I agree about the picture being unnecessary but think Kellie would just laugh at it and might even be flattered that (some) fans are even considering her.
Kellie is my sentimental favorite as she is one of my all-time favorite Lady Vols. I can relate to her, Nikki McCray, and other gritty "glue" role players more than many other favorite LVs who were superstars, which may influence my thinking. Having said that, I can understand the reservations about her.
While not discounting her tenure at NC State, it does come to mind that she was very young at the time and perhaps not quite ready for the big time. Wes Moore had lots of years at smaller schools to hone his craft, and Kellie's resume might look a lot better if her destiny had taken her in that direction. Still, the experience was invaluable. And other successful coaches have had similar setbacks, just as some have had a lot of success earlier but their "what have you done for me lately?" record doesn't look so hot. I love Nikki Caldwell Fargas...and her UCLA record indicated that her future looked very bright. Unfortunately, it hasn't panned out so well at LSU, although I hope that she gets another shot at reviving a program should they make a change (like Barnes at UT). The point is that circumstances change and coaches learn from experiences.
So I have mixed feelings about Kellie for many reasons. She obviously loves her current team, and they (and the community) seem to have embraced her. She is recruiting well, and her underclassmen are looking great (obviously). She is reinventing the culture there (previous coach was successful X's and O's and had a good record but was so abrasive that she alienated players, parents, and fans, from what I can gather). The fan base is excited. I'd think that Kellie and Jon would find it hard to leave them at this time, although they do have MoSt legend Jackie Styles as assistant. She might be ready to take over should Kellie leave, although Jackie has had recent health issues that almost took her eyesight in one eye.
Kellie also has a six-year-old son (Jackson) and ten-month-old daughter (Kylie). That takes a toll on a young family, and the Tennessee job would be much more demanding. The Harpers would be in a fishbowl under a lot of scrutiny and high expectations for immediate success.
The current disfunctional state of the UT program will require a firm hand, a disciplinarian, a coach with impeccable credentials who can't be bullied or second-guessed by players (and nuisance parents), and who has shown the ability to turn a program around quickly. He/she has to have the ability to work with top-talent players and subjugate their egos for the sake of the team (while proving to them that doing they will enhance their individual skills in the process and thus garner more attention for any future playing careers). It's a tricky balance to be able to simultaneously achieve both individual goals and team goals while keeping everyone relatively happy. As my old coach with multiple state championships used to tell us: "Winning is more fun than not winning." Winning may not solve every problem with "team chemistry," but it takes care of a lot of them.
So does Kellie have what it takes to do that? I don't know. I think she does, but it's a tall order...which is why there are so few "big-name" coaches at the top of everyone's list of "top coaches." There are a lot of up-and-comers who have succeeded lately, but there's no guarantee that they will duplicate their success with a change of venue, either.
Selfishly, I would love to see Kellie come here and become the next Pat and finish her career here with multiple championships and Final Fours. That's a storybook ending. At the same time, I would hate for her to come here and not meet expectations and go through even a portion of the wrath Holly has brought down (self-inflicted or not). We've also become Lady Bears fans, and I always hate to see a young team lose their coach to the poaching of a larger school even though it's part of the biz. Above all, I want Kellie and her husband and family to be happy. What they make at MoSt is not pocket change, and happiness and financial comfort is more important than ambition...as much as Kellie loves Tennessee. And yes, hiring a former LV has advantages and disadvantages. It would be a lot harder in some respects to fire Kellie than Holly if it came to that.
Maybe the best case scenario would be to have a Wes Moore come in and immediately take charge. He's demonstrated that he can handle talented players, and he likely wouldn't have any problem imposing his will and demanding that the current players either buy into his system or pack their bags and head for greener pastures. The ones who want to be coached will stay (hopefully, all), new recruits with the same mindset will reload and enhance the program, and we'll likely see quick results. Moore might stay for 8-10 years...during which time Kellie can show if she has "the right stuff" to take over a major program such as UT. She'd only be around 50 if Moore retired after righting the ship, and she'd be coming into a stable program.
Just some thoughts that have been simmering for a few months.
