Longtime collegiate level assistant coach Kenith Pope joined the Cardinals staff in the Spring of 2014. He brings 35 years of college coaching experience to the outside linebackers coach position and he began his college career in 1979 when he was the linebackers and kicking coach under Larry Kennan at Lamar University.
Pope recently completed a successful five-year stretch at Iowa State where he coached 1,000-yard rusher, Alexander Robinson. He is well-known and a highly respected veteran in the coaching profession. He came to Iowa State after formerly serving as the assistant head coach at Alabama and Texas A&M. He has coached in 18 bowl games including two Cotton Bowls, two Holiday Bowls, three Sun Bowls and the 2007 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. He has mentored 18 players who have gone on to the NFL and he recruited Super Bowl champion Joseph "Red" Bryant. Pope has played and coached for some of the biggest names in college football history, including Barry Switzer at Oklahoma, Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State, Howard Schnellenberger at OU and Dennis Franchione at TCU, Alabama and Texas A&M.
Pope coached at UNLV in 2008 after five years as the assistant head coach at Texas A&M. He was part of a staff at A&M that recruited five classes ranked in the top 20 nationally, including three among the top 10.
In 2002, Pope was an assistant coach at Alabama when they went 10-3 and were the SEC West champions. Prior to that, he was on the staff at TCU from 1998-00 for a program that went 25-11 after being 1-10 in 1997. He helped TCU to a pair of Western Athletic Conference co-championships in 1999 and 2000. He was also a part of two outright Southwest Conference championships at SMU and one co-championship.
In the summer of 1989, Pope served an internship with the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Intern Program.
A star defensive back at Oklahoma, Pope earned his bachelor's degree fromt he school in 1976. Following a 17-14 win over Nebraska in his junior season, Pope earned National Defensive Back of the Week honors. During his Sooner playing career, OU went 29-5-1 and won two straight Sugar Bowls. His senior season, Oklahoma went 10-0-1, won the Big Eight championship and Pope played in the Blue-Gray Football Classic and the American Bowl. He was a ninth-round choice by the Oakland Raiders in the 1974 NFL draft and played that season with the New England Patriots.
Pope, a native of Galveston, Texas, is married to the former Pam Armstrong of Beaumont, Texas. They have three godchildren, Jordan, Geneva "Roni" and Shaina.
