Rank Your Realistic Possible New Coaches

#51
#51
rickyyrs said:
OK so your saying if the head coach job for the Lady Vols was to come open. Nikki Caldwell should not apply for the job. Makes no sence.
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I am saying that Nikki and Holly have been best friends for a long time. It would be difficult for Nikki to replace Holly, unless Holly was already gone and asked her to. She would not be the reason for Holly's firing. Chill a bit. I don't have any say about who Fulmer hires but maybe you do. That being said, I would be very happy to have Nikki coach the Lady Vols.
 
#52
#52
Peas29 said:
She should’ve been the 1st choice after Pat if u ask me 🤷🏾‍♂️ Holly problem is that she’s just too nice of a Coach. Meaning her players like her...but do they respect and fear her?
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Agree Peas, she was my first choice too. The way things happened was difficult for everyone.
 
#55
#55
dapeak said:
Alex Simmons
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Good one! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! And she has climbed the coaching ranks nicely! I think hire wes Moore and then have her take over!

Watching ESPN highlites what about Charlie Turner out at Az St. she always has pretty good teams. Or what about Kelli Graves Oregon?
 
#58
#58
aurabass said:
If Holly resigns or is fired it has nothing to do with their friendship if Nikki is offered the job. If Holly is Nikki's friend she would want her to take the open job.[/QUOTE. We will see what the AD does, go from there and continue hoping the Lady Vols get back on that mountain top, where they belong.
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#59
#59
VOLPAT said:
I am saying that Nikki and Holly have been best friends for a long time. It would be difficult for Nikki to replace Holly, unless Holly was already gone and asked her to. She would not be the reason for Holly's firing. Chill a bit. I don't have any say about who Fulmer hires but maybe you do. That being said, I would be very happy to have Nikki coach the Lady Vols.
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Yeah she’s done such a great job at L.S.U. They would love for her to leave on her own accord. I was hoping we would hire Nikki instead of holly, but she’s done nothing at LSU to make me right. Average at best. Maybe she would have set the world on fire here, who knows. She would have been a big improvement over our current coach though.
 
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#60
#60
volnationnj said:
Does that mean that you think we should stick with Holly as our head coach ?
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It only means that there is no one better out there that would come here to take over this program at this point. There are probably 95%, my guess, of women's basketball coaches out there in D1 who would love to come close to the accomplishments she has here. She has not accomplished what many of us want to the point, but look at her overall records. Who is willing to come here that is nowhere near as accomplished and put up with some, minor though it be, hatred that she, a UT player, assistant coach with her life blood invested in the program, VFL, second to Pat, etc. has endured the past few seasons?
 
#61
#61
TN1111 said:
I loved her as a player but no. She had the chance at NC State and was fired because she couldn't get it done.

Wes Moore who replaced her has taken them to new heights - just take a look at their records. Coaching matters. Wes is not just a one year wonder. He owned the Southern Conference when he was at Chattanooga and has won everywhere he's coached.
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Moore would be an almost ideal choice, and certainly safer than most of the realistic choices named (especially with NC State's current success, although we'll see how far they go after playing the tough part of their upcoming schedule and in the tournaments). Don't know how much longer he wants to coach, but if you're looking for someone to right a sinking ship, hard to argue with his choice. And he has a lot of TN connections. I'd be extremely happy if he were hired.

And, yes, sentimentality has a lot to do with my fondness for Kellie (and Nikki).

I wouldn't discount Harper, though. She's had success at WC and at MizzouSt, and the NC State experience may have been humbling but valuable experience. At least she knows the parts of running a program that only comes with head coaching experience beyond the X's & O's, unlike some of the popular choices mentioned. She also was assistant under both Wes Moore and Joe Ciampi, so she has seen a lot of successful mentors up close.

Currently her Lady Bears are tied for first place in the Valley after a slow non-conference start. Her team has performed well against some ranked teams this year, even though she only has one senior on the roster. We'll see what they do against highly-regarded Drake when they meet in a couple of weeks.

I watched them play today, and even though the competition wasn't that stiff, her team was unselfish, moved the ball well and found open players, shifted well on defense, and only had 7 turnovers for the game.

If Moore came and stayed a decade, Harper would still only be in early 50's when he retired. That would be plenty of time to determine if she could prove to the doubters that she could get the job done.

Harper or Fargas would have a lot better material to work with at TN than they have had in the past.

Again, not arguing against getting a proven coach from a major program. But not counting out others who might flourish at their alma mater. Aside from the coaches who have been successful hc for decades at high levels, every "hot" coach had to be given a shot sometime. And even veterans such as Rick Barnes who were fired for stagnant programs have found success elsewhere, as we all know.
 
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#62
#62
Slydell said:
It only means that there is no one better out there that would come here to take over this program at this point. There are probably 95%, my guess, of women's basketball coaches out there in D1 who would love to come close to the accomplishments she has here. She has not accomplished what many of us want to the point, but look at her overall records. ... Who is willing to come here that is nowhere near as accomplished and put up with some, minor though it be, hatred that she, a UT player, assistant coach with her life blood invested in the program, VFL, second to Pat, etc. has endured the past few seasons?
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I can be there tomorrow
 
#65
#65
If the position were to open up, the hiring committee will have a very difficult decision. If Tennessee didn't hire Holly after CPS, I think we would have had a lot of good candidates but not as many as we would right now. I would even go as far as saying the caliber of candidates would even differ considerably. Most people don't want to follow a legend. Now that CPS has been sadly removed for a while and Holly has done her thing, it's going to be easier following Holly and not CPS.

