Official: UT hires Kim Caldwell as the new coach for Lady Vols basketball

[Orange007]

Her ability to deploy "her" style of play will be highly dependent on the roster. With Marshall's roster it definitely did not work against Virginia Tech. In that game, Marshall did force 15 turnovers but they also committed 26 fouls and gave up 31 free throws. Virginia Tech also shot 53% from the field (when you break the press you frequently get easy shots).

Also, we are talking about basketball, not rocket science. I am relatively certain that Caldwell's system won't be revolutionary to established coaches. If she persists with being a system coach, Staley, Schaefer, Mulkey, et al. are going to run up some ridiculous scores on the Lady Vols.

THIS. and that roster will have to do those things against SEC teams. a whole different thing.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

You really thought we would compete for one next year?

No but in 2025 I thought it was possible with Brooks coming.

 

[LeannaVol]

1. I think it was time for KJH to go. She was a mediocre coach at a program that ha higher expectations.
2. I think we need to have some patience with this hire. It does seem like she is behind on recruitment with little name recognition and likely no talent that will follow her to Knoxville to help next season.
3. I hope she surrounds herself with strong assistance that can help with recruitment. I think Danny White helps make this happen.
4.IMO no one knows how her record translates from small time to the SEC but she checks a lot of boxes I like as a coach.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

if coach sam doesn't stay, this gets real bad.

That’s our only hope and to get Nyla Brooks to recommit.

 

[Dak1219]

Her resume is great.
Kim Caldwell, the first-year head coach of Marshall University, was named the 2024 Spalding® Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Yeah that same Maggie Dixon award that Kyra Elzy and Holly warlick won. Excellent resume for those two who were fired. Think Joanie Taylor won that one too and she can't coach no matter how great of players she has.

 

[Soobahk40050]

First and foremost, welcome Coach Caldwell. I hope you are the “sleeper hire” of the century.

Stepping back, however, the timing of this "high risk-high reward" hire is, from an outside perspective, hard to understand. Why roll the dice now?

Coach Caldwell would have been an option next season and would have gained a 2nd year of D1 coaching experience and given the UTAD another data point to assess. But why should White have waited?

Okay, this roster desperately needs 2 to 3 quality players from the transfer portal. Kellie has an excellent record in the portal and likely had some connections in play. We are also seeing two big de-commits and there is now a risk of current players transferring which would further heighten the roster problem. Unlike Brooks at KY, Caldwell is not going to bring elite players with her. In the transfer window, a rookie coach from Marshal is going to be at a disadvantage there.

Also, it would have seemed only fair to assess how Kellie’s high school recruiting class would fare under an improved NIL program (which several have reported is now in place). At the end of next year, Kellie might have taken this team to the S16 (or maybe better) and had a strong 2025 class in place and suddenly, she looks really good. If the team did not hit those marks, then White could have assessed where Coach Caldwell, among other options who might have come on the radar screen are at.

Last thing, one conjecture on this board is that White had to sack Kellie in order to get a better NIL package in place because the big donors did not have faith in her. That argument would be credible if the hire had, indeed, been a “name” coach. But, it is very hard to believe that the same donors who presumably were financially strangling the program because they did not trust Kellie would now start writing big checks for a newbie coach from a lower tier of mid major. I am going with EarlVol's statement that the NIL was in place with Kellie.

The logical inference is that White wanted “his coach” at the helm and Kellie not making the S16 provided the justification for making a change (which would also help the new coach to look better since she no longer had the same NIL disadvantage where Kellie might have started killing it in recruiting).

I am open to the idea that Caldwell is just an inherently better coach than Kellie Harper (I really know little about her).

So, time will tell if White's move was brilliance or arrogance.

I really am hoping for the former (and am quite glad a woman coach got the job, flame me I don’t care). But Coach Caldwell’s first big challenge will be rebuilding a roster in challenging circumstances.

