Andy Kennedy lost his first game as the lame duck Ole Miss head coach on Tuesday night, and after the game he didn’t hold back when discussing what is wrong with his team.
In summation, they don’t play with pride.
Give it a listen:
Unbelievable honesty here from Andy Kennedy after Ole Miss' loss to Arkansas. Gah, I'm gonna miss that man. He doesn't deserve this type of sending off. pic.twitter.com/jgouq3oWqm
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) February 14, 2018
“This was about Ole Miss. Obviously, yesterday I tried to take about as big of ownership as you could take. I’m the man here. I’m culpable for this,” Kennedy would go on to say. “After watching our performance Saturday, I thought, ‘Man, this is as bad as I’ve seen it in my 400 games.’ Until tonight. I apologize. I certainly did not want to go out like this.”
“But as I said yesterday, my words are ringing hollow. I can’t get ‘em, I can’t reach ‘em.”
This is what happens when a team is out of tournament contention, particularly when the decision is made with games remaining to announce the end of that coach’s tenure -- that is not normal. It’s exacerbated season-long issues for the Rebels, which, for many, justifies the decision to change leadership in the basketball program.
And considering what Kennedy has done for that program and hoops at that school, it’s sad to see it come to an end like this.