Official: UT hires Kim Caldwell as the new coach for Lady Vols basketball

[TechnoVol]

NIL money will take care of some of that problem.

And that comes from donors who support the LV. Will they donate to support the new coach?

 

[tnvols72]

She doesn’t even think she can recruit, so why should we?

Kellie was not exactly killing it in recruiting and her teams looked like they were playing street ball. Kellie should have never been hired in the 1st place. Getting 1 or 2 good players a class isnt great recruiting

 

[PRG]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but some folks need to take the orange glasses off and see this program for what it is. The Lady Vol's "brand" just simply isn't what it used to be. The longer Pat Summitt is gone, the farther this program slips into mediocrity. Pat Summitt was the face of women's college basketball for a very long time. She was a once in a lifetime talent. However, women's college basketball, and all of college sports for that matter, is a different animal today than it was in the 90's and early 2000's. The game evolved, but the Lady Vol's program unfortunately, and in my opinion, foolishly needed to keep the memory of the Summitt legacy ongoing with its previous 2 coaching hires. With the introduction of NIL and a generation of young individuals who are more worried about what to post on Tik Tok or how many followers they have on Instagram, I think even coach Summitt would look at the game, and the individuals playing it today, and say, "No thanks, I'll pass."

I think it's good that DW went out of the Lady Vol's family tree to find a coach. While the last two coaches were close to this program, they had a mountainous shadow cast over them and the ghost of season's past visited them often. This fanbase desperately clung to the hope that a Summitt connected coach could keep the Lady Vol's legacy on track only to be met with growing disappointment year after year. A young, talented, eager coach with no ties to Tennessee, but has a record of winning, may be the best thing DW could have done. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she was a DII coach, she coached at Marshall, it wasn't in the SEC...I know. But why would any successful and well established coach come to Tennessee only to get constantly compared to the Legend that has her own statue on campus and the floor you play on night after night bears her name? The answer is, they wouldn't. Summitt's shoes are impossible to fill. Not only that, they were a limited edition one-off pair. Tennessee just got new shoes. Give Caldwell a chance. Who knows, maybe she'll create her own legacy here.

Kellie played South Carolina to within 11 points and then 8 points and then 1! Iowa 12… NC St. 19, and Oregon 12 points … just saying… During her time here she’s coached 4 years in a row a top WNBA drafted player ! People say she should have won more with these highly ranked players…. But if you look closer… most of the times she had these players hurt and very rarely were two of them playing together! Mostly top 50-40-30 ranked players and some 3star ranked players sprinkled in. She couldn’t get the multiple top 10-20 players to commit. But next year …. #18 Cooper, #29 Boyd, and 2025 #16 Brooks… That would have been 3 higher rated players playing together for her first time ever ! What would have happened? We will never know ! And with Chastain ( a potential once in a life time commit/verbal ) ?

Will the new coach be able to keep these top ranked recruits Kellie had coming ? If not …. things are probably going to get ugly real soon ! JMO

 

[Coach Jumper]

Sounds like Gottlieb and Moren from Indiana for sure said no. No other credible reports I can see.

There are no more

 

[VolBall09]

There are no more

Except you, right?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Volstylexx is going through some tough times right now. He predicted that Hammon, Staley, Gottlieb, Schaefer, and Moore would be lined up outside of Danny White's door begging for the job because of "the LV brand" and that White would spend whatever $ needed becasue he does not tolerate less than a championship. When none that happened, he has pivoted to the idea that the great Danny White could have had anyone he wanted but was just too cheap to make a great hire.

But let's break this down. Marshall losing to Va tech in the NCAA tournament opening round is more a reflection of the massive talent gap between the 2 schools. Marshall is not a powerhouse, even if they won their conference. As for her saying that she we will have to learn to recruit at the D1, well there is a lot she will have to learn about life as a d1 coach. What is could she say?. Let's hope she is a fast learner.

