Kim Caldwell (Rookie Coach of the Year-WBCA) is named Head Coach of Iconic Lady Vols WBB

[Volstylexx]

Imagine comparing her record to what Urban Meyer did at Utah….

I get the gyst of the poster’s argument, and Stephens may turn out to be that quality of coach. I just disagree that a program of our pedigree should ever take that risk, especially when we’re at the crossroads of irrelevance.

 

[85SugarVol]

She would be a black eye for our program forever!

 

[madtownvol]

But that's one of the primary reasons for making a change. White was supposed to have this diabolical plan in mind whereupon he had a "home-run hire" already on board and a big warchest from which to fling bucks at this site thing. The new goat was supposed to guarantee top immediate transfers and get commitments from top h.s recruits. Finally, this new coach was supposed to be able to immediately mold a team that could be competing for championships.

That's what we were assured was going to happen. Improvement would mean at least 22 reg.season wins, Top 2 SEC finish, appearing in SECT title game, and Elite Eight. All this should be no later than Year 2 (Year 3 if we show patience).

Or Kim Caldwell same diff, more or less….

 

[volbeast33]

The 2025 class is the bar, if we can get one of the top classes we can compete for a championship by the 2nd season. If we are not getting the players that tells me we won’t be winning for a long time.

Her is what Dawn did her first four years at SC. I think our hire will do better than this.

 

[spojo13]

I understand your point of how they turned out. I don’t see anything in her record so far to suggest she’s that type of hire. It’s quite unfathomable to me that she would ever be under any real consideration.

Caldwell’s 1 year of D1 experience is exactly the same as Meyer in his 4th year taking undefeated Utah to a BCS bowl before Florida hiring him, don’t ya know?

 

[creekdipper]

Well how many recruits were signed in 2022 and 2023 ? That is rhetorical ....zero ...none .....nil .Whose fault was that ? That is rhetorical ....Coach Harper and friends. The only players of quality came out of the portal ....Jackson and Spear .Jackson is gone so how does that leave the cupboard .....that is rhetorical ....in bad,bad shape.

Who was the AD during those years? Did he not notice?

 

[Enki_Amenra]

I understand your point of how they turned out. I don’t see anything in her record so far to suggest she’s that type of hire. It’s quite unfathomable to me that she would ever be under any real consideration when are there sooooo many coaches out there who would jump at the chance to come to TN (and who are more proven).

It's ok to disagree. I believe she would be one of the best hires that could be made - aside from landing a coach with a history like Rick Barnes.

Either way, Stephens makes perfect sense with DW's hiring history.

 

[yoyoyoyo]

Correct. Pat Summit understood this with her “You don't take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby” quote.

How do you think those recruiting battles against Dawn and Mulkey are going to go? “Come play for me at Tennessee. I won a title in Division 2”

Bruce Pearl did ok here.

 

[turbovol]

This isn’t Danny’s first rodeo with b-ball coaches.

Bobby Hurley(Buffalo): 42-20 (25-11 conference), 1 Regular Season Conference Championship, 1 Conference Tournament Championship, 1 NCAAT app. Hired @ Arizona State

Nate Oats (Buffalo): 96-43 (52-20 conference), 2 Regular Season Conference Championships, 3 Conference Tournament Championships, 3 NCAAT app. Hired @ Alabama

Felisha Legette-Jack (Buffalo Women): 202-116 (111-68 conference), 3 Conference Tournament Championships, 4 NCAAT app. Hired @ Syracuse

Johnny Dawkins(UCF): 148-103 (72-72 conference) 1 NCAAT app.

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (UCF Women): 131-49 (68-26 conference), 1 Conference Regular Season Championship, 1 Conference Tournament Championship, 3 NCAAT app. Hired @ Georgia

Have you checked the records of this group?

---Bobby Hurley is very lucky to still have a job. In 9 seasons at Arizona State, his Pac12 conference record is a poor 79--88 (47 percent win percentage). And the Pac12 is not a strong basketball conference. I'm truly surprised he hasn't been sacked. Three NCAA appearances--lost twice in the first round and lost in a play-in game. Ironic that the celebrated brother with 2 national titles has sputtered as a coach while the brother who wasn't much of a player, I don't think, has a coaching national title.

---White hired Johnny Dawkins at Central Florida after Dawkins had 8 poor seasons at Stanford and got fired. Like Hurley, his Pac12 record was bad: 66--78 in the conference while at Stanford (a win percentage of 46%). Dawkins hasn't done much better at UCF: In 8 seasons his conference record is 72-72--50 percent. His team in the last 4 seasons has finished 6th, 6th, 7th and 11th (this season) in the conference. One NCAA appearance.

---Abrahamson-Henderson had a nice run at UCF before being hired by Georgia. So far, it's been a struggle: 12 and 20 in the conference. She's 57 and so not exactly a comer.

