Asst coach Samantha Williams will not be retained

[JohnWardForever]

Not hard to understand at all. GOing forward, who is the new recruiting coordinator, do they have experience and contacts on this level, and are they on the phone this morning lining up visits to make up for the crucial weeks already lost in the portal since 4/1?

I'm sure you & everyone concerned will learn this information when they decide to reveal it. I would recommend some fans go into seclusion until this is all finalized.

 

[Majors]

Not hard to understand at all. GOing forward, who is the new recruiting coordinator, do they have experience and contacts on this level, and are they on the phone this morning lining up visits to make up for the crucial weeks already lost in the portal since 4/1?

Last staff had 20+ years of experience. Experience and contacts seem overrated looking back now.

 

[glv98]

Experience and contacts seem overrated looking back now.

That seems the whole context for this hire. We'll see how that works out.

Maybe Dawn should fire Jolette Law and hire someone w no experience or contacts?

 

[butchna]

If there's anything we've learned from past experiences with coaches in other sports, 100% buy-in from the players who stay is absolutely necessary. How much more with coaching staff? Coach Sam excelled in recruiting certain types of players for what has become the new standard for women's basketball teams. Maybe what Caldwell wanted in her players were features, capabilities, attitudes that Coach Sam had never been called on to look for. Maybe she didn't have the radar for finding those players. And, if so, it wouldn't be hard to understand that she might not have 100% buy-in to offer CKC. And thus they part, as happens dozens of times in every sport every season.

Try to remember what we were thinking and posting about Barnes when he arrived (coasting into retirement was the common fan accusation), and him recruiting some 3-star chess champion who was headed to an Ivy League team: "he's too short to play inside in the SEC, and if he wasn't why weren't other schools recruiting him?" But Barnes knew he wanted Grant Williams--for reasons none of us could see from our perspective or the stats--and he was proved correct.

Didn't Heupel at the last minute pick up some QB from VaTech who had already gotten beat out of the starting position there by an underclassman? The best we fans could say about that move was "not much eligibility left, but maybe a decent stop-gap backup if he can learn the system quick enough." I'm pretty sure every fan was glad we ended up with Hendon Hooker.

We put ourselves through all this gut-wringing consternation speculating on things we don't control or yet have enough relevant data to understand. All these coaches, including Kim Caldwell, know what kind of player excels under their style of coaching. They know what skill sets are needed to excel in their style of play.

By this time next April, we will understand a lot more, just as we did with other Tennessee coaches after their first full season.

All good points…cept Hooker. Pruitt landed him in the portal and he was already on campus iirc.

 

[Majors]

That seems the whole context for this hire. We'll see how that works out.

Maybe Dawn should fire Jolette Law and hire someone w no experience or contacts?

Be a bold move, they win. We didnt, not sure we are the blue print on how to win by keeping the staff that failed.

 

[glv98]

Be a bold move, they win. We didnt, not sure we are the blue print on how to win by keeping the staff that failed.

I never thought she should/could keep the current staff. I just don't want to throw the baby out w the bathwater. Seems very impulsive to say no experience and contacts is better because the last staff was experienced and failed. Hopefully they'll let common sense prevail. Proof is in the pudding; if zero experience gets us a portal haul I'll admit you're right.

 

[volbeast33]

Players she could get away with in much smaller settings are unlikely to get the same results on this level, esp without the 2, 3, 4 yr plan the AD said we absolutely will not be on. We don't know her system, but we know all too well the talent level of the SEC and what type player is needed to be successful there. And we need some more of those.

Bruce Pearl was able to do it with a similar style…. played a back up point guard at power forward at times… He did have some talent though in Lofton/Watson although nobody knew that lofton would develop like he did.

 

[glv98]

Bruce Pearl was able to do it with a similar style…. played a back up point guard at power forward at times… He did have some talent though in Lofton/Watson although nobody knew that lofton would develop like he did.

I've come to believe "doing more with less" is the hardest thing in college coaching. Esp at this high level. Ironically, it's what Kellie could never do. It's a frustrating cycle bc you need talented players to get the wins but you need the wins to get the players. Probably why it's so hard lol.

 

[Volinnooga]

Elite coaches finish at the top of their conference year after year consistently. If Coach Caldwell isn't making the tourny and isn't contending for SEC titles consistently, i am sure she will be the first to admit she has not met her own expectations, Danny White's expectations, or a program like UT's expectations. If you believe that it is acceptable for a UT lady vol's bball team to not make the NCAA tournament without some extenuating circumstances like massive injuries to several starters or some terrible team drama, then i don't what to tell you. I hate bringing up UCONN again, but this years team lost 3 of it's best players and another player was also lost for the season and they still made it to the final four this year, making excuses for Coach Jolly and Coach Warlick is just weak as hell.

Not sure who you think is making excuses for Holly, Kellie or anyone else.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

This news is like poring gas on a fire for the DW haters. Just gives them more ammunition to tell us how bad this hire was. Starting to get amusing now.

