Mark Pope and you'll be fine, you know. I mean,
that's kind of what goes through my mind. But anyways, I made it
through traffic. We were ready to rock and roll here on a Friday,
and let's get the party started, shall we. So at the end of
the show yesterday, six o'clock percentage chance John that you thought Mark Pope would
be hired as Kentucky's coach. I was about it ninety percent. At the
end of the show yesterday. I couldn't tell you there's no way it happens,
but it will. Minded me a little bit of Louisville search. However,
the emotion for me totally opposite, right I was. I mean,
I'll admit it. I just never thought Louislle was going to go the mid
major route to get a coach, just given the program and given how important
the hire was. I was wrong, and I was panicking, right,
just like Kentucky fans were and probably still are some of them. But yesterday
I'm thinking, like, there's no way they would do that. There's no
way. But I'm also thinking, oh, man, I hope they hire
Mark Pope. Good God, please hire Mark Pope. So, you know,
once it started to slowly, and I say slowly because more and more
reports were coming out that it was happening and they were working on it and
he's the top guy, and then you knew it was done and everybody was
in disbelief. Just like the Pat Kelsey hire. I mean, these hires
are really, really, really similar. And I don't mean the coaches are
similar. I mean just the way it played out. And we're going to
get into all that, trust me, we will, but I have to
say start with what I think nearly every Louisville fan on this planet has been
enjoying in the last roughly twenty four hours, and that is the humble pie
that has been you know, you know you ever seem like somebody get a
pie shoved in their face. Yes, Kentucky fans are just not just you
know, they don't They need like a millisecond for a break, like to
breathe. But it's just nothing but humble pie being slapped in their face because
of how arrogant they always are, and to be fair, they're arrogance for
the most part is justified. It's I mean, they're one of the best
programs of all time. They have one of the biggest, most passionate fan
bases in the sport. They move the needle more than anybody else. I
mean, I hate saying this, but I also know that it's real.
So they can feel elite compared to just about everybody else. And it's not
misguided, it's not disingenuous. Now, sometimes they're arrogance and losion is next
level. And every fan base has a portion of fans that are like that.
But with Kentucky, again, there's a billion of them. Everywhere.
I say it all the time. Go on vacation, anywhere you want in
the world, you're gonna run into a Kentucky fan and they're gonna be wearing
blue. Trust me, never fails. So because there's a lot more of
them, you know, they're melt down and they're losing their mind, it
gets a lot more attension. And some of it just to be you know,
maybe it's not about the number, meaning the volume of Kentucky fans.
Some of them are just insane. Like some of the things that people put
on message board. It's like you realize that can be tracked right right,
Like you realize that the person who moderates and runs that paid paid message board,
like they have the ability to turn you into the authorities if they want
to with your IP address, and sometimes you can get IP addresses and it
doesn't do anything for you. But like in that model, like they can
they know who you are. So anyways, it was nice to see them
melt have to take the humble Pie and you know, just lose their mind
a little bit. And it's because there was no doubt in their mind they
thought they would ever even consider Mark Pope. I think even at three o'clock
yesterday when the show started, because it was right about four o'clock, I
believe it was maybe four thirty. John Rostein put it out there first that
Mark Pope is in fact in play for this job, and he's the top
candidate. None of you listening thought there was a chance in hell that Mark
Pope would be your coach. And then hour by hour it became more real.
The disbelief set in, and I mean, I love it. Kentucky
hired a coach that is a good ball coach, good man too. Cahill
Finel, former Louisville assistant that was here with Mack. He just worked for
Mark Pope for the last couple of years. Cahill just got a d one
job down at ut Rio Grand Valley and wish him nothing but the best.
But I got to know Oka Hill really well, great guy, and I
know he, I mean, is somebody that he wouldn't just say it publicly
because he's talking about his former boss. But I know he thinks the world
of Pope and honestly, anybody that's ever been around him thinks the world of
him, honestly, just like Pat Kelsey. Right, So he's you know,
he's he's he's a guy that maybe he does win big there or you
know, maybe he's got Kentucky in a spot where they're like annually finishing fourth
or fifth in the SEC. Because you know what, the SEC is a
good league. Now you got Nate Oates, you got Bruce Pearl, you
got Rick Barnes, still Todd Golden is on fire? Who else am I
missing? Those are the big ones. I mean, I mean Lamont Peis,
he had a great run last year. I mean, we'll see if
that's sustainable. Buzz Williams, you never really know. I like Chris Chance,
I mean, like Mark Pope could be a good coach that wins,
but you know, what's the ceiling with him? So I'm not gonna sit
her neck like all. They hired a bum, They're gonna be lousy.
