Mark Pope embraces national championship expectations at Kentucky: "We know the assignment."

It’d be easy for Mark Pope to kick the can down the road regarding anticipated success at Kentucky, talk about the time it takes to establish a culture and an identity before the results come. Shoot, his former coach and mentor Rick Pitino went 14-14 in his first season in Lexington — under unique circumstances, obviously — so it’d be hard to blame him for building in a bit of a cushion with immediate expectations.

No one is expecting him to come in and win No. 9 in year one. Big Blue Nation would love it, of course, but there’s an understanding this will be a process.

Then Pope took the microphone at the podium and threw that mindset in the dumpster.

“There is one other way I want to blow up this press conference, and I will get crushed for doing this,” Kentucky’s new head coach said. “Every coach in America at every other job in America stands up at the press conference and they try and moderate expectations. We don’t do that here at Kentucky. When Mitch (Barnhart) called me and talked to me about being the head coach here at Kentucky, I understand the assignment. We are here to win banners.”

Well then.

And that doesn’t just mean national championship banners, it’s everything that is important to BBN. From participating in the Maui Invitational to scheduling a series with Pitino and St. John’s to traveling down to Nashville and winning the SEC Tournament — everything.

What’s important to you is important to Mark Pope.

“As we go through this journey, we’re here to win banners in Nashville, because you guys turn out in Nashville like nobody else and that matters,” Pope said. “And we are here, our job here, our assignment is to go win banners in the Final Four, win national championships. That’s our job. With those high expectations there will come criticism. But I don’t want you guys to worry, because I have a group chat with every one of my single ’96 championship teammates and they will destroy me every time something goes wrong.”

He knows a part of that is Big Blue Nation and how seriously it takes all of this. Fans don’t accept mediocrity, so why should the head coach? There will be no more ‘built for March.’ Pope understands the importance of winning every game on the schedule, starting in the preseason and ending in March — or early April, preferably.

And when losses come, they’ll hit reset and do whatever it takes to figure out how to fix it.

“I would try to temper expectations, but that is not happening, you are not allowing that. So why try?” Pope said. “We are trying to win and our goal is to win every game we play. That is what we are shooting for, trying to win. Listen, and when we lose a game, if that happens, we will pick ourselves up and reassemble and be resilient and relentless and try to win the next one. That is the DNA at Kentucky.

“If Kentuckians know one thing, they know a hard day’s work and getting up the next day and having another hard day’s work. That is what we know here.”

When Barnhart called him, it wasn’t a PR stunt hoping to bring back a title-winning player for nostalgia. Pope was brought in to win and win big.

That’s a challenge the newest head coach embraces.

“That’s the job, guys. We are not ducking it. We know the assignment,” Pope said. That is what it is, right? And, frankly, if you are too cautious or too worried to take on the challenge, don’t come to Kentucky because there is nothing else that is acceptable. So somewhere in me, I’m bordering between bold and dumb, but I think we can do it, guys. Let’s go do it. Okay?”

Speaking our language, Coach.