First time poster here. I got booted off another message board because the posters did not like what I was posting. But I want to be clear: Pat did not choose Holly. Dave Hart chose Holly. In a meeting with Hart, he fired Pat, pure and simple. Pat was devastated because she requested one more year so that she could have one year with Tyler by her side as a grad assistant. It had always been their dream to one day coach together. The plan was for him to be the grad assistant and then go on to another university as an assistant and learn the craft. Hart denied her request and told her that Holly would be the new coach.
Hart knew that Holly would come very cheap (and remember the financial woes at that time) and he knew that Pat could not object to her loyal long-time assistant and the fan base would embrace Holly, thinking that she was Pat's choice.
The reality is in 2008 I had a lengthy conversation with a relative of Pat's and one of her best friends while we were at the tournament. We were having dinner and the family member told me that Pat was not in good health. He was not referring to dementia--at that time no one had any idea that she would have that horrible disease--but he was referring to her horrible rheumatoid arthritis. He told me that she knew she had limited years left to coach because the pain was horrible and flying exacerbated the pain. She was therefore making plans for her future retirement. I was told that she wanted to coach at least until Tyler could be a grad assistant so that they could coach together. She had definite ideas about whom she wanted to succeed her and it was not Holly. She did want Holly to be able to continue to be an assistant if at all possible, but Holly was not her choice to succeed her--at least in 2008. I did not want at that time to even dare to think that Pat would retire any time soon, but her family member told me to accept the fact that Pat's health would dictate an earlier retirement than what she wanted. At that time she still felt she could win ten national championships and turn the program over to the next coach. Of course, at that time no one knew that she would get this horrible disease.
At the end of the season and after winning her last national championship, Pat encouraged Caldwell to take the head coaching position at UCLA and to get much needed experience as a head coach. Unfortunately for Pat, she then turned over recruiting to Holly entirely. Caldwell had been her chief recruiter and evaluator of talent, but Pat had also been involved. Now because of her illness and reluctance to fly more than she had done previously, Holly had the reigns. One of the knocks on Holly from former lady vols who have spoken to me is that Holly is terrible at evaluating talent. They told me that UT missed out on some great prospects because Holly did not think that they were good enough. Instead, I do not think that Holly chose wisely and we all know that Pat did not get to another final four. Some of this may have been her dementia that probably was in effect long before the diagnosis, but others have maintained that Pat did not have the right players in her latter years.
I have had the honor to know many former Lady Vols and to know Pat's good friends. I know that as a new poster I have little credibility here, but I think it is important to set the record straight about Holly. In 2008 Holly was not Pat's choice. She loved Holly, but if you ask any former player, she will tell you in crunch time, she did not turn to Holly for answers. In fact, several lady vols were aghast that Holly was going to be the coach who succeeded Pat. They loved her but they recognized her limitations. I honestly felt that she deserved the opportunity, but I was wrong. This program is on the decline for sure and Holly does not have a clue on how to right the ship.
And for the record, Holly was not a good recruiter. The reason she has recruited well now is her assistant who replaced Kyra Elzy. Even so, I question that Holly has chosen well.
