Tennessee Women's Basketball Deserves one of the top 5 coaches

[arkyvol]

One has to wonder at what point Holly steps back and admits to herself that, 'hey, I'm in over my head!' More than the damage she's causing to the Lady Vols brand, she must wonder what her own legacy is going to be. She's never going to get within sight of a national championship, and right now, a sweet 16 seems like a pipe dream, things that Lady Vol fans used to take for granted.

 

[Bigorangefaninga]

He makes little of nothing at Oregon for starters, but how about you tell me how none of the top 5 coaches would sign with UT! See you nor anyone else has a clue, heck Bama never thought they would get Saban and look at them now! Some coaches aren't afraid to jump to a big name program and restore glory and get paid to do it. Again though i would take Wes Moore or Sue Semrau any day of the week as they both can out coach Holly, but I have seen high school coaches that could also, so Holly isn't much of a measuring stick!

 

[Undercovervol]

Kelly Graves hasn’t proven anything yet, and his teams aren’t known for good defense. I think he’s a less than stellar recruiter too, but that fixes itself at a place like UT.
Y’all are kidding yourselves if you think UT isn’t a top 3 job in WCBB. We have a solid fan base, stellar recruiting draws, and are the all time winningest program in WCBB history. We have top notch facilities and new athletic dorms. We’re in a power 5 conference too, something I think will eventually end UConn.

 

[Rixxx]

I have heard from this board that a male coach will not happen. Just saying.

 

[bobbyutvol]

I agree Holly is not a great coach like Pat but you have to remember this team is very young and will only get better. Have patience we have great recruits coming in and all this negativity is not good. We are 12-e for the year an we will get better. Holly bleeds ORANGE so stay the course. JMO

 

[Nute Gunray]

Holly Warlick will not be fired as head coach unless the Lady Vols have back to back to back losing seasons. She will be the head coach until she retires 5 or 10 years from now.

The foremost problem in the losses to Missouri and Kentucky is the sub-par performance of the LVs most valuable player, Meme Jackson. The team will go as far as Meme can or will take them. They would have lost to Auburn except for her superior performance.

 

[Voltopia]

I just want to see someone own the situation and take ownership of what is shown on the floor. I want someone to lay claim to the mistakes and say it will not be a trend that continues. I want to see someone step up and vocalize that this is not what Tennessee is about. What was it Pat said? Something about "Most people in the world are average. Do you want to be average? Being average makes me upset." Something like that. I know no one is Pat Summitt but to organize and run a team there has to be accountability and someone setting the expectations. You hope it's the team that does it itself, but some years it has to be the coach doing the level setting. I want to see someone stake that claim. "We will NOT shoot less than 70% from the free throw line." "We will NOT shoot 30% from the field." "We will box out on rebounds." I just want some expectations set. Is Tennessee average now? Or is Tennessee about competing at the highest level? Someone has to own that.

Losing games happens. It's rare to go undefeated. Losses happen all the time. But how Tennessee responds in the face of losing - how they communicate and prepare after having back to back losses - that's going to be a telling part of whether Tennessee is going to compete, or going to be average.

 

[JVol76]

I agree Holly is not a great coach like Pat but you have to remember this team is very young and will only get better. Have patience we have great recruits coming in and all this negativity is not good. We are 12-e for the year an we will get better. Holly bleeds ORANGE so stay the course. JMO

I think the fans have had enough patience with her and she's shown she can't do it no matter how much talent she has. The blind loyalty is absolutely baffling at this point. We're not talking about a coach that's going into her 2nd or 3rd year, she's had enough time and she's just not a good coach and it's time to face facts. Just because someone "bleeds orange" has nothing to do with their ability to coach, develope talent or anything else, that is about as lame an excuse as anyone could come up with.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

Kelly Graves hasn’t proven anything yet, and his teams aren’t known for good defense. I think he’s a less than stellar recruiter too, but that fixes itself at a place like UT.
Y’all are kidding yourselves if you think UT isn’t a top 3 job in WCBB. We have a solid fan base, stellar recruiting draws, and are the all time winningest program in WCBB history. We have top notch facilities and new athletic dorms. We’re in a power 5 conference too, something I think will eventually end UConn.

Graves has 3 Elite Eights. Zero Final Fours

Warlick Has 3 Elite Eights. Zero Final Fours

 

[Coffy73]

I agree Holly is not a great coach like Pat but you have to remember this team is very young and will only get better. Have patience we have great recruits coming in and all this negativity is not good. We are 12-e for the year an we will get better. Holly bleeds ORANGE so stay the course. JMO

Hahahahahaha! Did you recycle this from 4, 3 years ago!? I swear, I see this every time disappointments rack up with the Lady Vol team...it's a delusional cycle. "Oh next year will be great, we have some top, tough recruits coming in, just wait and see"..."The new recruits are better than what we have now"..."We got a #1 coming in, she'll make it better", blah, blah, blah! Holly does not have the ability to develop players, they stagnate at Tenn. now. She can get all top 10 recruits to come into the program and the results will be the same year after year! It's not the recruits, it's Holly. Soon, those top recruits will go elsewhere because they see players growing in other programs; I don't know why they come to Tenn. now!?

Just watch, really watch Holly on the sidelines when things go downward in a game, the other team has scored back to back and the LVs keep making mistakes. She doesn't calm them down and make subs, she's too busy looking at her assistants with her hands in the air, not knowing what to do! When the team does start playing better, like they did too late in the Kentucky game, it's because the players have taken it upon themselves to go all out, not because of anything Holly has said or drawn up.

