Compared to his predecessor(s), Mark Pope was professionally far more ambitious. He didn't want to make BYU simply as good as the limited confines determined by the Admins & their multitude of restrictions.

And he didn't TAKE the BYU job because the department DIDN'T require him to be a nationally competitive recruiter. As his work ethic proved — quite the contrary. Honestly, the BYU head job for too many years was attractive for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately.

LaVell was similarly wired. Which is the ONLY reason why our sports department took a very different trajectory from the rest of the old WAC.

I know a lot of our fans don't want to hear it, but Mark Pope AND the Big 12 invite were two big reasons BYU decision-makers decided to make some drastic changes at the time the UK job miraculously opened up for Mark. Clearly, Pope had been nudging the Admins to empower the financiers & make the plunge — but they didn't fully do it till he was out the door.