Cal to Arkansas

[Dadof2Vols]

Caldwell has been a winner so far in her career. Yes, she’s a gamble but so is every hire outside of maybe about 5.

How many did say or now would say that Ky Cal is a gamble?

 

[volfeeva]

That was an epically dumb statement. Caldwells resume, with an incredible record at smaller schools, is nothing like Dooley’s, who had a losing record. I’m assuming you’re not serious as the only other option is you’re ignorant.

The point I was making is this hire didn't seem like much effort went into it, comparing it to the hiring of Dooley. If reason for firing the current coach is because she was not meeting the expectations of a winning program, then this is the best ya got ? If this was the best hire possible, they should left things in place until the right person with a better resume came along.

 

[VolArmy74]

Kentucky hired Rick Pitino after he failed in the NBA and the Knicks were in chaos. Kentucky hired Tubby from a G5 level school and ran him because he only went to the second round of back to back NCAA tournaments. Kentucky hired BCG after one good year at A&M (where his drinking was a problem, which continued at UK) he hated the job and they fired him. They hired Calipari as he was fleeing the NCAA hammer at Memphis.

I see no reason to think they will get anywhere in the neighborhood of the coach they think. It's career suicide to go there and only Cal's unique ability to sign 5 5 stars every year kept him there as long as it did.

 

[walkenvol]

UK fans are so toxic and I'm not sure why any coach would leave a good situation to come here knowing the pressure cooker that exists here.

Look how toxic some of our fanbase acts towards Barnes and we’ve enjoyed the historically best run ever in our men’s basketball program. Some percentage of fans suck everywhere I guess?

 

[LeannaVol]

Sadly, Big Blue is the winner here.

I think so too. They needed Cal to leave on his own due to the buyout and Arkansas did them a huge favor. The big question is who they get as their next Coach. I think it will be Oats after Hurley, Wright and maybe Donovan turn them down.

I think Cal needed a change but not sure he is going to be rejuvenated with a fresh start at Arkansas (like Barnes was) or if his old habits of relying on the next big freshman 5 star, instead of developing players and a game plan, will continue to be his downfall. I am not sure Cal is capable of changing.

 

[Boston Vol]

Kentucky hired Rick Pitino after he failed in the NBA and the Knicks were in chaos. Kentucky hired Tubby from a G5 level school and ran him because he only went to the second round of back to back NCAA tournaments. Kentucky hired BCG after one good year at A&M (where his drinking was a problem, which continued at UK) he hated the job and they fired him. They hired Calipari as he was fleeing the NCAA hammer at Memphis.

I see no reason to think they will get anywhere in the neighborhood of the coach they think. It's career suicide to go there and only Cal's unique ability to sign 5 5 stars every year kept him there as long as it did.

How did Pitino fail with the Knicks? They had missed the playoffs for three straight years before he was hired. He made it in both of his seasons. The year before he was hired they won 24 regular season games. His second and final season they won 52. Pitino and the GM Al Bianchi hated each other, but Pitino wasn't close to a failure with the Knicks.

 

[volfeeva]

Not even close. Kim is an ascending young coach who has won prolifically throughout her career, while Dooley was a middling, mediocre coach who was nothing more than a safety pick who wouldn't get us in any more trouble. Completely apples and oranges.

I don't get the criticism of DW with this hire. It's not as if his track record here hasn't been excellent. How much different is this from Heupel, another young ascending coach with an exciting, progressive approach to the game?

IMHO you don't fire a coach with a winning record and having gone to the tourney for the last 3 years just so you can replace her with a Div II coach who has only one year coaching in Div I. Yes, she had a winning record.....in mighty Div II Glenville St. Yes, she took powerhouse Marshall to the tourney this year and lost to Va Tech in the first round 92-49. Nothing about her resume screams " must hire now". I hope she balls out and takes the program back to the place Pat had it , but with that thin resume it seems we could have done better or just left things in place.

 

[Boston Vol]

IMHO you don't fire a coach with a winning record and having gone to the tourney for the last 3 years just so you can replace her with a Div II coach who has only one year coaching in Div I. Yes, she had a winning record.....in mighty Div II Glenville St. Yes, she took powerhouse Marshall to the tourney this year and lost to Va Tech in the first round 92-49. Nothing about her resume screams " must hire now". I hope she balls out and takes the program back to the place Pat had it , but with that thin resume it seems we could have done better or just left things in place.

