Chris Jans says Mark Pope's scheme is 'much more sophisticated now' as Kentucky head coach

Mark Pope has been known for producing high-powered, well-oiled offenses throughout his coaching career, dating back to his days at Utah Valley. Across his final two seasons with the Wolverines (2017-19), his teams spit out Top 100 offenses, per KenPom, not an easy feat for someone coaching a mid-major program.

It was during those two seasons at Utah Valley — Pope’s final years before making the move to BYU — he was occasionally matched up with Chris Jans, the same coach he’ll face once again on Saturday. At the time, Jans was leading New Mexico State to NCAA Tournament runs out of the WAC. Pope’s Utah Valley teams were also in the WAC. Jans went 3-1 against Pope across those two seasons.

Fast forward a few years and the two are now leading SEC schools. Pope at his alma mater of Kentucky and Jans now in year three as head coach at Mississippi State. Stylistically, Jans says that Pope still embraces a similar offensive philosophy to what he remembers from their time in the WAC.

There is one major difference though: the talent.

“I would say Coach Pope would agree with me, no disrespect to where we were, but the first thing that jumps off the page is just more talented players on the court for both of us,” Jans said Thursday on the Dear Ol’ State podcast. “Their style of play has evolved. He was always known as an excellent X and O guy, especially on the offensive end. He’s taken it to a new level.”

Per KenPom, Kentucky currently has the nation’s ninth-best offense. The Wildcats’ adjusted offensive efficiency of 122.6 is the highest of Pope’s head coaching career by a few points. UK ranks Top 35 in effective field goal percentage (55.6) and adjusted tempo. They’re tops in the country in not turning the ball over (12.9 turnover percentage). Having more talented players has allowed him to open up the offensive playbook, where he was limited in ways while at Utah Valley and BYU.

“He’s had a stop in between of where I last coached against him,” Jans continued. “He was at Utah Valley when I was at New Mexico State then he went to BYU. It’s not the same. It’s similar in terms of what they’re trying to accomplish with their pace, playing through their bigs, they’ve always done that.

“But how they do it and the schemes that they’re employing are much more sophisticated now than it was seven, eight years ago or however long it was. I guess it wasn’t even that long when we were competing against one another. So you can see some remnants of that style of play and I think the baseline of what they’re trying to do is the same, but how they’re doing it is much, much different.”

Jans isn’t shocked to see Pope winning at a high level early into his tenure at Kentucky. “I anticipated that he would,” he said during his media press conference Thursday. The two consider each other friends and share plenty of mutual respect. They’ll be enemies when Kentucky and Mississippi State go head-to-head on Saturday night in Starkville, but it’ll be all love before and after the game.

“With him being an alum and a former player, I knew he’d hit the ground running,” Jans said. “With the name brand… I couldn’t imagine him having any problems having an elite roster. He’s done that, and they’re probably where I expected them to be.”