Coach Kellie Harper

[StorrsCentral]

IMHO, you need a coach that is a hard ass. Coaches like Geno, Dawn, Kim, Vic, Jeff ,etc., always get the attention of the refs. What got my attention was the timeout before the LVs steal and layup after making a bucket. At this point the coach is trying to intimidate the ref, hoping for some payback later in the game. What I saw was a woman in distress, putting her hands over her face, and pleading with the ref with what looked like tears in her eyes. It seemed that she, instead of getting on the ref, was trying to get him to feel sorry for her. That is the first time I have ever felt that way about a coach, and to me, not a very flattering display by a coach. Also, in the pre-game talk, I think Kellie said all the right things, but her delivery and demeaner did not show any great emotion to fire up the troops.

 

[Majors]

IMHO, you need a coach that is a hard ass. Coaches like Geno, Dawn, Kim, Vic, Jeff ,etc., always get the attention of the refs. What got my attention was the timeout before the LVs steal and layup after making a bucket. At this point the coach is trying to intimidate the ref, hoping for some payback later in the game. What I saw was a woman in distress, putting her hands over her face, and pleading with the ref with what looked like tears in her eyes. It seemed that she, instead of getting on the ref, was trying to get him to feel sorry for her. That is the first time I have ever felt that way about a coach, and to me, not a very flattering display by a coach. Also, in the pre-game talk, I think Kellie said all the right things, but her delivery and demeaner did not show any great emotion to fire up the troops.

when she’s frazzled she pulls her hair back frantically. Glad I wasn’t the only one to acknowledge the lack of passion speech.

 

[Jax_Vol]

Bet Kellie is rooting for Gino to beat Kara.

 

[glv98]

Totally agree and as it has been said before, those teams fell into the abyss bc they are mid major schools, apples and oranges to UT.

We are, tho, like the West Virginia, Ole Miss, Oklahomas of the current time. Not top tier. Next tier some days, flirt with top tier some days, but right now not a top tier program, which hurts, but could also change quickly. The deficit is in recruiting...is that the coach "not closing," poor NIL, a whopping dose of bad luck...likely a mixture but until it changes, this is likely where we will be.

But, I still love the Lady Vols... spent another season overly emotionally invested in a group that I realistically have zero ties to, and am darn grateful for Rickea especially, but all of the team and staff. Notions that they don't care or don't work are absolutely insane to me...they all work their butts off and if I didn't enjoy watching them, I wouldn't watch them and certainly wouldn't claim them as "my team." Lady Vol bball fan for life over

Great post. Thanks.

Deshields: Very talented, very athletic, very erratic. Made a lot of bad decisions on the court.

DD was def not on my fave list when she was here, or when she left. But I've been really impressed w how much she's grown up as a pro. She'll be an important mentor for RJ as she goes to the W, esp if she goes to the Sky. They're already friends, and DD was apparently important in RJ's decision to stay last year.

when she’s frazzled she pulls her hair back frantically. Glad I wasn’t the only one to acknowledge the lack of passion speech.

The hair issue strikes me as sexist. Want to talk about Wes Moore's "hair"? He better not pull on that thing! Coaches are human, they have gestures. If it's a woman, it gets magnified though, esp if involves appearance. So funny you'd say this and then immediately swing to "lack of passion". That's a real damned if you do and damned if you don't. Be passionate, but only in certain ways.

If you think performative coach rage is a key to success, you're going to be disappointed. Kellie sees that as key to the reason this team was often able to pull together and come back from large deficeits (and yes, they shouldn't get behind to start with). She mentioned again yesterday that this team never gets too high, never gets too low, and never panics. That's one of the reasons RJ fit in well here, she plays exactly the same way. The announcers commented again on her very even game face. They can all have a quick outburst over a play, but then they lock back in immediately.

It's just a coaching and playing style, and frankly, not all that important. Would be interesting to see if we got a yeller and screamer in as coach how that would go over. It's really just rearranging deck chairs.

 

[cthvolsfan]

IMHO, you need a coach that is a hard ass. Coaches like Geno, Dawn, Kim, Vic, Jeff ,etc., always get the attention of the refs. What got my attention was the timeout before the LVs steal and layup after making a bucket. At this point the coach is trying to intimidate the ref, hoping for some payback later in the game. What I saw was a woman in distress, putting her hands over her face, and pleading with the ref with what looked like tears in her eyes. It seemed that she, instead of getting on the ref, was trying to get him to feel sorry for her. That is the first time I have ever felt that way about a coach, and to me, not a very flattering display by a coach. Also, in the pre-game talk, I think Kellie said all the right things, but her delivery and demeaner did not show any great emotion to fire up the troops.

