As a senior, he received Class AAAA All-state and Florida High School Athlete of the Year honors, after averaging 13 tackles per game.
[1] As a senior, he won the state Class AAA heavyweight weightlifting champion, including the District 5 meet with a record lift totaling 750, 330 on the clean-and-jerk and 420 on bench press.
His 13 tackles, earned him the NAIA Defensive Most Valuable Player trophy in the 38-16 championship win over Colorado-Mesa State University.
[5] Pope began his coaching career at Calgary's Springbank Community High School, contributing to the 1999 City Championship title.
In 2000, he was hired as an assistant coach at Calgary's Henry Wise Wood Senior High School, contributing to both a City and Provincial Championship titles.