But I know they are massively underwhelmed by the dork that they hired. And
I thought, man Scott Drew, he's a good coach, he recruits really
well. But at least I'll be able to say he's a dork, like
you all don't think he's cool. He does not have the larger than life
presence that when Kentucky's at the tip top and when they are the villains,
not just with Louisville fans but with everybody, is when they've got an arrogant,
larger than life coach like John Caliperi and like Rick Patino and Rick was
you know, in the nineties, Rick was a little different than he was
around here at louisvill Let's be honest. He did at least give us some
fake humility whenever the Karen Cipher thing happened. And then you know, obviously
that was a huge embarrassing thing for his family, and maybe he did grow
and become more humble, but like we know, Rick is Rick. So
now they got a guy who's a dork, no doubt about it. There's
a lot of evidence online. Guy's a dork and that's okay, Like I'm
a dork too, We could be dorks in our own way. But like,
he's a dorky dude that like nobody's going to ever assume has the cool
factor or what they say, swagger. And he also hasn't really done anything
as a coach, which we'll get into the numbers later, but like they
hired a less accomplished coach than Louisville did. And they're Kentucky, and you
know, they're talking about Dan Hurley like they really thought they could get him,
remember God, to make him say no. Hadn't said no yet,
Billy Donovan, you know, sounds like they didn't even really pursue him.
And not that we'd ever get any credit for it, John, but you
and I talked through it yesterday, like the whole the situation. Even if
Billy Donovan was interested, the situation and circumstance made that impossible. Like those
that said, well, they could have waited for Billy, like no,
what are you waiting on? Well, well, for him to take the
job, I guess, but like are you? I think we already laid
this out obviously, But you're not going to sacrifice a year of the tenures.
So because of Billy Donovan. They didn't know it, but I knew
there was some panics setting in for Kentucky fans yesterday. And it wasn't because
of any tweets. It wasn't because anybody losing their mind. It's because of
once Drew said no, there's not a scenario. They thought Scott Drew was
going to turn them down. They laughed at Louisville when Scott Drew turned them
down, and then thought we may get to him and he'd be like the
worst, he'd be the worst coach we would take because we could get big
dogs, we're Kentucky. And then he said no, and I think,
you know, maybe they're arrogance, you know, didn't you know again,
people didn't. I didn't see a lot of people losing their minds. But
what happened was it was instantly, let's just shift all of our attention and
throw an insane amount of money at Dan Hurley and make him say no.
Why wouldn't you do that in the first place because you knew he wasn't gonna
take the job, so you pivoted back to like, well, now,
we'll just have to throw a lot of money at him, and we'll probably
get him because we're gonna throw money at him, and you just you can't
turn it down. And that was never realistic. It never was, and
I think deep down they knew that. So then it's the Billy Donovan thing,
and they they couldn't quite grasp how that was just not really doable,
because again I'm not saying you could have waited until you know, I mean
early next week, like let's say he loses in the play and round or
whatever. Like at that point you are waiting around and maybe that gap into
that gap where you don't have a coach is not that detrimental to you.
But any day you don't have a coach that's not out here working the per
as we speak, you're you're slipping a little bit. So with Billy Donovan,
to me, that would be a desperation that you're that you're you're out
of options here because you'd be waiting for a guy who you really wouldn't know
if he wanted the job until his NBA season ended, and that could honestly
be in the beginning of May. So that was just never really doable,
which is why Mitch Barnhart it sounds like never really fully pursued that. You
know, I talked to Matt Jones last night, right before this became official,
well right before it became like you know, uh, oh, it's
happening, and you know, he said to me that he still believes that
they're going to work on getting Donovan and that's that that's where their full attention
was. And you know, to be honest, that was wrong and a
lot of people were not that he had bad information. I think everybody that
is that is closely connected to UK was surprised by this. But this was
Mitch Barnhardt making his hire, making his choice, not giving a damn about
what a fan thought, not giving a damn about what donors and boosters thought.
I'm not giving it damn about what some former players thought. He wanted
his guy, and that's that's a risky decision for him, no doubt.
