Will Mark Pope Be Held to Same Standards as John Calipari?

I have a friend who was a gigantic John Calipari fan and felt that was wrongfully pushed out by this fanbase as coach. Largely, his argument was that Cal would not be replaced by a better coach and the fact that Kentucky whiffed on it’s first couple choices only strengthened this belief in him. Whether or not you agree with him on that point, he did bring up something interesting to me following the commitment of Jaxson Robinson this week. His thought right now is that Mark Pope will not be held the same standards as John Calipari and that fans were only looking for reasons to hate Cal. So it got me thinking. I am going to pose a few totally legitimate scenarios below. Things that fans, rightfully or not, openly criticized Cal for in the latter years of his tenure.

SCENARIO 1: Jaxson Robinson is not a starter. But one of the teams best players.

Look, this fanbase has this belief that Jaxson Robinson is the “missing piece” to a really good UK roster. But the reality is that Robinson, coached by Pope, only started in 6 games last season. Obviously this past season, fans were livid that Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham did not start for much of the year despite clearly being 2 of the team’s best 3 players. So my question is what if Robinson comes off the bench? I mean, who is to say that Koby Brea doesn’t hold the starting lineup spot? Who knows? But we are to believe that Robinson will be one of this team’s best players. So if he is one of the 2 or 3 best players on the team next season but doesn’t start, will Pope receive the same criticism Cal did on Reed and Rob?

SCENARIO 2: Mark Pope Loses the Champions Classic and CBS Sports Classic

Obviously John Calipari’s struggles in March at the SEC and NCAA Tournaments is well documents and rightly criticized. If Mark Pope loses both tournament games this season, fans will be pissed. But many fans were also tired of UK losing it’s “marquee” non-conference games, namely the Champions Classic and CBS Sports Classic. Since 2020, UK is 2-6 in those games. This year, UK will play Duke and Ohio State in those games. Both teams are expected to be Top 25 programs and Duke will be expected as a Final Four contender. UK won’t necessarily be favored in either game. So what happens if the Cats lose both? How quickly will fans become frustrated with losing the big games under Pope? Would it be Year 1 or will he have some runaway in those big games?

SCENARIO 3: Home Losses Mount

John Calipari lost 14 games at Rupp Arena during his last 4 years at the helm. He lost games to Richmond, UNC-Wilmington, Notre Dame, and Gonzaga. He lost by 20 to Alabama. In that 4 years, UK has only 1 season unscathed at Rupp. Calipari didn’t lose a home game at Kentucky until Year 4 but Rupp just wasn’t the home advantage since 2020. Mark Pope gets a very stout SEC home schedule this year, with Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, and Tennessee all coming to Rupp. Florida does as well. It will not be easy to run through the home schedule undefeated. But home many games can Pope lose at Rupp Year 1 before fans throw the same label on him as Cal? Can he lose 2 games at Rupp? Do they both have to be SEC games?

MARK POPE’S 1ST YEAR FLEXIBILITY

I think Mark Pope will naturally be given some additional patience that John Calipari did not get in 2023-24. But Calipari also “earned” the lack of patience from fans for a variety of reasons. His general attitude towards fans was distasteful. Inability to adjust went for years. His losing in big games was years long. Mark Pope doesn’t have those scars yet. But this fanbase is notoriously short tempered. Even with Pope being an alum and some really good momentum right now, if UK comes out and gets whooped by Duke in Game 1, fans will already start to sour some. So I don’t think there will be some kind of unfair support for Pope that Cal didn’t receive. This fanbase will still expect top tier results fairly quickly.