Mark Pope shares his secret to avoiding technical fouls during heated games

Kentucky did not lose to Alabama because of officiating, but it remains a talking point, even coming up on Mark Pope’s call-in show last night. A fan called in with a question about Otega Oweh, and at the end, praised Pope for keeping his emotions in check when Terry Oglesby paused the game to stare him down after Pope disagreed with a call.

“Secondly, although I wanted you to get tossed against Bama, I admire your restraint, because when Terry Oglesby blew that whistle and came down and tried to bait you into a technical foul, you did not take it,” the caller said.

“Well, Terry, yes,” Pope said, chuckling. “There’s so much to say, actually. I’ll start with Otega.”

After talking about Oweh’s off-night in Tuscaloosa and how he’ll help him prepare for tomorrow’s game vs. Oklahoma, his former school, Pope circled back to officiating.

“Now, I gave you a super long answer because I was trying to avoid the second part of the question. You know, because I love you, because it’s just the two of us talking right now, I’ll take a shot at it.”

Pope started by echoing his past comments about officials, saying he doesn’t want his players to be distracted by officiating because they can’t control it, and that most of the time, referees give their best effort. His wife Lee Anne, sitting in the back of the room, clearly disagreed with that latter point.

“One of the things in conversations with referees, which, I really believe this, you don’t want to teach your team or yourself to be distracted by the referees. These guys have a hard job there, and they generally are doing the best they can, as frustrating as that could be at times — Lee Anne is back here shaking her head, she would answer this question way differently than I am.”

All that said, Pope did share one of his strategies when it comes to officiating, one which we saw executed to perfection on Saturday night. Pope said that when there’s a call he really disagrees with, he’ll make it clear to the referee and just before things get too heated, he’ll turn around and walk away to avoid getting a technical.

“One of the things with referees, I think, is a lot of times you have to state your case, and you’ve got to do it in an extraordinarily passionate way, and right when you get to that tipping point, you’ve got to turn your back and walk away because I think referees, for the most part, are respectful, like they used to be in the old west where they won’t shoot you in the back. And so if you could time it up exactly perfectly, usually, you can get away with a little bit more. So that’s the way we try and roll.”

You can see that scenario play out below:

Mark Pope works as close to a technical without getting one and then gets a call in his favor.
ALA 56-52 pic.twitter.com/EzqS7bfCDh

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) February 23, 2025

This ref just stopped the entire game just to stare down and follow Mark Pope

I mean wtf 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/Thtl9Am1Xc

— Barstool Kentucky (@BarstoolUK) February 23, 2025

On Saturday night, Pope tipped his cap to his frustrations with the calls during his postgame press conference, sarcastically answering a question about what Alabama did to contain Otega Oweh before Oweh fouled out with just two points.

“Are you baiting me into an answer here?” Pope said, smiling ruefully before shrugging and adding, “I think Alabama is a terrific defensive team.”

Pope is prone to hyperbole at times, but Alabama is not a terrific defensive team, ranking No. 155 in defensive efficiency and toward the bottom of the SEC. Consider that answer the verbal equivalent of turning around and walking away before crossing a line and getting a fine from the SEC.