I don't believe the program needs a former player, but I believe some former players need to be in on the decision. Tennessee isn't an ordinary basketball team, it's a prestigious program. You are taking over a "family". Because of this "family" is the reason why I think Holly hasn't been asked to leave yet.

I would almost bet that the new coach will be under 60yo. This program needs someone in the position for the long-haul, not someone retiring in 5-10 years. Because the hire is such a serious position to fill, the candidate will have to have a professional coaching background with a successful record to back up the coaching. Other people have said this and I agree 100% - Tennessee isn't a science experiment, it's the real deal. We don't need to go that direction. I could see WCBB coaches and WNBA coaches going for this position. I would love to see a Cheryl Reaves type of coach.
 
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#66
#66
vettefool said:
Yeah she’s done such a great job at L.S.U. They would love for her to leave on her own accord. I was hoping we would hire Nikki instead of holly, but she’s done nothing at LSU to make me right. Average at best. Maybe she would have set the world on fire here, who knows. She would have been a big improvement over our current coach though.
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I had many of those thoughts as well and wanted Nikki to be the coach. Now, I just want us to get a coach to bring the program back to the top echelon of ladies basketball. It's been so hard watching this slide. The Alabama game was last straw. The staff looks lost, the team not engaged and the AD has to fix it.
 
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#67
#67
VOLPAT said:
I am saying that Nikki and Holly have been best friends for a long time. It would be difficult for Nikki to replace Holly, unless Holly was already gone and asked her to. She would not be the reason for Holly's firing. Chill a bit. I don't have any say about who Fulmer hires but maybe you do. That being said, I would be very happy to have Nikki coach the Lady Vols.
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Fargas has NEVER made it past the Sweet 16 at UCLA or LSU

Bounced in the FIRST Round 3 times

Did not make NCAA Tournament in 2015-2016 season with a 10-21 record

Fargas reeks of mediocrity.

Maybe ya'll have Fargas mixed up with "Pokey" Chapman, who took LSU to 3 consecutive Final Fours.
 
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#68
#68
Franklin Pierce said:
Fargas has NEVER made it past the Sweet 16 at UCLA or LSU

Bounced in the FIRST Round 3 times

Did not make NCAA Tournament in 2015-2016 season with a 10-21 record

Fargas reeks of mediocrity.

Maybe ya'll have Fargas mixed up with "Pokey" Chapman, who took LSU to 3 consecutive Final Fours.
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Ole pokey had an outstanding record at LSU before the actuations of an affair with a former player forced her to resign. I suppose that baggage would preclude her being considered as a college coach again. Similar to Tyler’s situation. Too bad, she would seem to be a option otherwise. Maybe she’s been out of college game too long. Didn’t she get into a dust up with the Baylor head coach? She was a emotional coach.
 
#69
#69
Franklin Pierce said:
Fargas has NEVER made it past the Sweet 16 at UCLA or LSU

Bounced in the FIRST Round 3 times

Did not make NCAA Tournament in 2015-2016 season with a 10-21 record

Fargas reeks of mediocrity.

Maybe ya'll have Fargas mixed up with "Pokey" Chapman, who took LSU to 3 consecutive Final Fours.
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Wish I could love instead of like comments. People need to let the Fargas thing go. She has proven herself not the right person by her tenure at LSU. LSU was prominent. 5 final fours in a row. Fargas has not been able to muster an elite 8 appearance. Holly at least has that on her resume. It would be a lateral move hiring Vargas I believe. Love her and want her to succeed, but not the right move. "Let it go, let it go..."
 
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#70
#70
If Holly was the one who took over at LSU instead of Nikki, do you believe she would have replicated her recruiting and tournament record that she had at Tennessee?
 
#71
#71
volfanIND said:
If the position were to open up, the hiring committee will have a very difficult decision. If Tennessee didn't hire Holly after CPS, I think we would have had a lot of good candidates but not as many as we would right now. I would even go as far as saying the caliber of candidates would even differ considerably. Most people don't want to follow a legend. Now that CPS has been sadly removed for a while and Holly has done her thing, it's going to be easier following Holly and not CPS.
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I completely agree. An outsider following CPS would have been extremely difficult. An outsider following CHW coming off a .500 sec season, and 4 straight years outside the top 3 in the sec. Much easier.
 
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#73
#73
Well as long as we are making a coaching wish list:

1. John Calipari
2. Mike Krzyzewski
3. Rick Barnes

I really have my doubts that Holly gets fired anytime soon, and lets face it, it is highly doubtful she will quit. She will win enough games to receive an invite to the big dance, go out in the first or second round and promise, once again, that things will be better next year with the new recruits. We will all get excited and all lathered up and have dreams of a final four. We will start off great, beating a bunch of cupcakes and beating Texas for the third time in a row. We will be ranked in the top ten. Excitement will abound at TBA and then, the bottom will fall out. SEC teams, with lesser talent, will beat us into a coma. In Holly's pressers she will look like a deer looking into headlights. We will start to drop like a 2 ton rock as we drop out of the top ten and then the top 20. We Negators will ask for Holly's head while the Holly Hucksters talk about how wonderful she is and hope she stays forever. Administration and the AD will sat on their butts and do absolutely zip. In reality, it is a vicious circle.
 
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#74
#74
Throw all the money you can at the Coach at Louisville. However this will never happen because: (1)We are not going to spend high and (2)He is male.
 
#75
#75
Get Nell to be interim for rest of this year. She could coach them up and still have her job at ESPN. Anyone but holly. It is past time. Save our lady vols
 
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