---White hired Legette-Jack at Buffalo after she had a dismal 6 years at Indiana: She was 39-64 in the conference (win percentage of, yikes, 38 percent. I'm not sure what White thought he was getting. In 10 years at Buffalo she had 2 good seasons and won the conference title once. A conference win percentage of 62 percent (111--68). She did get Buffalo into the NCAA four times--apparently by winning the tourney a couple of times. She was hired by Syracuse 2 years ago. In 2 seasons her conference record is 22-14 (61 percent). Her team was good this past season--13-5 in the ACC, tied for second, and she was named ACC Coach of the Year. Credit to her, absolutely, but she's also 57 and hasn't exactly had a sparkling career.

You be the judge. I'd say that Dawkins and Hurley are lucky to still have jobs, and the two women have taken a long time to get to major programs--but two programs (Georgia and Syracuse) that I think had been bad for a long time before they were hired. Mind, it's not my intention to knock these people--coaching is not easy, genuine respect to all of them. Just pointing out their records.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

Imagine comparing her record to what Urban Meyer did at Utah….

Imagine all the people.

 

[spojo13]

Her is what Dawn did her first four years at SC. I think our hire will do better than this.
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We are not at the same level that SC was when Dawn took over. They were bottom feeders and not going to the tournament. Kellie wasn’t great but we are not some scorched earth program like SC was or UT football was when Heupel took over. If we aren’t hiring someone to do better than Kellie then what are we doing?

 

[Volstylexx]

It’s been 24 hours since this whole Marshall thing got started and we’ve heard nothing from any TN related media member. If there were any teeth to it, someone would have ran with it. I admit though, I sure would feel better if it were confirmed to not be true. The BVS is real with Lady Vol (and TN in general) hires.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

Caldwell’s 1 year of D1 experience is exactly the same as Meyer in his 4th year taking undefeated Utah to a BCS bowl before Florida hiring him, don’t ya know?

She is winning at the same success arc as he was for similar years of coaching.

Do you think UF would be disappointed if they hired him 3 years sooner?

 

[Ratvol]

Non-headline hires won’t fill stands. Non-headline hires won’t pull from the portal. You’re looking down the barrel of missing the ncaa tournament with that hire

I made an IF THEN statement. If she fills the stands and wins, Then I think it’s a homerun hire. Personally I don’t think she will be hired. We can do better. But if she is hired, I’ll support her and her team.

 

[ttharp]

Her is what Dawn did her first four years at SC. I think our hire will do better than this.
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South Carolina didn’t have Elite 8/FF talent prior to Dawn’s arrival. SC didn’t have a top-3 WNBA draft pick the season before Dawn took the job. SC wasn’t competitive in most of their games against highly ranked teams. Dawn built that program from scratch.

I think it took Dawn eight seasons to reach a FF? The right hire could have this program back much sooner.

 

[JohnnyD1024]

Bruce Pearl did ok here.

I don't understand why people are acting like winning a division 2 championship isn't an accomplishment. She was a coaching a division 2 school with division 2 school players against other division 2 schools and players. It's not like she was coaching a power 5 school and moved down and had an unfair advantage.

 

[lvocd]

Her is what Dawn did her first four years at SC. I think our hire will do better than this.
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Remember, South Carolina was a perennial cellar dweller in the SEC, never even coming close to beating a top-ranked team -- ever. EVER.

Staley built that program from scratch. Before her they had no success, no tradition, no fans, no hope. I actually thought Dawn might live to regret taking over that hapless program.

But because she was able to convince South Carolina native Aja Wilson to stay home, the rest is history. They went from worst to first. The level of her success is stunning.

 

[Volstylexx]

Have you checked the records of this group?

---Bobby Hurley is very lucky to still have a job. In 9 seasons at Arizona State, his Pac12 conference record is a poor 79--88 (47 percent win percentage). And the Pac12 is not a strong basketball conference. I'm truly surprised he hasn't been sacked. Three NCAA appearances--lost twice in the first round and lost in a play-in game.

---White hired Johnny Dawkins at Central Florida after Dawkins had 8 poor seasons at Stanford and got fired. Like Hurley, his Pac12 record was bad: 66--78 in the conference while at Stanford (a win percentage of 46%). Dawkins hasn't done much better at UCF: In 8 seasons his conference record is 72-72--50 percent. His team in the last 4 seasons has finished 6th, 6th, 7th and 11th (this season) in the conference. One NCAA appearance.

---Abrahamson-Henderson had a nice run at UCF before being hired by Georgia. So far, it's been a struggle: 12 and 20 in the conference. She's 57 and so not exactly a comer.

---White hired Legette-Jack at Buffalo after she had a dismal 6 years at Indiana: She was 39-64 in the conference (win percentage of, yikes, 38 percent. I'm not sure what White thought he was getting. In 10 years at Buffalo she had 2 good seasons and 1 the conference title once. A conference win percentage of 62 percent (111--68). She did get Buffalo into the NCAA four times--apparently by winning the tourney a couple of times. She was hired by Syracuse 2 years ago. In 2 seasons her conference record is 22-14 (61 percent). Her team was good this past season--13-5 in the ACC, tied for second, and she was named ACC Coach of the Year. Credit to her, absolutely, but she's also 57 and hasn't exactly had a sparkling career.