While I don't think Danny White is infallible, he clearly is not incompetent. I am sure he had significant conversations about recruiting when making this decision. Again, how she actually does remains an open question but no reason to get the pitch forks out yet.

As for a player transferring, that happens and it could have been for a 100 reasons that had nothing to do with the coach.

You have seen the pluses related to overall coaching success. Yes at D2 and Marshall but she has been able to win at every level. Maybe she really has that intangible it factor.

Right now, many people are being very ego-invested in being "right" about the hire (its great! its a catastrophe!!). But it is just generating a lot needless negativity. Caldwell is now the coach and that ain;t changing. So, we might as well hope for the best.

But they loss by 40+ without Kitley, that’s like taking Rickea off our team, they should have competed better.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Marshalls roster had holes also. Check out the previous record before winning the conference in year 1 and making the NCAA

So do u think we can win the conference with this roster?

 

[Coach Jumper]

Except you, right?

stay tuned
;o)

 

[VolBall09]

Legit question. Does Chastain do ANYTHING but shoot threes? I spent the last two days looking at her film and I don’t think I even saw her dribble the ball. Just shot a bunch of open set shot threes.

Kid can shoot it, but she reminds me a lot of Pissott. Not convinced she’ll be in the top 40 of her class by the time she’s a senior. As a freshman at Montverde she averaged 5 points, less than a board a game, less than half and assist per game in 29mpg. She played a lot but doesn’t impact the game much

 

[VolBall09]

stay tuned
;o)

lol. Sure thing

 

[BigALWiLson]

So do u think we can win the conference with this roster?

Depends on what can be attained through portal. I would like to add im not making a definitive argument for this coming year. I think she will have some success early though. SC is the standard right now in the SEC. Compete and don't get blown out and win the games you should. Make the tourney and win one game in the Conference tourney. Thats a solid start

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Tennessee D used to be 40 minutes of dread. This season under Kellie it was 40 minutes of tread(ing) water to stay in the dang game.

The defense won’t change unless the roster changes.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Legit question. Does Chastain do ANYTHING but shoot threes? I spent the last two days looking at her film and I don’t think I even saw her dribble the ball. Just shot a bunch of open set shot threes.

Kid can shoot it, but she reminds me a lot of Pissott. Not convinced she’ll be in the top 40 of her class by the time she’s a senior. As a freshman at Montverde she averaged 5 points, less than a board a game, less than half and assist per game in 29mpg. She played a lot but doesn’t impact the game much

I’ve watched her games this season, and yes she shoots mostly 3’s because that’s her roll right now. I think next season and beyond she will have a bigger role and show more skills

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Depends on what can be attained through portal. I would like to add im not making a definitive argument for this coming year. I think she will have some success early though. SC is the standard right now in the SEC. Compete and don't get blown out and win the games you should. Make the tourney and win one game in the Conference tourney. Thats a solid start

I only care about winning, I don’t do moral victories for any team, so let’s see who we get in the portal.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Immediate Concerns:
Transfer Portal Closes 1 May
Who goes and who stays
Kelly's recruits and retention
Staff hires, if any.
No practices? When does team mtgs and practices stop.
How quickly can the transition take place.
NIL $$$$ available

 

[th2421]

As for a player transferring, that happens and it could have been for a 100 reasons that had nothing to do with the coach.

At least externally, Scott said the new style at Marshall wasn't a fit, but yeah, you never know.

 

[Orange_Mamba]

When is the press conference?

 

[BigALWiLson]

I only care about winning, I don’t do moral victories for any team, so let’s see who we get in the portal.

Making the tournament with this roster and whatever she can add in the portal is the first test. That's minimum expectations from the start. Anything else is bonus but the expectations will grow and rightfully so

 

[brittannica]

When is the press conference?

 

[turbovol]

The ignorance of this post. If anyone could win there, then they would have won every year before she got there. *Breaking News* they didn't.

This reminds me of how everyone didn't want JH, and he's killed it. She has won literally everywhere she's been, she will here too.