You never hold off firing a coach because you are worried that you won't be able to find a suitable replacement. You hold people accountable for the results they produce. After you have made the decision to fire the coach, then you do the best job you can of finding the coach you believe is the best person for the job. There are a litany of hires throughout the history of college sports that were lauded as grand slams, that turned out to be complete duds. There have also been "wtf" hires that turned out to produce great results.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

IMHO you don't fire a coach with a winning record and having gone to the tourney for the last 3 years just so you can replace her with a Div II coach who has only one year coaching in Div I. Yes, she had a winning record.....in mighty Div II Glenville St. Yes, she took powerhouse Marshall to the tourney this year and lost to Va Tech in the first round 92-49. Nothing about her resume screams " must hire now". I hope she balls out and takes the program back to the place Pat had it , but with that thin resume it seems we could have done better or just left things in place.

There is Danny White and there are wrong opinions such as this…

 

[walkenvol]

Knowing Cal was about to stay while secretly working behind the scenes to leave shows how much of a sleazeball he is. I mean, we already knew it, but just more proof. Completely selfish dude who sat down and lied to the fans when saying he was going to change.

You’re just butt hurt as this is far and away the common way it’s handled. Remember Saban’s comments while at the Dolphins days before he accepted the bama job for example.

 

[VolGee4]

IMHO you don't fire a coach with a winning record and having gone to the tourney for the last 3 years just so you can replace her with a Div II coach who has only one year coaching in Div I. Yes, she had a winning record.....in mighty Div II Glenville St. Yes, she took powerhouse Marshall to the tourney this year and lost to Va Tech in the first round 92-49. Nothing about her resume screams " must hire now". I hope she balls out and takes the program back to the place Pat had it , but with that thin resume it seems we could have done better or just left things in place.

If you decide to wait a year, then the problem most likely gets worse, which makes it even more difficult to find a replacement. If you don't think a coach is the right person for the job, then you make the move.

 

[ITSGR82BATNVOL]

This is what I don't understand about White: Southern Cal needs a coach--hires a coach away from Arkansas. Arkansas
needs a coach--tries to hire away from Mississippi and then Kansas State, ends up hiring away from Kentucky!

Tennessee women (8 national titles, still a high-profile program in a sport that this year got more notice and higher
TV ratings than ever, etc.) need a coach. Two former Vol players--neither of whom had been a major-college winner--failed to
bring the program back to national-contender status, and so most everyone agreed that, after two weak hires, White needed
to hire a proven winner at the major level. Go big, for a change--hire away a winner from another mayor. And what does White do?
He goes small, very small--and cheap: hires a coach 1 year removed from coaching a Div. II college in nowhere West Virginia. Has exactly 1 year of Div. 1 experience--and
that at a mid-major. She had a good year at the mid-major (Marshall)--but c'mon. Totally lame--and even more lame is how the AD
is trying to sell the hire. I don't think he even tried to hired a major-college coach--he was going small from the get-go. Weird, baffling,
annoying. And don't try to spit on women's basketball: It was UT's premier program for many years and generated a TON of national
publicity for the school. And since Summitt retired we've been an also-ran--thanks for a series of dumb, lazy, cheap hires.

I posted it here, before it ever happened, and time has proven me right. PS should have stepped down several years before she did. The program was undeniably in decline her last few years as HC. She should never have been allowed to hand the job over to HW, like she was allowed to do. Then the situation was complicated further by PF settling for a former PS player. If Vol fans learn nothing else, they should learn to stop living in the past, while the future passes them by. Those still hung up on Pat Summit, Payton Manning etc. need to get a life and recognize change is inevitable to future success.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

Oats feels like the no brainer, but again it kind of circles back to the conversation we have had the past couple weeks. This is a different era of college basketball. Only reason Oats would go to Kentucky is ego, which he clearly has. It’s not like money will be substantially better. Alabama can pay top dollar. And Oats hasn’t exactly had trouble getting talent to Alabama either.

Oats may end up being the guy, but wouldn’t surprise me if he said no.

Might play it to his advantage money-wise

 

[malibuvol]

Oats seems like a carbon copy of Cal in a lot of ways

He is...A win at all costs type of guy...

 

[VolTull]

I posted it here, before it ever happened, and time has proven me right. PS should have stepped down several years before she did. The program was undeniably in decline her last few years as HC. She should never have been allowed to hand the job over to HW, like she was allowed to do. Then the situation was complicated further by PF settling for a former PS player. If Vol fans learn nothing else, they should learn to stop living in the past, while the future passes them by. Those still hung up on Pat Summit, Payton Manning etc. need to get a life and recognize change is inevitable to future success.

Yes to all of that.

 

[sami]

IMHO you don't fire a coach with a winning record and having gone to the tourney for the last 3 years just so you can replace her with a Div II coach who has only one year coaching in Div I. Yes, she had a winning record.....in mighty Div II Glenville St. Yes, she took powerhouse Marshall to the tourney this year and lost to Va Tech in the first round 92-49. Nothing about her resume screams " must hire now". I hope she balls out and takes the program back to the place Pat had it , but with that thin resume it seems we could have done better or just left things in place.

