Tubby Smith offers Mark Pope words of wisdom on replacing John Calipari: "Stay the course"

Tubby Smith can remember sitting there with his wife, Donna, at Bridgestone Arena this past March for the SEC Tournament. The three-time SEC Coach of the Year was invited to represent the University of Kentucky as a member of the 2024 SEC Legends class, honored at halftime of the Wildcats’ opening-round matchup vs. Texas A&M in Nashville.

His joy quickly transitioned into uneasiness as he watched the clock hit triple zeroes with Kentucky falling by a final score of 97-87, sent home in a blink once again. Smith watched the fans hit the exits juggling anger, sadness and confusion.

“You could kind of see it,” the five-time SEC Tournament-winning coach told KSR. “I witnessed it. You could kind of sense it when they lost, there was kind of a hush over the crowd. I was there with my wife and was like, ‘Oh boy, this is (tough).'”

Meeting with Calipari and Pope before the coaching changes

That would be the first of back-to-back postseason losses for the Wildcats, the next coming against No. 14 seed Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. John Calipari wouldn’t coach another game at Kentucky, leaving for Arkansas immediately after the Final Four in April with conversations starting during the prestigious event.

Ironically, Smith was there with Coach Cal in Phoenix, the two having breakfast together one morning when a familiar face walked up to join them.

“I had just seen him at the Final Four and we spent some time together, just conversing and talking,” Smith said. “Actually, we were down in the concierge lounge one morning having breakfast and Mark Pope came in. So there’s Mark Pope, John Calipari and myself taking a picture together. So people later on said, ‘Tubby, did you know?’ Like I had something to do with Cal leaving! It was really interesting.”

Being in a similar position at Kentucky

Interesting is one way to put it, those days of mass chaos from April 7 when reports of Calipari finalizing the five-year deal with Arkansas first emerged to April 12 when similar reports involving Pope and Kentucky broke. How does one voluntarily leave the throne in Lexington for Fayetteville?

On the surface, yeah, it’s pretty mind-blowing. If there is one person that knows that feeling, though, it’s Tubby Smith, making a similar move from Kentucky to Minnesota in 2007.

“It was shocking, number one,” Smith told KSR. “I mean, that may be the number one sports story in college sports all of last year: John Calipari leaving the Kentucky Wildcats to go to the Arkansas Razorbacks. … I know how tough it was for Cal and I told him that. But again, you don’t want to be somewhere where you’re just tolerated. People end up — if you’re not careful, familiarity may breed contempt.”

Winning titles is ‘hard to do’

Smith was a National Coach of the Year with five regular season titles and four Elite Eights, racking up 100 wins faster than any coach in UK history not named Adolph Rupp before Coach Cal did it a few years later. But his first Final Four and national championship in 1998 would be his last, and fans got restless over the course of the decade, just as they did with Calipari in his decade and a half.

“Even though you’re succeeding — and Cal had some great years, now. You can’t find a better coach. Man, it’s hard to find a better one or a better recruiter, just a good person,” Smith said. “… But in my 10 years — and I’ve been here previously (as an assistant under Rick Pitino from 1989-91). That transition I was familiar with, then the transition going from Georgia to coming here. But I could tell in my 10 years, even in my first seven, eight years. We won a championship in our first year and that may have been the best thing and the worst thing, because now, what are you going to do as an encore?

“Obviously, we thought we’d win more championships and had expectations of championships, but it’s hard. It’s hard to do. That’s why what Connecticut has done and what Coach (Dan) Hurley has done is just remarkable. No one did it previously — Billy Donovan (at Florida), and that was, what, 20 years ago? 15, 20 years ago? It’s not easy to win championships.”

Advice for Pope as he takes over

Coaching at Kentucky is a beast, something Mark Pope will have to learn in time when the games get rolling in a couple of months and the years to come. He’s got an advantage, though, experiencing the pressure cooker in Lexington as a championship-winning player before taking on this challenge as a coach.

That’s what gives Smith hope Pope is the clear man for the job, along with his personal experience interacting with the new leader of the program.