Heupel has "killed it"? Please. He's had one good year in 3. I like the guy--but don't be ridiculous. Butch Jones had good years, too. And Caldwell "has won everywhere she's been"? Also ridiculous: Here's where she's been: Glenville State and 1 year at Marshall.

 

[th2421]

Thanks I’m trying to wrap my head around exactly that. Simply no one wanted it. That’s a stunner for longtime fans.

I hear you. I am a little shocked that no one wanted it, but if you go down the list of potential candidates, each of them would've brought their own question marks, IMO. I can see that if White's philosophy is that you're either trending downwards, treading water, or on the rise, then Caldwell is your best shot (or at least on a shortlist).

Hammon would've had big question marks about adjusting to college coaching (see: Steph White), coaches like Gottlieb and Close have been excellent recruiters on the west coast but are very questionable in terms of Xs and Os IMO (in Gottlieb's case, lots of ISO ball, sound familiar?), coaches like Frese and Walz bring some baggage and seem to be on a downward trajectory (could be due to NIL at their respective schools, but we don't know), coaches like Moren and Payne have slowly built very good programs but have question marks as recruiters and about how they'll do with program mainstays leaving the last 1-2 years (Berger, Holmes, Sherrod, etc.), and of course, there was likely never a real shot at coaches like Ivey and Staley who are synonymous with their programs.

I liked Rueck as a candidate, but he hasn't finished in his conference top 3 in 6 years. I also would've liked Fortier, but maybe she's perfectly happy at Gonzaga (and would come with her own question marks about recruiting at this level, and recruiting on the east coast/nationally). I think Tomekia Reed would've been interesting, kind of opposite styles to Caldwell (e.g., Jackson St. didn't really force turnovers, but they were 3rd in the NCAA in FG% defense), but if you think offense and fast pace sells tickets (and can be successful), Caldwell makes sense over her.

 

[madtownvol]

At least externally, Scott said the new style at Marshall wasn't a fit, but yeah, you never know.

Good info. A player transferring because they dont fit the system is really not an indictment of the coach, which seemed to be the insinuation of the OP.

 

[Majac]

Interesting! I do really enjoy that style of play, I like a team that forces turnovers and gets up and down. Maybe not so keen on the frequent line change subs, but if you’re going to play with the energy she requires it’s best to do it in 2-3 minutes increments.

Mentally that is a good setup for young players too. You just need them to go in and go hard for 2-3 minutes at a time. They aren’t out there long enough to make compounding mistakes and knock their confidence. Plus, this gets a lot of players on the floor which is a very, very good thing in the days of the transfer portal.

To those really quality players transferring who probably know they are coming off the bench somewhere Tennessee should suddenly look very attractive. Because the way she coaches about 10 players are going to get 18 plus minutes a game.

Kelly was doing that and was vilified.

 

[spojo13]

Interesting! I do really enjoy that style of play, I like a team that forces turnovers and gets up and down. Maybe not so keen on the frequent line change subs, but if you’re going to play with the energy she requires it’s best to do it in 2-3 minutes increments.

Mentally that is a good setup for young players too. You just need them to go in and go hard for 2-3 minutes at a time. They aren’t out there long enough to make compounding mistakes and knock their confidence. Plus, this gets a lot of players on the floor which is a very, very good thing in the days of the transfer portal.

To those really quality players transferring who probably know they are coming off the bench somewhere Tennessee should suddenly look very attractive. Because the way she coaches about 10 players are going to get 18 plus minutes a game.

I hated when Kellie would sub players out left and right even when a group is doing well. The thoughts of 5 in and 5 out makes me nervous. I don’t know if you are getting 10 quality players with no drop off unless you are Dawn Staley.

 

[Majac]

I have probably been too negative toward this hire. I really do wish her the best but can't stand her brand of basketball. Run and gun teams have a tendency to win by 50 or lose by 50. Some of you like this style and I'm OK with that. Go to the games, make a large donation and enjoy. After 20 years with season tickets I'm ready to move on. Wish me best, if you can.