You either have a standard that must be maintained or you don't. Going to the tourney and having a winning record are fine for middle of the road programs, but here the Lady Vol standard is Final Fours and championships, and DW pledged to bring UT athletics back to the standards to which they are accustomed. Harper was not meeting those standards, and "just leaving things in place" is not what White was hired to do.

If Caldwell had been hired a month from now after Danny was turned down by his first few choices, I would be more inclined to agree that the process hadn't been well thought out. But he had clearly targeted Kim before making this move, and acted while the opportunity was there. To me, this is a home run hire. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but I like the idea of having a winner with an exciting scheme taking over the program. We'll see.

 

[VolArmy74]

How did Pitino fail with the Knicks? They had missed the playoffs for three straight years before he was hired. He made it in both of his seasons. The year before he was hired they won 24 regular season games. His second and final season they won 52. Pitino and the GM Al Bianchi hated each other, but Pitino wasn't close to a failure with the Knicks.

Read about the circumstances of his leaving. It was toxic chaos.

 

[OrangeInKy]

This comment is gold

 

[VolArmy74]

Look how toxic some of our fanbase acts towards Barnes and we’ve enjoyed the historically best run ever in our men’s basketball program. Some percentage of fans suck everywhere I guess?

They would have had a complete meltdown by year two over Barnes. Their fanbase is 90 percent toxic unless they go to the final four every other year.

 

[turbovol]

You never hold off firing a coach because you are worried that you won't be able to find a suitable replacement. You hold people accountable for the results they produce. After you have made the decision to fire the coach, then you do the best job you can of finding the coach you believe is the best person for the job. There are a litany of hires throughout the history of college sports that were lauded as grand slams, that turned out to be complete duds. There have also been "wtf" hires that turned out to produce great results.

It's essentially an odds game. Programs hire experience coaches because the odds of success are better. It certainly doesn't always work out, but that the play. Kentucky hired Kenny Brooks to coach its women's team about a week or two before Harper was let go. He's a veteran coach who had an impressive 78 percent conference (Colonial Athletic) win rate at James Madison over 14 years then coached Va. Tech for 8 years, compiling a 56 % win rate in the ACC. His last three years with the Hokies were very good (Final Four last year). It will be interesting to see how he and Caldwell fare.

 

[Wahoooo]

Pretty long drive, but once you hit Barstow, you can pretty much cruise I-40 all the way in.

Agree…..best thing to come out of Arkansas is 40 east..,..

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

Dodged a bullet. He could have been LV HC.

Either the pressure was too much and he wanted out or he effectively read the tea leaves and left on his own terms. Pity poor Arky though.

Calipari wasted some darn good talent.

 

[turbovol]

There is Danny White and there are wrong opinions such as this…

Let's stop with the "Danny" myth. Check out Bobby Hurley's record at Arizona State (under 50 percent conference win rate in a weak Pac12). It's astounding he still has a job. Same with Johnny Dawkins--fired at Stanford (under 500 in a Pac12) and exactly .500 conference win rate at Central Florida. In the last four years his team has finished 6th twice, 7th and 9th in the conference this year. His women's coach at UCF has just finished her 2nd year at Georgia; she was next to last in the SEC. Oats has been good, but this notion that "Danny" is some sort of hiring savant is nonsense, apparently springing from Heupel's one good year (in 3). I like Heupel, hope he succeeds, but one good season is just that. Butch J. had a couple of good seasons. Apparently a lot of people mistakenly assumed that White hired Vitello--he didn't.. Nor did he hire any of UT's best coaches--Kredich, Barnes, Woodruff, Weekly. I've got nothing against White, but all this Danny fluff is absurd.

 

[Delmar]

Dodged a bullet. He could have been LV HC.

Either the pressure was too much and he wanted out or he effectively read the tea leaves and left on his own terms. Pity poor Arky though.

Calipari wasted some darn good talent.

No question he was looking for a way out and 80% of Wildcat Nation and the administration wanted him gone. Arkansas bailed both of them out. Kentucky owes them a big present for doing them that favor.

 

[turbovol]

Dodged a bullet. He could have been LV HC.

Either the pressure was too much and he wanted out or he effectively read the tea leaves and left on his own terms. Pity poor Arky though.

Calipari wasted some darn good talent.

He seems not to have learned that you've got to have some experienced, productive, hard-working role players mixed
with your young five stars. His teams are usually very talented and young--and it's hard to win with a lot of young.