 

[alexvol]

Hopefully she doesn't think she can bring in D-2 level assistants and think they gonna get it done at this level. They have to be able to connect with recruits quickly and if they have never really spoken to this caliber player we are 5 years away from elite recruits again. That would be awful for fans. I hope she is connecting with that list of 2025's that have us on their finalist list.

She should hire anyone she wants .It is her team and how it performs or doesn't perform and how she recruits or doesn't recruit is all up to her and those people that she surrounds herself with.She must have full freedom to do just that ....hire those that she has confidence in helping her on the court and those that will help in recruiting off the court .

All of the concerns on this board about who to hire or not hire should be put to rest and let the Lady do the job that we want from her.

 

[UTtoDC]

 

[SGMVols]

So the Only Kellies were freaking out for nothing lol

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Last staff had 20+ years of experience. Experience and contacts seem overrated looking back now.

I must be so stupid, for the last 6 months I keep hearing the most important contact was to the NIL bag man now it was coach Sam….Color me stupid.

 

[Majors]

I never thought she should/could keep the current staff. I just don't want to throw the baby out w the bathwater. Seems very impulsive to say no experience and contacts is better because the last staff was experienced and failed. Hopefully they'll let common sense prevail. Proof is in the pudding; if zero experience gets us a portal haul I'll admit you're right.

Not looking to be right, just stating Sam although boasted as an Ace here didn’t necessarily get the job done. No matter the situation or reason, she was the one over recruiting.

 

[Majors]

I must be so stupid, for the last 6 months I keep hearing the most important contact was to the NIL bag man now it was coach Sam….Color me stupid.

correct, can’t have it both ways.

 

[JohnWardForever]

This news is like poring gas on a fire for the DW haters. Just gives them more ammunition to tell us how bad this hire was. Starting to get amusing now.

I don't get it. I think White is among the best in the business. Reminds me of the Movie, "The Man who knew too much". In this case "The Fans who know too much".

 

[JohnWardForever]

She should hire anyone she wants .It is her team and how it performs or doesn't perform and how she recruits or doesn't recruit is all up to her and those people that she surrounds herself with.She must have full freedom to do just that ....hire those that she has confidence in helping her on the court and those that will help in recruiting off the court .

All of the concerns on this board about who to hire or not hire should be put to rest and let the Lady do the job that we want from her.

You mean from all these vn posters with Athletic Department experience?

 

[EZE]

Here’s a novel idea. How ‘bout we let the new coach make decisions about her staff?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Elite coaches finish at the top of their conference year after year consistently. If Coach Caldwell isn't making the tourny and isn't contending for SEC titles consistently, i am sure she will be the first to admit she has not met her own expectations, Danny White's expectations, or a program like UT's expectations. If you believe that it is acceptable for a UT lady vol's bball team to not make the NCAA tournament without some extenuating circumstances like massive injuries to several starters or some terrible team drama, then i don't what to tell you. I hate bringing up UCONN again, but this years team lost 3 of it's best players and another player was also lost for the season and they still made it to the final four this year, making excuses for Coach Jolly and Coach Warlick is just weak as hell.

UConn is not a good example because they still had 2 All Americans and top recruits, tell me how many teams roll out 2 All Americans?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Would a full staff who had no recruiting experience or connections on this level make sense? How? I get not wanting Sam around, but for God's sake hire a recruiter who's been there before. We're acting like lack of experience is a virtue.

For me it’s not just experience at this level, but someone that consistently gets the elite recruits at this level.

 

[Orange007]

sometimes you have to make tough decisions. if a new CEO took over a company and marketing was in shambles, they would likely find a new marketing executive to take over....even if the current person was loved. it shouldn't be surprising that we are revamping all areas of the program.

 

[volfan102455]

The right way to have handled this would have been to announce both at the same time. The way it was handled created the drama - drama that would not have happened if handled in the right way. That assumes the report of the new assistants is true.

The AD department messed this up.

 

[volfan102455]

Maybe the idea was to create the drama - this entire hire has been so filled with DRAMA and leaks of information to create DRAMA.

 

[T_Vol376]

I wouldn’t be so certain. She had to be on his radar after she won the Pat Summitt trophy. She was also just voted the WBCA Newcomer of the year. She’s not the nobody people keep making her out to be.

And I still just have a hard time believing Harper could not have had some sense she was in a tough spot. Have you ever worked with someone you knew was going to get fired but they had NO idea?

Super uncomfortable lol and I don’t mean because you’ve been told. They are just not cutting the mustard or cause issues and you know it’s coming and they are oblivious. If that’s where she was that’s wild to me, especially at this professional level of coaching. I think she deserves more credit than that which would be to assume she had some sense it was coming.

Her last couple pressers still stand out to me as someone who knew their dream was ending. Was hard for me to watch. Especially when she cried during the South Carolina presser. When the coach is crying in the presser it’s generally not a good sign.

Exactly what I thought. When KH started crying in the press conferences, I felt like the end was near. I couldn’t help but recall HW’s last presser - yikes.