But I'm you know, not to be doctor Phil here, But when you
consider the emotional I guess, you know, situation, Maybe emotions not the
right word, But like Mitch Barnhart had a guy leading the most prominent program
on his campus, in the most prominent program maybe in the sport that did
not like him. They didn't have a relationship. Cali Perry knew that Mitch
Barnhart did not want him to be the coach, and he was overruled by
the president of the school. So that's a fourteen year relationship with a guy
that you know would take, you know, a little jabs at you.
Never ever ever looked at it or viewed it, approached it as if you
were his boss, and he they hated working together. Cal didn't even acknowledge
he existed. Barnhart tried to do his job and Cal just probably was like,
Nah, I don't work for you. Yeah, you know, call
my assistant, call you know, Cal Dawayne, you know, Carl Ellen
or something. I don't know. So I think there was a desperation for
Mitch to if he can't get Dan Hurley or Scott Drew, he is going
to go after a guy he really works well with and he respects and likes
and thinks will be a good I guess employee, and that's Mark Pope.
So why they didn't go after Bruce Pearl, why they never ended up even
you know, throwing money at Nate Oates and revisiting that. I mean,
even Shaka's smart, and I'm not saying every one of these guys would have
absolutely taken the job. But again it's Kentucky and nobody that turned it down
honestly, really surprises me because their their rejection to Kentucky wasn't I mean,
it was truly it It's it was truly a it's not you, it's me.
I mean, Scott Drew would never claim that Baylor is a better job,
but that's that's home for him. Danny Hurley, the guy just won
back to back national championships and is in a phenomenal situation on top of the
sport in a major way. Why would he do anything to change that situation.
So from there, you know, Billy just wasn't something they were going
to pursue. So it turned into Mark Pope. And here's what I know
is happening, and I get it, like Kentucky fans feel very much like
a lot of Louisville fans felt. But one thing I said all throughout this
past basketball season on the Louisville side of things, whoever they hire, I'm
gonna support, which is what I'm doing, because we know it's not going
to be anything like what we had with Kenny Payne, and that alone is
awesome, But also what am I gonna do? Not be a fan?
Couldn't do it if I tried. Kentucky fans are the exact same way.
Now. I do see a lot and I guess, you know, the
message board world is wild, and I found myself now now more often looking
in that, you know, like opening up the trash can, kind of
taking a look to see what's in, you know what I mean, Like
you think maybe there's like a dead animal in there or something, and you
kind of want to see, but you don't. Like, that's me on
these message boards because it's just I don't want to I don't want to believe
that some of these people exist as far as just the things they say.
But some of it's not, you know, nasty, it's just I'm done.
I'm not watching again. And you know, when you type it and
hit inner or whatever you do to post, you know you're lying. But
your emotions have gotten the best of you. So that's just that's your reaction.
It's because we care so much, right like, there's still people,
you know, yesterday I got into a not a Twitter, you know,
Spad but just somebody who was trying to act as if I couldn't support Pat
Kelsey because I was upset about the hire initially, And it's you know,
I think you can still say everything you said about both hires and be right,
But again, what are you gonna do not support it? You're a
fan? Now. The big difference here that I think has Louisville fans actually
feeling better about their situation in a major way really than Kentucky is that we
fired a guy who sucked at his job, put the program through two years
of embarrassment, disgrace, and just absolute levels of failure that I never thought
I would see at the University of Louisville. So we know next year there's
gonna be expectation, but we're gonna like One of the things that made Louisville
appealing to some coaches has to be the fact that they are taking over for
Kenny Payne. They're not taking over Rick Patino or Chris Mack. Mark Pope's
taken over for John Calipery, and John cali Perry is your ex and he
looks better than Mark Pope. He is more appealing and attractive to everybody else
and I'm not talking about looks. I'm just talking about you know, it's
an analogy. And Mark Pope, you know, he's not going to give
you the pizazz and the ceiling. I guess that that can that Cali Perry
did. Now also Cali Perry needed to be changed, right, it had
to happen for both sides. It was just done. But now you have
Mark Pope and he may be a good coach, but you can like him
as a dude, love him as a player. When he was there in
the nineties, I mean, I think it was genuine When Kentucky fans were
calling into KSR today saying they felt bad for Mark Pope. I get it
because like he's getting his dream job and he takes a peak at social media.
