LB K'Vaughan Pope (transfer to Tenn St)

[pnuts34]

I hope this is how most of us feel. If you can't make it onto the field despite best efforts at Ohio State, then certainly professional football is out of the question. Get a degree, even if the transfer portal does not work out for you. Finish the degree, even if you need more time and have to pay for it yourself. An Ohio State degree will be much more respected than many of the small universities that might still have an interest in you. I was invited to a Fred Taylor basketball camp as a 14 year old. I know very much what it feels like to have a dream and have it evaporate before your eyes because others are just better than you. It was life shattering. Everything went into the toilet and I flunked out of Ohio State in my second quarter. There is life after sports and it is best lived with a degree. Learn from this and move on. When one door closes, another opens. Focus on the longer term and be all you can be.

Great take, and I fully agree. I know many OSU fans will eviscerate this kid for what he did mid-game. But at the end of the day, he's still just a kid, who let his emotions/frustrations get the best of him(bad timing I understand). And like you stated, it hurts to know that your dreams have been taken away from you and it's out of your control. But what makes it sting so much more, is that he's been at OSU for 4yrs and believed that 2021 would be his year to excel, and then he gets beaten out by players that are not only younger, but a player that just switched positions a few months ago, and another player who just transferred into the program a few months ago, and was just given eligibility.

I hope he's able to get his degree from OSU or the college of his choice. Sometimes going back home may be the best, and I'm sure schools like UVA, VT, ODU, W&M, Richmond, etc could all use his talents and he'd see the field immediately. Kind of like when Keandre Jones transferred to Maryland and still made the NFL.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Yet another Eleven Warriors' view on the matter:

OPENING: REAL LIFE SATURDAYS

K'Vaughan Pope, like every 4-star recruit who signs up for the Ohio State football value proposition, believed he was destined for holistic greatness followed by generational wealth.

It's a fair aspiration. The fourth-best player in Virginia had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Florida State. Pope signed his letter of intent for Ohio State in December of his senior year in high school. He worked and waited a long time for...this.

He registered statistics in just 11 games, and now it's all over. His Buckeye legacy is both past-tense and unfulfilled. That's a shame, because as much as he believed in the path from Columbus to the NFL through elite training and development, what closed him on Ohio State over his other opportunities was the stuff that comes after football is over:

Three years of participation in Ohio State's RLW program gave him face time with chief executives and other leaders from various industries. Those types generally deliver a sanitized, boilerplate message in front of large groups, which means Pope was exposed to the 50,000-ft view of the business of business. The real-life details are hard to see from that altitude.

What he missed – or failed to see entering his fourth year of undergrad – is that unfairness is a pandemic the vast majority of us will never escape. Pope began in Bill Davis' position group and finished in Al Washington's. He had two managers in four years. That's real life.

His collegiate career started with Greg Schiano's and Alex Grinch's defense, which became Greg Mattison's and Jeff Hafley's defense – and is now Kerry Coombs' and Matt Barnes' defense. His division had six vice presidents in four years. VPs tend to bring their own philosophies to the business, forcing everyone to pivot so they can make their mark.

That's not crazy, either. Attrition and succession planning are eternal in business and real life.

Pope signed with Urban Meyer and exited the program under Ryan Day. CEOs change all the time. It's easy to assume Pope believed he should have been playing more than he was, which also makes it easy to suggest he had problems with his boss. Oh, you're the guy who thinks he was unfairly passed over for a promotion? Buddy, the line forms to the left and circles the globe.

Those problems festered – probably for years – until Pope allowed them to boil over. This was a classic CLM. They happen every single day, just usually not on national television. The football program does not forgive such public disparagement of what Ohio State calls the sacred brotherhood.
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continued

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/the-situational/2021/09/125356/omerta

Just sayin': Pope was sold on Ohio State because of their Real Life Wednesdays program, and he ended up also learning about and leaving because he really wasn't prepared to deal with the realities of Real Life Saturdays, etc.

 

[Onebuckfan]

I think Pope understands real life but because of all what you said above sometimes football isn’t a meritocracy but I assume Pope feels if he had 70 snaps he would have enough productivity to start or at least be in the rotation. He wasn’t afforded that opportunity and saw his goals become unattainable and he blew up. It happens every where every day. His was televised.