 

[Govols922]

Spoken like a true fan!

 

[alaVOL]

I agree Holly is not a great coach like Pat but you have to remember this team is very young and will only get better. Have patience we have great recruits coming in and all this negativity is not good. We are 12-e for the year an we will get better. Holly bleeds ORANGE so stay the course. JMO

How long do we go, until we are as depleted as our football team was before we TRY to make it better? Do it smart and get the best coach we can lined up and cut bait.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

How long do we go, until we are as depleted as our football team was before we TRY to make it better? Do it smart and get the best coach we can lined up and cut bait.

Which coach do we sign up to replace Holly?

You used the football program as an example. Here is a list of coaches hired and that failed after Fulmer was fired:
Kiffin
Dooley
Jones
Pruitt - success or failure to be determined

Has the football turnaround been successful a decade later?

 

[vettefool]

Graves has 3 Elite Eights. Zero Final Fours

Warlick Has 3 Elite Eights. Zero Final Fours

Well it people that share your opinion that may keep warlick as our coach. I guess you are pleased with our position in woman’s college basketball. You are entitled to your opinion but it’s wrong all the way. But God bless you keep on believing, soon you’ll have seats right behind the bench and help her pretend to coach. You’ll be one of the five hundred that attend the games.

 

[sisaq]

I agree Holly is not a great coach like Pat but you have to remember this team is very young and will only get better. Have patience we have great recruits coming in and all this negativity is not good. We are 12-e for the year an we will get better. Holly bleeds ORANGE so stay the course. JMO

"We are young and will get better". That term was this yr rite? How about last 6yrs were they young? "A pig will always remain a pig no matter how well wash".

 

[Coach Jumper]

Which coach do we sign up to replace Holly?

You used the football program as an example. Here is a list of coaches hired and that failed after Fulmer was fired:
Kiffin
Dooley
Jones
Pruitt - success or failure to be determined

Has the football turnaround been successful a decade later?

They have certainly made the attempts to

 

[OutofStateFan]

I have heard from this board that a male coach will not happen. Just saying.

I think that is exactly what the team needs -- a male coach.

 

[VOLPAT]

All great number two coaches left to become head coach. Seems like Holly was last number two left with longest tenure so she got the job.

In this particular situation, people were devastated and unsure of exactly what to do. Pat Summitt was the legend and the tower of strength that drove the Lady Vols. I think Pat knew how much Holly loved the program and loved the game itself and above all, would be intensely loyal to the team. Holly is all those things but there is just something missing. Maybe what we all miss, including Holly, is Pat Summitt. Maybe there just has to be a clean sweep made. Fulmer needs to get out there and find someone new, with top notch coaching ability and a "refuse to lose" mind set. This is Tennessee Lady Vols and that name still packs a wallop.

 

[VOLPAT]

Holly Warlick will not be fired as head coach unless the Lady Vols have back to back to back losing seasons. She will be the head coach until she retires 5 or 10 years from now.

The foremost problem in the losses to Missouri and Kentucky is the sub-par performance of the LVs most valuable player, Meme Jackson. The team will go as far as Meme can or will take them. They would have lost to Auburn except for her superior performance.

That is way not fair to Meme. Time outs need to be called and adjustments made by the coaches. It doesn't happen. How many simple layups have been missed in the last few years? They don't even look like the Lady Vols in transition, anymore. Passes are not even crisp and precise. Don't blame that on Meme.

 

[teacherdean]

This is what everyone wanted right? You can't fire Holly because Pat said so............... As long as UT lives in the past, their ghost will control them

But this is not how you honor the memory of the greatest women's basketball coach's memory, by allowing a storied program to decay. In fairness, Holly has had her turn with over 20 5 stars, and systematically keeps falling short.

 

[Rickster]

I think that is exactly what the team needs -- a male coach.

Absolutely not.

 

[rockingchairvol]

Holly has enough service in system to retire. That should be her out with class. No firing, ugliness, and the press etc that goes with it. Holly you have given a lot to your university but it is time to go home, enjoy your retirement and get a life away from basketball..it is not your game to be a head coach.

 

[Nute Gunray]

That is way not fair to Meme. Time outs need to be called and adjustments made by the coaches. It doesn't happen. How many simple layups have been missed in the last few years? They don't even look like the Lady Vols in transition, anymore. Passes are not even crisp and precise. Don't blame that on Meme.

You got to blame this loss on someone other than Holly. Oops, now you know, Nute Gunray is a psuedonym for Holly Warlick. LOL!

 

[glv98]

Absolutely not. It's a woman's game. Players are female and the coaches should be too. Men coaches are nor superior and only a sexist would believe a man is smarter than a woman.

IMO only a sexist would eliminate any person from any job because of the arrangement of their genitalia. Not to speak of how ironic it would be to close off this particular coaching job to either gender since Pat's exact crusade was for gender equality.

Personally I don't care if the next coach is male, female, or any stop in between. Nor do I care if they are white, black, or pink and purple polka dot as long as they can exert control over the team, adjust during games, develop talent, and make Lady Vol Basketball fun again.

 

[Nute Gunray]

Holly has enough service in system to retire. That should be her out with class. No firing, ugliness, and the press etc that goes with it. Holly you have given a lot to your university but it is time to go home, enjoy your retirement and get a life away from basketball..it is not your game to be a head coach.

And walk away from a $675,000 annual salary! Holly is crying all the way to the bank.