I mean that these guys are humans. Everybody's human. Like there's no
way that wouldn't impact you to some extent. Now, I think he's a
professional and he's still going to take the job and he's going to embrace it
because I think he's that kind of guy. But like that's that wouldn't be
fun for anybody. So you know, he's he may be a good coach,
but again, he's just he He is absolutely a wait and see guy
for Kentucky, which they never thought they were going to get, because we
really don't know how any coaching hire is gonna work out. Fact, but
there are some guys where the wait and see is all right, Well,
Scot Drew's won a title, he recruits an elite level like we'll see if
he can get it done at the top, but like, we're gonna be
good right away. Dan Hurley, clearly that would have been a home run
any other name Kentucky fans mentioned, despite knowing that they have no clue truly
how it will work out, you have some level of belief and I guess
proof that this guy is a top caliber coach. There's no proof of that
with Mark Pope, there's none, and I guess there's no proof of that
with Pat Kelsey because you know, he's never won a tournament game either,
but he's been in the tournament more times. He's won his league a lot,
a lot, and Pope's never done that. So you are gonna find
yourself at times, even in wins, probably thinking like, damn, we
had something really good and I don't look it's not like you you know,
it's not like you could have controlled it, right, fans didn't. I
don't think fans ran Cal out of town as much as I do troll on
Twitter with that kind of stuff. Fans didn't run him out of town.
It just ran its course and kind he made the situation what it is.
But I want to read this to you guys really quickly, because this is
a screenshot from I guess the Cat's Pause message board that I happen to think
is exactly how a lot of Kentucky fans felt yesterday. It's a guy named
Jay Bev on the Cat's poss We thought Cal was the girlfriend who got ugly.
We treated him terribly until he finally walked out the door, went after
some beautiful women we thought we could get, got turned down. Then saw
a picture of the exact same Cal on Twitter, started to realize just how
pretty he was. We just couldn't see it because we were together too long.
That's what today feels like. I thought Cal was hideous for the past
five years, but today he seems like he was actually cute the whole time,
And that's a natural feeling. That's just I guess, you know,
part of this process for Kentucky fans but make no mistake about it, they
hired a guy that nobody's scared of, not a single fan base. Louisville
is coming off of twelve wins in two years. We have four players on
the team right now, I believe three actually, so we don't know how
any of these rosters are going to come together and how it's going to look
in year one. But Louisville, despite really getting dominated in this rivalry for
quite some time and coming off of an awful run An era call of a
run it it was a failure, the Kenny Payne era, we got new
life. We're starting fresh and you know, the rival up the road despite
clearly being more accomplished from top to bottom and having you know, much better
seasons than we've had in recent years. There's nothing to worry about right now,
and that's exciting. And I think it's exciting for Kentucky fans too.
They're probably not thrilled, but they really can't be that. I mean,
they they'll always find a way to be chesty and arrogant and be little Louisville
fans. But like you can't look at your hire and act like you've done
anything that fits with the way you see yourself, it makes sense you,
I mean you hiring Mark Pope is nothing that anybody thought Kentucky basketball would do,
but they did, and it might work out. But I think overall,
like one thing that nobody seems to be mentioning a whole lot, Mark
Pope would never even be a name that anybody in this state would have ever
heard of if he did not play at Kentucky. That's the root of this
hire. That is why he was even considered. And maybe that aside he
wiled Mitch in the interview, maybe they maybe they you know, did some
Bible study together and you know, something like that. Maybe maybe they prayed
on it. I'm not mocking people for praying. I mean, I pray
to everybody praise, but like it's just one of those things that probably now
you're gonna hear a lot more from your coach, which you know is you
know whatever, I probably shouldn't you know, throw that in there when I
when I'm on this monologue, but you know what I mean. So Louisville
did that too, and you said you'd never do it and you did.
Now this guy's been a head coach. It's not Kenny Payne. Situation.
I wish I could say that and try to act like it is, but
it's not. But either way, you hired a guy to take over for
John Vincent Caliperry that don't really have a resume that would that would sniff being
in the top one hundred on the candidate list for this job. But you
did because he played there and Mitch Barnhart felt comfy and cozy with him.
And I heard a lot of Pat Kelsey, all, look at this dork
with his glasses. Oh he's a raw, raw guy. The dork stuff
you got. I mean, I mean, you could still say it.