My wife commented that her reaction and the looks on her face looked like someone who thought her job was on the line during that game.

 

[glv98]

Bet Kellie is rooting for Gino to beat Kara.

I'll bet Kellie could not care less. Ya'll don't want to believe this, but I have a much better chance of being the LVs next coach than Kara Lawson. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the program and of the university administration knows this.

 

[Majors]

Great post. Thanks.

DD was def not on my fave list when she was here, or when she left. But I've been really impressed w how much she's grown up as a pro. She'll be an important mentor for RJ as she goes to the W, esp if she goes to the Sky. They're already friends, and DD was apparently important in RJ's decision to stay last year.

The hair issue strikes me as sexist. Want to talk about Wes Moore's "hair"? He better not pull on that thing! Coaches are human, they have gestures. If it's a woman, it gets magnified though, esp if involves appearance. So funny you'd say this and then immediately swing to "lack of passion". That's a real damned if you do and damned if you don't. Be passionate, but only in certain ways.

If you think performative coach rage is a key to success, you're going to be disappointed. Kellie sees that as key to the reason this team was often able to pull together and come back from large deficeits (and yes, they shouldn't get behind to start with). She mentioned again yesterday that this team never gets too high, never gets too low, and never panics. That's one of the reasons RJ fit in well here, she plays exactly the same way. The announcers commented again on her very even game face. They can all have a quick outburst over a play, but then they lock back in immediately.

It's just a coaching and playing style, and frankly, not all that important. Would be interesting to see if we got a yeller and screamer in as coach how that would go over. It's really just rearranging deck chairs.

Not really, I had a habit of twirling mine as a young man, miss that hair now. Everyone has a nervous tendency…it doesn’t know sex. But nice try.

 

[glv98]

Not really, I had a habit of twirling mine as a young man, miss that hair now. Everyone has a nervous tendency…it doesn’t know sex. But nice try.

Then why call KJH out for hers as if it's a sign of weakness? Except the obvious that every breath she takes is proof of her incompetence to you. Damn, it's going to be a long summer.

BTW, you and I are just happy to have hair to twirl at this point in our journey.

 

[knoxvol52]

What category would you put a post by someone who poo poo's on the Ohio State Basketball players sister story who has Down's Syndrome?

 

[Orange Maniac]

I'm going to say something about the "lack of passion" speech before the game. How many times a year can you use the hair on fire speech before a game? If it's almost every game like some on here desire, the effect turns into the "cry wolf" syndrome. It gets tuned out. The fact is a coach needs to know when to bring it. Maybe it could have been a little more passionate, but she was treating this team like young women with a job to do. They did it in the first quarter and were competitive. The second quarter was the killer and that's way past time that a fiery speech would have much effect. Key on the bench and other players performing well below their capabilities, except for Jackson, helped seal the deal. We even had a very good shot to win in the end but we all know what happened there.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Underdogs means that the other team is supposed to win. They were a higher seed, at home, and a Vegas 5.5 favorite.

Yea great effort.

The question is were they a higher seed because they were playing together as a team more than UT, had better coaching, had better Athletes or had padded their resume more during the season?

The underdog or favorite had nothing to do with this game. UT should have won the question is why they didn’t just like several other games this year.

The orange colored glasses need to be taken off and a full examination of the problems and where the program is going needs to be honestly evaluated.

 

[Go aeiou]

Then why call KJH out for hers as if it's a sign of weakness? Except the obvious that every breath she takes is proof of her incompetence to you. Damn, it's going to be a long summer.

BTW, you and I are just happy to have hair to twirl at this point in our journey.

Both of you are lucky.

 

[Go aeiou]

Wes Moore record at NCSU: 271-81
KH record at NCSU: 70-64

Not sure Moore's record is up to date.

 

[Majors]

Then why call KJH out for hers as if it's a sign of weakness? Except the obvious that every breath she takes is proof of her incompetence to you. Damn, it's going to be a long summer.

BTW, you and I are just happy to have hair to twirl at this point in our journey.

I’ve taken a softer approach since the 1.1 seconds left loss. As the camera panned to her, it was my feelings of her being in over her head expressed by her. She’s human and so am I. I’ve stated I would love for her to prove me wrong, I have no issues saying I was wrong. Unfortunately for her, it won’t get easier as her best player in 20 years moved on.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

If Kellie is coming back, which I 100% believe, D. White needs to come out with a message of support and congrats to Kellie soon to stop the rumor mill if nothing else just for the sake of recruiting. Transfers are watching.