 

[3074326]

There are a ton of examples of a kid transferring out due to depth and still making the league. I don't necessarily agree with that line of thinking at all. The list is of transfers in college who made it to the NFL is not only a long list, it is pretty impressive.

I hope the best for the kid. He made a mistake. Hope he gets an opportunity somewhere and is able to make the most of it.

 

[pnuts34]

There are a ton of examples of a kid transferring out due to depth and still making the league. I don't necessarily agree with that line of thinking at all. The list is of transfers in college who made it to the NFL is not only a long list, it is pretty impressive.

I hope the best for the kid. He made a mistake. Hope he gets an opportunity somewhere and is able to make the most of it.

The list of kids transferring and making the NFL is still longer than the list of kids who stayed at schools, never got meaningful PT and still made the NFL...
Keandre Jones doesn't make the NFL sitting on the OSU bench, does Antonio Williams make the league sitting behind JK and Mike Weber? Players need to put up quality film if they expect to see the professional ranks

 

[3074326]

The list of kids transferring and making the NFL is still longer than the list of kids who stayed at schools, never got meaningful PT and still made the NFL...
Keandre Jones doesn't make the NFL sitting on the OSU bench, does Antonio Williams make the league sitting behind JK and Mike Weber? Players need to put up quality film if they expect to see the professional ranks

I don't really think this disputes anything I said.

I would agree that the list of players who didn't transfer schools and made the NFL is longer. Seems pretty obvious, and it's also not the point I was making. The point was that kids transfer due to depth and still make the NFL. Happens all the time (or at least more often than this thread would lead you to believe).

 

[Buckeye86]

 

[bucknut502]

Literally every program in the country plays young guys over seniors.

You’re looked at as a hoodlum if you do what you did in the middle of a game that you didn’t get your way in.

“Treated as though you’re not a high caliber player.” And THAT is why we are here. You want special treatment because you were a good high school player.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

“Treated as though you’re not a high caliber player.” And THAT is why we are here. You want special treatment because you were a good high school player.

Chris Olave was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2018; he caught 12 passes for 197 yards and 3 TDs.

Jaxon-Smith Njigba was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2020; he caught 10 passes for 49 yards and a TD.

C.J. Stroud was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2020; he threw zero passes and had one rushing attempt in two games.

Funny how these things always seem to work themselves out....

 

[bucknut502]

Chris Olave was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2018; he caught 12 passes for 197 yards and 3 TDs.

Jaxon-Smith Njigba was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2020; he caught 10 passes for 49 yards and a TD.

C.J. Stroud was a "high caliber player" as a true freshman in 2020; he threw zero passes and had one rushing attempt in two games.

Funny how these things always seem to work themselves out....

Olave wasn’t exactly “high caliber” but he damn sure made himself a high caliber player! He worked his ass off.

Pope played for two HC’s, five different DC’s (Schiano, Grinch, Hafley, Coombs, Barnes), and three LB coaches. Funny how none of them felt you were good enough to be on the field.

 

[heisman]

Fucc

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

I said it in the Marcus Williams thread… there is a fucking rot… at this point a cancer on the defensive side of the ball that must be excised post haste…

 

[buckeyemania11]

I’m not going to pretend to know what goes on behind the scenes but the “young guys playing before seniors” complaint is uh…..the “I think I am a high caliber player and should be treated as such” attitude too……Yikes.

 

[Systems_id]

I’m not going to pretend to know what goes on behind the scenes but the “young guys playing before seniors” complaint is uh…..the “I think I am a high caliber player and should be treated as such” attitude too……Yikes.

That rant actually makes me slightly respect the defensive staff more than I did. At least we know the best players play.

 

[OH10]

I said it in the Marcus Williams thread… there is a fucking rot… at this point a cancer on the defensive side of the ball that must be excised post haste…

This.

It’s easy to sit here and criticize Williamson and Pope for their public comments. Fair.

They’re not the first players to ever get passed over in the program. They won’t be the last. They are, however, the first two I can recall blowing up on the way out. This part isn’t normal. Is it them? Is it social media? Or did our coaching staff do a bad job promoting a good culture in the lockerroom with their words and actions? Considering the performance of the defense on the field, I’m inclined to think the culture and the coaching simply stunk. That plays a big role here.

Still very foolish for Pope, who is still looking for a team, to double down publicly. I don’t see how any team picks him up knowing he could do the same to them. He could have entered the portal quietly and found a decent landing spot.