Mark Pope prefers to look at what players are doing right and not dwell on the negatives. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Mark Pope doesn’t pretend to have all the answers or any secret strategies that have enabled him to be so successful already at Kentucky.
However, he does have some unique philosophies/ideas.
“This idea of humility is so important,” said Pope at a recent press conference. “A lot of times we think somehow confidence and humility are not exactly opposites but are almost in contention but they are not. The most confident people are the most humble people. I really believe that.
There is a big difference between arrogance and confidence. Arrogant people are not humble. They are stuck. They can’t learn. They can’t grow. They think they know everything.
“When you have really confident people that are really humble and throw in curiosity that is a growth mindset person. We have a locker room full of guys like that. We have guys confident enough to be humble but have a whole load of curiosity so they get better. It is fun to coach guys like that.”
Others like ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes are noticing.
“I am not sure Mark Pope is not setting a new way to coach. There is not a more positive guy than him and combined that with his feel for people and analytics and constant energy that he is and he is just different,” Dykes said.
Pope preaches positivity over negative. He prefers to stress what a player did right instead of focusing on what he did wrong. He seldom yells at players during games or practices.
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams believes Kentucky is good enough to win a national title in Pope’s first season in part because of the “great spirit” the Cats have.
“I think their coach has a phenomenal spirit. I think how he leads is the appropriate way in 2025 and you can tell,” Williams said. “You can tell how they compete. You can tell how they play. You can tell watching their huddles. You can tell how they are in-and-out of substitutions.
“That spirit, I know it is not a stat, but I think spirit is just as important as the stats, just from listening to Coach and learning from Coach. I think those things are correlated.”
Veteran New York Daily News columnist Dick Weiss, one of the nation’s most respected college basketball writers, knows players have the “upper hand” today with the transfer portal and NIL funding.
“If they feel like they are abused or being treated negatively, they walk out. Players with elite talent have the upper hand now,” Weiss said. “I think Mark Pope is a genuinely nice guy and that makes it easier for him to be the way he is. They have good kids who are coachable but not elite talent but he makes them believe they are stars.”
Chris Dortch, Blue Ribbon Basketball editor/publisher, knows players can transfer if they feel they are being “beaten down” by coaches.
“They can just transfer as many times as they want. Coaches have had to change or get out of the business,” Dortch said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for how Mark Pope does his job, and treats his players.
“I think kids respond more favorably to a positive, teaching style. You can just sense a mellow vibe coming from Kentucky’s bench, and it’s because of the head coach.”
Sporting News columnist Michael DeCourcy knows there are “obvious advantages” to Pope’s positive approach “in an era when every action by every coach is caught on video to be scrutinized by social media” constantly.
“While with Mark we are constantly seeing posts about him making some kind gesture, there are other very successful and established coaches whose expressions of frustration or attempts at motivation are picked apart by Twitter critics,” DeCourcy said.
“In the end, though, as we saw with John Calipari, all the kindness and generosity eventually isn’t enough. You win enough to please the public, or you don’t.”
DeCourcy noted that the community outreach Calipari did early in his Kentucky tenure did not resonate when he quit making Final Four trips and NCAA Tournament wins became less common.
“The focus of many relative to his presence in the commonwealth became more about what he supposedly wasn’t doing. And there became skepticism about what he did, including the gesture to the (coal) mine worker who brought his son to the Blue-White exhibition game in 2022,” DeCourcy said.
“I think coaches have to be themselves and win as much as they can. There are lines that can’t be crossed, and we’ve seen successful coaches over the years, very successful coaches, go across those lines and find it difficult or impossible to return.
“Those on the proper side of that line ultimately will be judged by NCAA appearances, Final Fours and championships — and how recently any or all of that occurred.”
Pope admitted “losing is the worst” after his first Rupp Arena loss – a 102-97 setback to Alabama last week.
Former Kentucky guard Jay Shidler, a member of UK’s 1978 national title team, worries that Pope might be too kind in one situation.
“Just got to believe that his (Pope’s) refusal to work the refs (during games) is contributing to UK getting so many bad calls and consistently getting far less free throws (than opponents) even at home,” Shidler posted on social media after the Alabama loss.
Weiss does not think Shidler is totally wrong.
“Sometimes officials need to be directed to even up calls at home,” Weiss said. “However, I am not sure it is in Pope’s DNA. That’s just not him or the way he coaches.”
3 Responses
Thought provoking article LV. Off the top of my head three coaches come to mind – Rupp, Wooden and Knight. For lack of a better word all three were vicious. Don’t think those three would have posted all those W’s in todays world.
I agree Paul
You always want to be positive, but you have to be real too. When we play hero ball we lose. When we play Pope ball we win. Coach Pope is good about building confidence, but as coach, he has the right and the obligation to demand his team play Pope ball.