You can do whatever you want, but like know that your coach is a
lot more door here, and there's a lot of evidence that shows that.
All right, stick with us, We'll keep it rolling along here. Let
you guys be part of the show if you like. Five x two five
seven, one seventy nine hundred is the number. This is Coffee and Company
fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, coffee and Company
rolling along here on Sports Talk seven ninety a Friday afternoon. We are fueled
by Thornton's make sure you sign up to become a member of the Refreshing Awards
program if you have not already. One of the things that stood out last
night, Jody Dimmling actually put this out there as both Louisville and Kentucky have
new coaches, and I think it's safe to say both were never of the
belief that these two guys would be their coach if you'd asked them, you
know, a month ago. But only one school shot more three point attempts
per game than BYU and College of Charleston, and that was North Florida.
So I'd say next year when these two teams play in RUP Arena, there'll
be a lot of threes taken, which is exciting. Hopefully it's not a
brickfest. But you know, I don't I don't think a Tucky fans probably
share the same excitement about like the rivalry stuff. And I get it,
like, you know, you've been able to and you still have bragging rights,
clearly, trust me. Louisvell's been so bad lately, and even when
they were bad, they still had a tough time winning in the rivalry.
But you know, just to kind of know what, they're kind of starting
fresh and we are as well. It just gives it gives Louis a fans
some life in this thing, and we haven't had that in a while.
And a lot of Kentucky fans, I think we're genuine when they would call
in or you know, when I would talk to some of them and say,
man, it's not fun when you all are like this bad and this
sad. And I think some of them believed it. Some of them maybe
I don't know if they believed it. Uh, But either way, I'm
excited. But if you're not, and you're on the Kentucky side, and
I totally get it. All right, let's go to the phone lines five
O two, five seven, one seventy nine hundred is the number if you
want to give us a call. Let's go to Chris. Chris, you're
on Sports Talk seven ninety. How are you? I am great, and
I'm very happy because I'm a lifelong UK fan and I think that this is
Mark Pope is gonna be a nice one coach. What gives you that belief?
Not doubting it, I'm just curious what what's specifically about him is,
is you think it's going to be really successful? Well, I think if
you look at all the King and the dates, okay, and people talked
about the tears, you know, and obviously Harley was the would have been
a home run. I wasn't a big fan of Scott Drew Jay Wright.
I think would have been great, But those guys all said no. So
you know, there's not a whole lot of other guys out there that are
likely to leave where they are for anywhere. Yeah. Look, but Chris,
there's no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it. These two
schools making these Highers Louisvilles can be more so chalked up, I guess as
the fact that they were coming off two awful seasons. But I think this
is telling for college basketball that when you lose your legendary coach, you know,
the most likely route now is either going to be just prop up an
assistant who's been there, or go sort of in the mid major route.
Yeah, and you know, I think as far as Pope himself goes,
I love the fact that he's an alumni, that he's played for US.
I like, you know, I haven't heard very many people talk about the
fact that he's got lots of NBA experience. He played I think eight six
or eight years in the NBA. I think that's huge. You know,
the schools he's been at, Utah Valley State and Brigham Young. I don't
know that Brigham Young was relevant since Danny Ainge went there and they the fact
that he won and was successful at those two places tells me a lot.
Number one and number two. You know, everybody says he's he's a very
exciting style of play. When you put him in a situation like Kentucky,
I think that the Kentucky fans that I've been reading about overestimate the power of
the name in the sense that these kids today are to me, there,
what have you done lately? Kind of people. You know, when there's
young as they are, they want to see what's happened last season, Uh,
not twenty five years ago. So but but with Pope, I think
you put that guy, he's supposed to be just a basketball savant and an
extremely intelligent guy. You put him in a situation like Kentucky where he's got
he's going to be a fan favorite. They're gonna they may not be happy
now, but I think they're going to love him. You know, when
you one of the things you just said a few minutes ago was no,
no fan base is going to be afraid of Mark Pope. Who cares?
Why is that important? Well, let me tell you this. Let me
tell you this. I don't disagree with you, Chris, but I will
answer the question by saying, I don't think you and I don't look you.
