Coach hire since BYU coaxed legendary Aggie Coach and then-current USU AD LaDell Andersen down to Provo in 1983. No BYU head coach since LaDell Andersen had been a head coach at any Division 1 program, and no coach since LaDell had spent a SINGLE YEAR on a Division 1 Coaching staff outside of BYU.

First though, a disclaimer: This post is not to say that Rose is out, or that Pope is becoming Head Coach.

The coaching experience of the last three BYU head coach hires:

Roger Reid had been a HS Head Coach and BYU assistant before becoming BYU head coach.
Steve Cleveland had been a HS Head Coach and a Community College Head Coach for a combined 17 years before BYU.
Dave Rose spent time as a Head Coach and assistant in HS and at Dixie before becoming an assistant at BYU.

BYU fans are wanting a guy with significant connections and coaching experience outside of BYU.

Pope's qualifications:

Pope is the head coach at a current D-1 school.

Pope has been an assistant at Georgia (SEC), Wake Forest (ACC), and BYU.

Incredibly bright guy with strong leadership. He spent 3 years at an Ivy League medical school before jumping over to pursue his coaching ambitions at Georgia (hired by Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox, who was an assistant at Washington when Pope played there).

UVU is 25-9 this season and finished in the Kenpom Top 100 for the 2nd season in a row. UVU is at its highest point in history, and has done so under Pope with extremely limited resources.

The year before Pope (2015):

11-19 and 321 Kenpom.

UVU records under Pope (2016-2019):

12-18 (283 Kenpom)
17-17 (147 Kenpom)
23-11 (92 Kenpom)
25-9 (99 Kenpom)

Pope played his college ball and won a National Championship at Kentucky (after transfering from Washington), and then spent 8 years in the NBA (not required to be a good coach, but doesn't hurt either).

If Pope becomes the BYU head coach in the near future or in a few years, I'll be very happy to bring in a guy that is winning at a D-1 school. If he can win at UVU, let's see what he can do with the resources and brand BYU has.

We haven't hired a head coach with top level experience in basketball since 1983. Our last 2 head coaching hires in football had no D-1 Head Coaching experience either, although they had been D-1 assistants at programs other than BYU. It's not required or necessary as many great coaches have proven in many sports. But those that say Pope doesn't have the experience or connections are not looking at the facts.