You be the judge. I'd say that Dawkins and Hurley are lucky to still have jobs, and the two women have taken a long time to get to major programs--but two programs (Georgia and Syracuse) that I think had been bad for a long time before they were hired. Mind, it's not my intention to knock these people--coaching is not easy, genuine respect to all of them. Just pointing out their records.

This is flip side of the coin that I haven’t seen this well articulated before now. I think I’m more scared now than before. Lol

 

[Enki_Amenra]

I don't understand why people are acting like winning a division 2 championship isn't an accomplishment. She was a coaching a division 2 school with division 2 school players against other division 2 schools and players. It's not like she was coaching a power 5 school and moved down and had an unfair advantage.

Give her SEC talent and she will just keep winning like she has since she started coaching. She's a winner.

 

[BruisedOrange]

So let’s hire a pariah… at least it’s interesting that way

Wait! A pariah? Are you saying that all the pre-madonnas have turned us down? We're screwed...

 

[MustardVol]

Have you checked the records of this group?

---Bobby Hurley is very lucky to still have a job. In 9 seasons at Arizona State, his Pac12 conference record is a poor 79--88 (47 percent win percentage). And the Pac12 is not a strong basketball conference. I'm truly surprised he hasn't been sacked. Three NCAA appearances--lost twice in the first round and lost in a play-in game.

---White hired Johnny Dawkins at Central Florida after Dawkins had 8 poor seasons at Stanford and got fired. Like Hurley, his Pac12 record was bad: 66--78 in the conference while at Stanford (a win percentage of 46%). Dawkins hasn't done much better at UCF: In 8 seasons his conference record is 72-72--50 percent. His team in the last 4 seasons has finished 6th, 6th, 7th and 11th (this season) in the conference. One NCAA appearance.

---Abrahamson-Henderson had a nice run at UCF before being hired by Georgia. So far, it's been a struggle: 12 and 20 in the conference. She's 57 and so not exactly a comer.

---White hired Legette-Jack at Buffalo after she had a dismal 6 years at Indiana: She was 39-64 in the conference (win percentage of, yikes, 38 percent. I'm not sure what White thought he was getting. In 10 years at Buffalo she had 2 good seasons and 1 the conference title once. A conference win percentage of 62 percent (111--68). She did get Buffalo into the NCAA four times--apparently by winning the tourney a couple of times. She was hired by Syracuse 2 years ago. In 2 seasons her conference record is 22-14 (61 percent). Her team was good this past season--13-5 in the ACC, tied for second, and she was named ACC Coach of the Year. Credit to her, absolutely, but she's also 57 and hasn't exactly had a sparkling career.

You be the judge. I'd say that Dawkins and Hurley are lucky to still have jobs, and the two women have taken a long time to get to major programs--but two programs (Georgia and Syracuse) that I think had been bad for a long time before they were hired. Mind, it's not my intention to knock these people--coaching is not easy, genuine respect to all of them. Just pointing out their records.

All of the coaches did well when he hired them and were either hired to other jobs (a sure sign of success) or are still where he hired them.

That’s enough for me to judge that his hire of them at the time he hired them, was a good choice.

Your post is just proof people can twist stats into any argument they want.

There is little reason to judge his hires at other places with the myriad of possible factors that can affect their records. They all did enough to be hired somewhere else or still be where he hired them almost 10 years later.

 

[Volstylexx]

I don't understand why people are acting like winning a division 2 championship isn't an accomplishment. She was a coaching a division 2 school with division 2 school players against other division 2 schools and players. It's not like she was coaching a power 5 school and moved down and had an unfair advantage.

I mean it’s great if you’re coaching and recruiting in Division 2, but not exactly stellar when your main conference rivals are wearing division one natty rings sitting across the dining room table from you during your home visit.

 

[spojo13]

She is winning at the same success arc as he was for similar years of coaching.

Do you think UF would be disappointed if they hired him 3 years sooner?

In 1 season at D1 level? How do we even know what her arc is going to be? Are you talking about Division 2? Mark Campbell at Union has just a good of record at that level but we aren’t hiring him. Again, Florida had 4 years at a high level to look at. She has one year of coaching or even recruiting at a higher level. Urban was a much safer bet to hire at that time.

 

[volman128]

I think Kim Stephens will win a lot of games here. She's a winner, doesn't matter what division. She's taken a historically terrible team to it's best record ever. . . in 1 year.

UT is a top women's basketball school with an elite athletic department. The players will be here. Give Stephens competitive SEC talent and she will just keep on winning.

Would be a home run hire. . . like when Florida hired Urban Meyer.

 

[Ratvol]

Well how many recruits were signed in 2022 and 2023 ? That is rhetorical ....zero ...none .....nil .Whose fault was that ? That is rhetorical ....Coach Harper and friends. The only players of quality came out of the portal ....Jackson and Spear .Jackson is gone so how does that leave the cupboard .....that is rhetorical ....in bad,bad shape.

Truth and logic are not tolerated here.