I believe you're What you're saying is one thousand percent your opinion. But
I also think to go back to what you said, like your fan base
thinks and wants everybody to be scared of Kentucky basketball for the majority, You're
right, that doesn't matter matter if he wins. None of this, none
of the none of the stuff matters as far as fear and all that,
Like, winning is what ultimately matters. But this is a higher for you
that is a lot different than what you've had. And as much as Caliperry,
it kind of ended poorly. I mean, he was the perfect figure
for that program, in that fan base in every way. But he also
said when he first got hired that ten years is as long as you can
do it. No doubt he was right, No, he was right,
And thank you for the call, Chris. I want to move on to
get to some other people. But look, this is the same exact thing
Louisville fans have said, and there's nothing wrong with it. Like I'm not
bringing it up to like you know, say, Kentucky fans will doing it.
Like it's understandable. There are resources, tools, if you will,
available at jobs like Louisville and Kentucky that if you have a good coach,
they could thrive and excel in a major way. And that's the hope here
is that these guys that have never been at this level or even close to
it as as coaches head coaches, they now will you know, step in
and get this thing rolling. I think that's I think that's what That's a
very reasonable and fair, you know assumption. I guess that that would end
up happening. I mean, you never know, right, All right,
let's go back to the phone lines. Let's go to Joe. Joe,
you're on Sports Talk seven ninety. How are you fine, good afternoon.
Just a couple of things. One, as a Kentucky fan, I personally
I'm going to support Mark Poe, you know, as a fan, like
you know, but if somebody asked me, I mean, until he wins,
I'm not a fan of his higher. I'm just not. And again
a lot of it is because if you look at his resume, it's not
that great. But again, stepping back, I think I think one reason
you didn't get some coaches considered apparently not even talk to is rich Barnhardt has
shown and clearly for the remainder of his previously and up to the end of
his tenure, he's not even going to consider guys with real or perceived baggage.
He's just not. I mean, I don't think he talked to Bruce
Pearl. I don't think he talked to Chris Beard. You know, I
think you're right about that, Joe. And one of the things that I
don't know, I mean, I know Mitch Barnhart well enough as far as
you know. I don't know, I don't mean on a personal level.
But he's been the AD a long time. I've been able to follow his
career for you know, as long as I can remember. But I also
think there's there's a level of Barnhart that either just doesn't quite grasp, doesn't
understand, or maybe just doesn't care about like what and you can't just do
whatever your fans want. But also it doesn't like he is such an opposite
representation. I think of what the fans are, you know what I mean,
does that make sense? Well? Sure? And you know really for
me, And again just my opinion, But when I step back and look
at it, there's in one particular way I find him and Cal very similar.
I think there's there's a distinct air of arrogance Sir Mitch Barnhart from time
to time. And I don't think a lot of people see that. He's
been very successful. Don't get me wrong, but sometimes you know, when
you're doing that, you do it to the detriment of your team or your
sport, of your basketball coach, but also for the entire athletics department if
you do that. And I think Mitch barn Hurt's done a great job.
I think he's the best ad they've ever had, but he's not perfect.
And again, I mean, I think when you don't consider people that you
look, you limit your field, you know, tremendously. And and and
I'll just say two other things that I'll get off as one on the surface
of me, if I were laying ondns, I think Pat Kelsey will be
more successful than than Mark Pope. Who knows, you know, but I
just on the surface, for me, I think he'll be more successful and
too. As far as the actual search you mentioned earlier, you know,
you know, why wasn't Dan Hurley approached first. I really don't think miss
Varnhart wanted to hire Dan Hurdley. I think I think you one and Scott
Drew above all, and you know the fact that they knew one another.
I suspect at some point previously they talked that this job ever comes open,
would you be interested? And I'm sure he didn't defend it. It was
say yes, sure, But I feel like probably Mitch Barnhardt felt like if
he ever offered him a job, he would take it, and then he
turned him down. And then if he had to offer Dan Hurley, this
fan base would have been in an up poor and I understand that I didn't
think he was gonna take it, but I thought he he had to offer,
and of course he turned him down. And then of course, you
know, you know, if you're not considering guys, like I said,
with quote unquote baggage, you you limit your choice. I mean, we'll
see what happens, but I will say this, even being a former player,
because this initially this hire is not viewed totally positively. He's probably gonna
have a shorter amount of time. There's no doubt about it, because and
I think, thank you for the college I got to run to break.