One theory I have heard is that this cycle was going to be a lot different than the next one, with the potential for Geno and VanDerveer potentially retiring. If that's the case, you move now to get the best option you can versus a lesser option next season.

Taking her now with only one season under her belt versus next season if she did well again when more schools would be coming after her.

That being said, I do hope she gets a solid recruiting assistant. Also, us "kiffining" her isn't a great look.

 

[JacketVol]

Danny White is gambling his career.

Start looking ahead for men’s coaches NOW if this is the best the women could get.

He's not and this statement just makes you look stupid. He is making tons of money and not blowing it on a program that is at best break even or a small profit. However, he is hiring a great coach who can coach and should be able to recruit with our history, and as she builds the program she will get rewarded. He wants us to be an everything school and Harper was not getting it done and has left the team void of talent. But Danny is not getting fired over women's basketball.

 

[Volfan1017]

Her ability to deploy "her" style of play will be highly dependent on the roster. With Marshall's roster it definitely did not work against Virginia Tech. In that game, Marshall did force 15 turnovers but they also committed 26 fouls and gave up 31 free throws. Virginia Tech also shot 53% from the field (when you break the press you frequently get easy shots).

Also, we are talking about basketball, not rocket science. I am relatively certain that Caldwell's system won't be revolutionary to established coaches. If she persists with being a system coach, Staley, Schaefer, Mulkey, et al. are going to run up some ridiculous scores on the Lady Vols.

Again, I agree that its a gamble. Its definitely a risk, but playing it safe did nothing for us the last few years. HW could recruit, but had no system. Kellie did both mediocrely. I'm giving her a chance.

 

[brittannica]

I am sure there was a lot of people saying the same thing about ADs when they hired guys like Nick Saban, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams when they were young and got their first head coaching job.

Roy Williams was an assistant under Dean Smith for ten years.

 

[Deebowbear]

It’s more than likely going to be the same staff from Marshall. I don’t see a lot of top assistants at top programs sticking their necks out for a brand new coach until she starts winning, unless someone that has been let go recently like RG for football.

She said don’t know about recruiting D1 so I think she has to get one. She may bring 1or 2 but she better hope they are good at there job. Everyone will be wanting her gone real quickly. Least keep Sam for that unless find someone better at least she knows how just need new coach to close them

 

[Max Roguespierre]

a great coach who can coach and recruit

Her record would indicate that you are correct that she can coach. As to the recruiting, that is very much in question.

 

[MicCheck12]

Different standards, so it’s not the same.

Different era of basketball... So it's not the same.

 

[Orange_Mamba]

Really hope Jewel will consider staying. Seems like this system is perfect for her, Sara, and will work better for Kaiya getting out in transition.

 

[VolArmy74]

Things we've heard that have no current basis in fact and things that were proven to have no basis in fact.

"Bruce Pearl can't recruit at Tennessee. He won in Div II. He can't win at this level. We only hired him because of one good season in Milwaukee."

"Josh Heupel can't coach and his system is a gimmick that won't work in the SEC. He only did well because he got lucky with Scott Frost's players. He can't recruit at Tennessee."

"Rick Barnes is washed up. He can't recruit elite players any more. You can't win without one and dones."

Now it's worry that Kim won't be able to recruit. Tennessee recruits itself and that's why KJH having so many struggles to recruit high school players was so troubling. No one ever struggled to recruit here.

Also worry that she won't be able to make things work because her system is missing something and it only works in lower levels. Her system works against peer level teams.

I'll be surprised if after year 2 or 3 that everyone isn't really happy with her.

 

[glv98]

1. I think it was time for KJH to go. She was a mediocre coach at a program that ha higher expectations.
2. I think we need to have some patience with this hire. It does seem like she is behind on recruitment with little name recognition and likely no talent that will follow her to Knoxville to help next season.
3. I hope she surrounds herself with strong assistance that can help with recruitment. I think Danny White helps make this happen.
4.IMO no one knows how her record translates from small time to the SEC but she checks a lot of boxes I like as a coach.

