Remember that time Mitch Barnhart hired a former player to be the head coach?

[Old School]

Joker Phillips sure taught him a lesson.

[bthaunert]

At the time Joker was made HCIW, it was a good decision imo. We had just come off of to of our best offensive years with him leading the offense. I actually didn't think it was a reach, or at least not a huge reach. I thought from day 1, that Pope was a major reach.

[WeWant9]

My anger is pretty much directed at Barnhart. He was given a complete gimmie with the Cal/Ark situation and not having to pay the buy out. He then proceeded to not do his freaking job and only looked at a few coaches before moving to Pope. We should've had 25 guys tell us no before moving to Pope.

[blueheretic]

When my cuz told me that they were hiring Pope, my reaction was; "When pigs fly, they will."

Then I saw it was true.

I had a feeling that this would be bad but, then, got caught up in the nostalgia.

Want this dude to achieve.

It would be absolutely incredible to see him win an NCAA Championship.

At this moment, I think it likelier that he is fired at the end of next season and that makes me a bit sad.

[SportsFan]

When my cuz told me that they were hiring Pope, my reaction was; "When pigs fly, they will."

Then I saw it was true.

I had a feeling that this would be bad but, then, got caught up in the nostalgia.

Want this dude to achieve.

It would be absolutely incredible to see him win an NCAA Championship.

At this moment, I think it likelier that he is fired at the end of next season and that makes me a bit sad.

I have to agree.

I almost didn't want him hired for this exact reason - that IF HE FAILS....it's going to be really sad to see a guy who everyone likes and who truly loves the University of Kentucky....be shown the door. Especially so early on.

[SportsFan]

I was just thinking...how many times has hiring a former player/alumnus of a university to be it's head coach worked out recently?

Any time I think of a former player going to coach their alma mater, I think of the Matt Doherty disaster at North Carolina. He had a good (and short) run at Notre Dame before being given the UNC job, and he flamed out after year 3. I figured Pope might suffer the same fate, but I'm beginning to wonder if he'll even make it through a season 3.

[blueheretic]

I was just thinking...how many times has hiring a former player/alumnus of a university to be it's head coach worked out recently?

Any time I think of a former player going to coach their alma mater, I think of the Matt Doherty disaster at North Carolina. He had a good (and short) run at Notre Dame before being given the UNC job, and he flamed out after year 3. I figured Pope might suffer the same fate, but I'm beginning to wonder if he'll even make it through a season 3.

Apparently, only 6 have won championships (college basketball):

• Howard Hobson — Oregon (played at Oregon; coached Oregon to the 1939 NCAA title).
• Branch McCracken — Indiana (played at Indiana; coached Indiana to 1940 & 1953 NCAA titles).
• Ed Jucker — Cincinnati (played at Cincinnati; coached Cincinnati to 1961 & 1962 NCAA titles).
• Norm Sloan — NC State (played at NC State; coached NC State to the 1974 NCAA title).
• Joe B. Hall — Kentucky (played at Kentucky; coached Kentucky to the 1978 NCAA title).
• Gary Williams — Maryland (played at Maryland; coached Maryland to the 2002 NCAA title).

Courtesy of ChatGPT

[blueheretic]

Looks like it missed Phog Allen and Jim Boeheim.

Apparently, Boeheim didn't finish at Syracuse and Phog Allen went to the University of Kansas Central College of Osteopathy.

[bthaunert]

I was just thinking...how many times has hiring a former player/alumnus of a university to be it's head coach worked out recently?

Any time I think of a former player going to coach their alma mater, I think of the Matt Doherty disaster at North Carolina. He had a good (and short) run at Notre Dame before being given the UNC job, and he flamed out after year 3. I figured Pope might suffer the same fate, but I'm beginning to wonder if he'll even make it through a season 3.

More often than not, they are failures. And it always seems to be a guy that was there during the "glory days" that they are trying to replicate. Guys like:

Chris Mullin - St Johns
Patrick Ewing - Georgetown
Kenny Payne - Louisville
Sidney Lowe - NC State
Mike Woodson - Indiana
Matt Doherty - UNC

The ones that seem to be most successful are because they had success prior to going to their alma mater or were an assistant under a successful coach at their alma mater and elevated:

Bob Huggins - Cincy/WVU
Roy Williams - Kansas/UNC
Matt Painter - Purdue (assistant)
Jon Sheyer - Duke (assistant)

There are obviously some outliers, but reaching for a coach bc he played there seems to fail much more than it succeeds.