“They couldn’t have found a better person, the Wildcats. He understands, he’s been here as a player, won a championship, and he’s proved himself as an outstanding coach at BYU and Utah Valley. I’m really impressed,” he told KSR. “I’ve been to a workout already that he invited me to and I’m looking forward to watching and following along with great anticipation.”

There’s a difference between Smith replacing Rick Pitino and Pope replacing Coach Cal, though. He’ll be the first to tell you the roster he inherited in 1997 isn’t like the empty cupboard Pope was left this offseason, and for that reason, patience will be necessary for all parties involved.

That doesn’t even account for normal coaching transitions and what that entails in terms of establishing a culture and implementing a system. Those hurdles are universal, no matter the personnel.

Pope is dealing with all of the above.

“People have to be patient, he’s trying to build a program from nothing. It’s not like me taking over for Rick Pitino where we had some outstanding players returning like Jeff Sheppard, Scott Padgett, Allen Edwards, Wayne Turner, Jamal Magloire and Nazr Mohammed — we had some pros!” Smith told KSR. “The transition is never easy. I don’t care if you have good players like I had, or very few players like Mark Pope inherited, it just takes a while to teach your system and your style of play.”

Stressing patience

Smith used that talent and his experience coaching in the SEC to lead Kentucky to its second title in three years with back-to-back-to-back championship appearances — an all-time high for the program, rivaled only by Rupp’s run of banners in 1948, ’49 and ’51. He saw what it looked like to win big early and often.

Can Pope replicate that success? That’s certainly the goal, and he hasn’t shied away from those expectations, talking endlessly about understanding the assignment of hanging banners in Lexington.

Smith just wants the first-year coach to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

“My hat is off to Mark Pope. He’s got a chance. You’ve just got to be patient because it’s a whole lot different from when I came in or when Calipari came in with players still here. That’s not the case,” he told KSR. “He’s got to have patience. Don’t change. What you did (at BYU) worked, so be committed to it, and then plan for the long term. Longevity is the key to success.

“He knows what he’s coming into and he’s prepared. My advice to him is just to be himself and stay the course. … I was impressed with his workout. He’ll do a good job.”

Coach Cal’s full-circle moment will come

Smith’s marathon wrapped up with back-to-back losses in the Round of 32, paving the path for his own fresh start with the Golden Gophers. He bounced around from there, spending six years at Minnesota, three at Texas Tech, two at Memphis and four at High Point before calling it one heck of a career with 642 combined wins.

Then came his full-circle moment, returning to Rupp Arena to have his jersey deservedly retired to the rafters in 2021. Things weren’t perfect when he left in 2007, but all of these years later, the memories of those highs with Tubby run circles around those brief lows. The fanbase has wrapped its arms back around him like it’s 1998 all over again.

And he firmly believes Coach Cal will feel that same love at some point, likely sooner rather than later. He’s an SEC rival now, but when the dust settles on his career, Big Blue Nation will remember him as the guy who brought banner No. 8 to Lexington in 2012.

“It’s going to take time,” Smith told KSR. “And whenever that happens — I know when Rick Pitino left, when he came back with Louisville, some people never get over it. But again, the joy — coaches love coaching. Cal put all he could into this program, he did all he could and other than people leaving, he left the program in pretty good shape the way it is.”

Pope’s key to success in Lexington

Until that day comes, it’s on Pope to start writing his own legacy as he looks to become the sixth head coach to win a title at Kentucky. As long as he pours everything he’s got into the program both on and off the floor, the rest will sort itself out, likely with that 6-foot-10 goofball raising another trophy above his head.

Just like ’96.

“Every coach has ever come through the University of Kentucky has given it their all. We tried to give it our all when we were here, and that’s what it’s going to take for Mark Pope,” Smith told KSR. “You’ve got to be all in, you’ve got to be committed. Joe B. Hall, when I took the job, he said it was a 24/7, 365-days-a-year job. And he’s right. But you’ve got to have an outlet, you can’t allow it to change who you are and your personality. That’s why you’ve got to be here to serve.

“I think if you come with that approach here, to serve the community, serve the university, serve your players and your constituents, everything else will take care of itself.”