Kellie was a mediocre coach and we have high expectations so naturally we hire a coach behind on recruitment with no name recognition and no talent to bring who we hope will be bolstered by strong assistants and also hope like hell her record translates to a level she’s never been on.

Exactly what boxes does that check?

 

[Pappy]

Against schools in the sister of the blind conference. Come on anybody can win there.

evidently they can’t

 

[madtownvol]

One theory I have heard is that this cycle was going to be a lot different than the next one, with the potential for Geno and VanDerveer potentially retiring. If that's the case, you move now to get the best option you can versus a lesser option next season.

Taking her now with only one season under her belt versus next season if she did well again when more schools would be coming after her.

That being said, I do hope she gets a solid recruiting assistant. Also, us "kiffining" her isn't a great look.

I would not put a lot of credence in that rumor. Tara has said she is not thinking about retirement and Geno just signed the #1 recruit (probably with a promise of being around a few more year. Plus Geno snd Tara will pick their successors most likely.

 

[LeannaVol]

Kellie was a mediocre coach and we have high expectations so naturally we hire a coach behind on recruitment with no name recognition and no talent to bring who we hope will be bolstered by strong assistants and also hope like hell her record translates to a level she’s never been on.

Exactly what boxes does that check?

She wins…

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Her ability to deploy "her" style of play will be highly dependent on the roster. With Marshall's roster it definitely did not work against Virginia Tech. In that game, Marshall did force 15 turnovers but they also committed 26 fouls and gave up 31 free throws. Virginia Tech also shot 53% from the field (when you break the press you frequently get easy shots).

Also, we are talking about basketball, not rocket science. I am relatively certain that Caldwell's system won't be revolutionary to established coaches. If she persists with being a system coach, Staley, Schaefer, Mulkey, et al. are going to run up some ridiculous scores on the Lady Vols.

Going to be a bit of a challenge to play a fast paced style since Kellie recruited for a half court style offense. I don't see very many players on the current roster capable of playing fast. May have to use the portal to fill in.

 

[Ratvol]

So I guess we turn into Louisiana Tech.

Not really. That was Kellie’s job.

 

[Deebowbear]

It's done, we have to give her to opportunity to get it done. 4 years. This is going to be interesting. The Recruiting thing is the major question mark. Winning has not been an issue at the lower level and hopefully it will transcend to this level. Similar to the Pearl hire, but not exactly comparable because of his ability to recruit. I often felt that the conditioning of the current team was not up to par with some players, that will not be the case here but the competition in the SEC has to be met with players of equal caliber. Open up the NIL chest.

Yes they couldn’t get up and down court all 4 quarters

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Really hope Jewel will consider staying. Seems like this system is perfect for her, Sara, and will work better for Kaiya getting out in transition.

Wynn should not playing much, she’s just not good enough.

 

[Vol67]

No difference in this hire than the last 2. Coaching at Marshall is a lot easier than coaching at Tennessee. The coach at Grand Canyon has a better resume

 

[madtownvol]

Things we've heard that have no current basis in fact and things that were proven to have no basis in fact.

"Bruce Pearl can't recruit at Tennessee. He won in Div II. He can't win at this level. We only hired him because of one good season in Milwaukee."

"Josh Heupel can't coach and his system is a gimmick that won't work in the SEC. He only did well because he got lucky with Scott Frost's players. He can't recruit at Tennessee."

"Rick Barnes is washed up. He can't recruit elite players any more. You can't win without one and dones."

Now it's worry that Kim won't be able to recruit. Tennessee recruits itself and that's why KJH having so many struggles to recruit high school players was so troubling. No one ever struggled to recruit here.

Also worry that she won't be able to make things work because her system is missing something and it only works in lower levels. Her system works against peer level teams.

I'll be surprised if after year 2 or 3 that everyone isn't really happy with her.

History has shown that Tennessee does not recruit itself. You don’t follow the program do you?

 

[BreatheUT]

I like this hire. We can't predict the future.