But no, there's no doubt because if he struggles early or struggle young,
and struggling in Kentucky is actually viewed as success in other places. But here's
the facts. They can't fall back on some great resume that gives them hope
in a surety that this guy is capable of doing this job. And honestly,
there aren't many that you could have hired other than Dan Hurley Scott Drew.
Our quick break will come back on the other side and bring in the
one, the only, mister Jeffrey Greer right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
That's right, we were wrapping up the three o'clock hour here with our
man, mister Jeffrey Greer, who joins us. Jeff, if I'd have
told you a week ago that Mark Pope was going to be Kentucky's next head
coach, would you believe me? Okay, here's the crazy thing, Nick,
Yes, really yeah, Like maybe not the first five, six,
seven choices, but you know, you know, a world where it's really
and I know we've talked about this previously, where it's been really hard for
people to hire big name coaches. I would have said, it's not out
of the realm of possibility. Yeah, and now that it's actually happened,
and a yes, you can make sense of it, given that even if
you have the best job in the world, if somebody's already in a really
good position, they're just not going to look to leave and if they're comfortable.
But I just I feel like they could have taken like to me,
Mark Pope, the connection there of him being a player is great, and
I think he you know, he's shown to be a good coach. Look
at what he's done at Utah Valley State and he's had some success at BYU.
But I just feel like work for Kentucky. Let me ask you this,
because you know this. You know a lot of coaches, You've met
a lot of them over the years during your work. I think Kentucky,
you know the mid tier guys, and they're not even mid tier guys in
the grand scheme of things. They're mid tier guys for how Kentucky would view
them. But like a Bruce Pearl or a shack of Smart or Innate Oats
or Todd Golden. I mean even a buzz Williams. You know, those
are guys that maybe they would want it, or maybe they wouldn't want to
follow cal you know what I'm saying, Like because of what that job is.
Yeah, I mean, what a monster that job is. I mean,
and look, Louisville is a big job, Kansas is a big job.
Kentucky's a big job. Obviously, Duke now Yukon in the last like
twenty thirty years from what Calhoun did there has become a huge job. And
I know, I'm leaving out Indiana. There's some really big, big,
big jobs, But for Kentucky it's uniquely difficult because of the way how different
it was for cal Perry against the other guys in in the last what thirty
forty years who have coached there. Yeah, you know, it's a big
active follow Yeah. And like Rick Patino had really good players in the nineties,
so don't get me wrong about that, but there's just something about the
way Patino coaches that was that was just different than Cal. I mean,
Cal is bringing in the very best of the best first round draft picks year
after year after year, and now you're gonna have a guy who's gonna go
recruit still at a high level. It's gonna I mean, it's Kentucky.
Nike will help and they're gonna still get good players. But you're you're gonna
have a guy who's recruiting to a system and is going to play I want
to play a certain way and he's going to want to find guys to fit
that. And it's just going to be different. It's not going to be
how can I get, you know, the eight most talented kids that I
can get in the freshman class to come in. And I know that has
changed slightly in the last few years for Cal, but it's just going to
be different. But yes, it is a very difficult act to follow.
And I think, honestly, if they were going to try to replace a
guy like Cal, I can't believe I'm saying this because it's you know,
it's Kentucky. But I feel like that's probably the best route to go as
a guy who knows the program the way Mark Pope does. I don't know,
well, I know what you mean, I know exactly what you mean.
I think in a way, there's value in this guy, just like
Pat Kelsey actually understanding that that's he's not the caliber coach as far as resume
that fans were expecting or even wanting initially, because it's not someone that will
maybe shut down because they realize, you know what, man, I was
I was at you know, I was at Auburn or I was at Baylor
and life was a lot easier. Man, this isn't for me, and
they just become I think, not checked out, but just it just becomes
a bad situation. I think these two guys coming into these two jobs are
well aware that the fans would have not listed them first, second, third,
fourth, fifth, even sixth. And I think in a way that
sounds crazy because I think there's justification in fans not thinking that would be the
guy. But this these are two dudes that will I think, make the
most of this opportunity and utilize the resources there. They're gonna make it work
or they're gonna die. Trine, Yeah, well, yeah, thats exactly
to your point. Like Mark Pope knows exactly what he's getting into and wanted
that job. Obviously, Pat Kelsey knows has has a pretty good feel.
It seems like at least in his initial behavior that he understands what this job
is in Louisville and knew that his skill set fit what fans were looking for.
