SEC Hits Pope With Fine, Reprimand for Criticizing Officials

The Southeastern Conference fined Kentucky coach Mark Pope $25,000 Tuesday and also issued him a public reprimand for his post-game comments after UK’s loss at Auburn Saturday.

The league decided that Pope’s comments — which most UK fans totally agreed with — violated SEC Bylaw 10.5.3 (Sportsmanship) and the SEC Commissioner’s Regulation regarding Public Criticism of Officials, which prohibit coaches, student-athletes and institutional staff from publicly criticizing officials or disclosing officiating-related communications. That bylaw says coaches, players and support personnel should refrain from “all public criticism of officials.”

Pope did not specifically criticize officials in his postgame press conference but did say some things seemed “super personal” and also used “embarrassing, awful, unacceptable, disgraceful and distressing” to describe parts of the game.

He did praise Otega Owen’s career high 29 points was impressive since “a lot of times it felt like he was playing one on seven, one on eight” — a clear shot at the officiating.

Pope’s best shot came after the press conference ended when he saw UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart in the hallway and his comments were caught on tape by one Auburn media member.

“Mitch, if those mother-effers try to fine me, screw ’em. I didn’t say a word about how they cheated us,” Pope told Barnhart.

Maybe the SEC thought he was daring them to take action — but my guess is that Pope could care less. He probably spent more than $25,000 last season when he bought ice cream in Rupp Arena for UK fans.

Here is what the SEC listed as examples of public criticism of the officials and obviously decided that what Pope said to Barnhart was “public criticism” even though it was directed to Barnhart in a hallway. It’s a fine line deciding intent but my guess is that Pope figured he might get fined but felt it was more important to stand up for his team.

—  Criticism of Officiating-Related Decisions. Comments regarding the quality of officiating, calls or no calls, missed calls or no-calls, the Conference’s officiating department and assignment process, an officiating crew, or an individual official.

— Public Disclosure of Officiating-Related Communications. Publicly divulging officiating related communications, including communications with officials, the Conference office, or the Conference coordinator of officials.

— Accusations of Bias. Accusing an official of acting with bias or questioning the integrity of an official or the Conference officiating program.

— Social Media. Posting on social media negative or derogatory statements, or sharing other content on social media (e.g., a graphic or meme), regarding the officiating or an official including, but not limited to, (i) responding to or repurposing prohibited officiating-related content, or (ii) “liking,” or expressing support for or otherwise drawing attention to, prohibited officiating-related content.

—  Implied or Indirect Criticism. Implied or indirect criticism of the officials or the Conference officiating program, or similar innuendos, constitute a violation of this regulation.