 

[VolBall09]

Wes Moore record at NCSU: 271-81
KH record at NCSU: 70-64

Not sure Moore's record is up to date.

Moore is the coach we should have hired when Pat stepped down. I think he’s said he would never coach at Tennessee, but we all know money talks.

He would have been a home run hire imo because he was older and has the personality and likability that would please the blue hairs. And he’s also a fantastic coach who wins way more than he loses which would have pleased young fans and former LVs.

Being stuck on having a LVFL lead Pats program is what has us in this position we are in. That was the wrong move from the jump. Pat built that program with help from lots of great players over the years. Not a single one of them was qualified to follow in her footsteps as head coach. Holly most of all, who thought it was a good idea to hand the program to someone who had never been a head coach in 30 years?

 

[glv98]

I’ve taken a softer approach since the 1.1 seconds left loss. As the camera panned to her, it was my feelings of her being in over her head expressed by her. She’s human and so am I. I’ve stated I would love for her to prove me wrong, I have no issues saying I was wrong. Unfortunately for her, it won’t get easier as her best player in 20 years moved on.

You have, I noticed. Even her harshest critic can't be enjoying KJH absolute anguish. So close, and yet so far. No doubt, next year is going to be a huge challenge.

If Kellie is coming back, which I 100% believe, D. White needs to come out with a message of support and congrats to Kellie soon to stop the rumor mill if nothing else just for the sake of recruiting. Transfers are watching.

And someone help her get some damn NIL money so we can put that to rest as a reason her recruiting is lagging.

 

[VolBall09]

If Kellie is coming back, which I 100% believe, D. White needs to come out with a message of support and congrats to Kellie soon to stop the rumor mill if nothing else just for the sake of recruiting. Transfers are watching.

Well, her fault for losing so much. I don’t understand the “we should stay mum to help her out crowd.” Even with some good transfers we still don’t have the staff who can get it done.

 

[glv98]

Holly most of all, who thought it was a good idea to hand the program to someone who had never been a head coach in 30 years?

Pat Summitt, apparently. But still a bad idea.

 

[Chippo]

Well, her fault for losing so much. I don’t understand the “we should stay mum to help her out crowd.” Even with some good transfers we still don’t have the staff who can get it done.

Need some good assistant coaches as well.

 

[VolBall09]

Becky Hammon or bust. I want to win some games yall. I’m over this.

 

[VolBall09]

Need some good assistant coaches as well.

Joy and Sam do a nice job IMO. Joy is a great players coach and Sam gets the recruits there. It’s the Harpers who can’t close the deal.

Jon has gotta go, I’m so done with him. If she fires an assistant it better be him. If it’s either of the other two I would sue if I were them. Real talk.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

You have, I noticed. Even her harshest critic can't be enjoying KJH absolute anguish. So close, and yet so far. No doubt, next year is going to be a huge challenge.

And someone help her get some damn NIL money so we can put that to rest as a reason her recruiting is lagging.

Not trying to be argumentative but I believe there are a lot of people who have lost faith with the direction of the program and will not contribute until they have faith.

Faith might be gained through positive movement of the program or a coaching change but to just keep saying people need to contribute will not get a lot of big dogs to jump off porch.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Well, her fault for losing so much. I don’t understand the “we should stay mum to help her out crowd.” Even with some good transfers we still don’t have the staff who can get it done.

Don't read too much into my post. I am at best middle of the road on Kellie as the HC, just saying if she is staying, D. White needs to giver her a chance in the recruiting world. Opposing coaches use everything they can against a rival coach in recruiting. Probably some assistant changes would be good thing.

 

[glv98]

Not trying to be argumentative but I believe there are a lot of people who have lost faith with the direction of the program and will not contribute until they have faith.

Faith might be gained through positive movement of the program or a coaching change but to just keep saying people need to contribute will not get a lot of big dogs to jump off porch.

I've never thought 'a lot of people', esp average fans like us, will make much difference. They need professional donor development of a few deep pockets.

I'd just like to see it set up for whoever the coach is in the future. It will be alot easier to get a home run hire if NIL is in place.

That said, I believe we are in an NIL no man's land right now until things get straightened out and clarified. Everyone knows it's not going to stay the Wild West it is now. For the women, the role of Title IX will be a big factor.