Communicative out there in your face, a little bit more little charisma,
little bit more activity, and just and just not being busy to be busy,
but he's busy, and people want their coach to look busy. And
so both of those guys are coming into situations where you know, even with
Cal's success at Kentucky, you know, both of those programs and their fan
bases are desperate. We're desperate for something different, and I think they're gonna
get it with both of these guys. I will say, Nick, one
funny thing that I've been chatting about, and I saw our our mutual connection
David Paget. I saw him today, had a nice chat with him today,
but laugh I love that guy. But I was laughing because the U
k U of l Games, at least for the next couple of years,
are gonna have moments like the David Paget to Archie Miller microphone exchange. Classic
moment. We're gonna we're gonna see Kelsey and Pope. So they need to
make sure their s I d s are doing a good job of lowering the
microphone. The best part about that microphone situation with Archie Miller was he was
pissed when he walked in there, like he looked around like, are you
really gonna make me do this? And he grabbed it as if like I
can't believe this. Get me the hell out of here, which was which
again was a great moment in the rivalry. All right, so big,
we got a big match tomorrow. Does the San Diego Wave do they know
what they're in for tomorrow? Because I feel like Racing lou is primed to
really take advantage of this big opportunity. Tomorrow night, it's going to be
college night, which means you get in for just eight bucks with a student
ID. I mean, that's that's an incentive for the college folks to come
out there and raise hell and give give the business to San Diego Wave.
Yeah, two dollars beers beforehand. Hell yeah, happy hour. I mean,
it's fantastic. So yeah, it's supposed to be really nice out tomorrow
too, which I'm excited about. So look, this team last year,
this is a very American. If we played in Europe or anywhere else,
in the world. They would have been the champs. Last year. They
won the regular season through twenty two games, they were the best team in
the league. And they're coming in here. They've got some big names.
Obviously, Alex Morgan is probably the most famous women's soccer player in the world.
We'll see if she suits up tomorrow. I'm intrigued to see. She
was with the US women's national team, but she'll be there. They've got
a teenager, Jaden Shaw, who is probably the next big star for the
US over the next decade or two. She's like nineteen. She's unbelievable.
They've got so many good players, but we always give them hell when we
play. I mean, it is a slugfest between these two teams, and
they're always entertaining games. So it's a big opportunity at home. And we're
starting to feel that Derby buzz too, like it's yeah to get outside and
have some fun around the city. So this is a big chance for us.
And the weather tomorrow again, as you mentioned, is going to be
is expected to be beautiful, and that'll think that'll really get us in the
spring vibes. And I'll tell you this with Alex Morgan, coming here.
That's obviously a big deal. You mentioned not being sure if she suits up,
do you guys with the club catch like heat when that happens to other
organization catchy because it's out of your control. You have nothing to do with
it. But there are people that will probably travel to see her, at
least they would at some point, and like nobody really knows for sure if
she's going to be there. Yeah, well it's like you remember that the
I guess it's a faux controversy around Lebron a couple of years ago when he
had a couple of like load management games where he wasn't playing and people were
curious. So, I mean, look, people are gonna be upset.
I've been in those I've been in those shoes where I've bought tickets to go
see a game and somebody didn't play and they were just being rested or you
know, they had a family obligation or something that they just missed that game.
It's usually the higher, higher game number leagues like Major League Baseball or
the NBA or NHL. But but yeah, it's disappointing. Now we don't
We're not going to get any heat for it just because Yeah, it's totally
out of your control. Yeah, but you know, our fans certainly like
like to let people know that they're frustrated. I think I think she may
not be playing because she knows what's good for, she knows what's coming.
She doesn't want to be a part of the beat that's about to take place.
All right, last question I have for you, I think you know,
if it's cool with you, I'd like to do a vibe check at
a game. I'd like to check. I was just about to ask you,
Nick. It'll be perfect, wouldn't it. Gotta do it. The
vibes will be off the chart. I gotta give you. I'll give you
a couple of games that I think will be the best ones to do it
for looking forward to Let's make it happen. Jeff, appreciate you making it
time for us on a Friday afternoon. Enjoy your weekend. We'll see Assume
brother. All right, see you soon, Nick. Thanks? All right,
that's Jeff Greer. Always appreciate his time. You know what else,
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hundred. Keep you lock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety