So who do you hire?

#401
#401
wtorange said:
There is a considerable amount of the fanbase that is opposed to hiring a male coach. That portion of the fan base which is vocal and influential will never ever accept a male coach. They would much rather continue on with Holly and whatever that brings than to get someone like the coach at Louisville.
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I think if this was a hire right after Pat retired I could see that as a factor. Honestly I think we have fallen so far that a majority of the fans just want the best coach available. I believe a man, such as Walz, who comes in and speaks of admiring and respecting Pat Summitt and upholding the great tradition of the Lady Vols she created will be just fine.
 
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#402
#402
Amb3096 said:
Too bad. Schaefer is an awesome coach. He's able to constantly tinker around with his offense and defense gameplans based on what roster he has. Last year, it was built around Vivians and the outside shooters; this year around McCowan and mid-range scoring from the guards. He's a great strategist.
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He’d be my top choice, for sure. I fully believe that he is capable of leading next year’s Lady Vols — as long as noone transfers this year — to near the top of the SEC, to at at least the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament, and to the Final Four in his second season.

And I imagine he’d actually love the chance to coach at Tennessee and, particularly, this underdeveloped group of Lady Vols, if it weren’t getting so close to Blair’s retirement.
 
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#403
#403
lvocd said:
He’d be my top choice, for sure. I fully believe that he is capable of leading next year’s Lady Vols — as long as noone transfers this year — to near the top of the SEC, to at at least the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament, and to the Final Four in his second season.

And I imagine he’d actually love the chance to coach at Tennessee and, particularly, this underdeveloped group of Lady Vols, if it weren’t getting so close to Blair’s retirement.
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I always wonder with someone like Vic, Jeff W. or Dawn how they would feel about leaving a school that they've developed from the gutter to a powerhouse, and are loved by the school and the fans. I watched MSST's Senior Night game, and it seems like the community has really embraced him and adores him. That's gotta be hard to walk away from.
 
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#408
#408
wtorange said:
There is a considerable amount of the fanbase that is opposed to hiring a male coach. That portion of the fan base which is vocal and influential will never ever accept a male coach. They would much rather continue on with Holly and whatever that brings than to get someone like the coach at Louisville.
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May be a few that feel this way but not many. What do the real lady vol boosters and fulmer think? That’s what matters, we that post here don’t carry much weight.
 
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#410
#410
vettefool said:
May be a few that feel this way but not many. What do the real lady vol boosters and fulmer think? That’s what matters, we that post here don’t carry much weight.
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It’s more than him just being a man. There is no love loss between our strongest supporters/boosters and Brenda Friese/Jeff Walz. They alledge the two of them were dirty recruiting with Candace Parker after she was on campus trying to get her to transfer to Maryland.

It’s for this reason (among others) it will be a cold day in hell before they roam the sideline at TBA
 
#411
#411
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Pat Summitt hired many male coaches, Matthew Mitchell, Al Brown, Dean Lockwood to name a few, and according to legend dreamed of coaching with Tyler Summitt. Is the contention that she'd hire them as assistants but not as Head Coach? Seems odd.

I agree we've fallen so far so fast we just need the best possible coach male, female or any other permutation as soon as possible. There may be some remnants of the blue hair horde out there vowing female only, but I think its safe to say the events of this last season have worn just about everyone else down. We just need a really good hire.

I never liked Brenda Friese and I've always thought Walz, while a good coach, had teams that played on the verge of dirty. From that coaching generation I really like Gastenkors, I know, I know, she bombed at Texas.
 
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#412
#412
vettefool said:
May be a few that feel this way but not many. What do the real lady vol boosters and fulmer think? That’s what matters, we that post here don’t carry much weight.
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Here is an issue. Boosters are just that. People with money who donate to the Lady Vols. They dont know who is the best hire and who is not. If they love our beloved Lady Vols then they would not try to use money to influence the decision of hiring the best coach for the job.

As for the part of the base that does not want a man, then they should have the same amount of influence as the boosters. None. This is how programs get into messes. Letting normal fans influence a hire. If you are a fan, you should want the best coach, male or female hired and sit in the stands and cheer your team on. We dont get to vote on this and all these people who want influence need to stay in their lane.
 
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#413
#413
I would hire an assistant off the Conneticut or Baylor or Notre Dame staff and bring some new ideas into the program.
 
#414
#414
glv98 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Pat Summitt hired many male coaches, Matthew Mitchell, Al Brown, Dean Lockwood to name a few, and according to legend dreamed of coaching with Tyler Summitt. Is the contention that she'd hire them as assistants but not as Head Coach? Seems odd.
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If you break it all the way down — waaaaydown — it begins not to seem odd at all.

I’m sure many female head coaches are painfully aware of the fact that having a 100 percent female staff would provide ammunition for some unscrupulous opposing coaches to use against them in recruiting. I don’t think I have to spell that out.

Another reason a female head coach might want to have at least one male on staff is because some players and parents simply relate better to male coaches, so it’s good idea to make sure that you’re not alienating any recruits by not having some balance on the sidelines.

All that said, Pat Summitt having had a handful of male assistants over the years says absolutely nothing about whether or not she’d endorse a man to sit in the Big Chair. Pat could have had nothing BUT male assistants over the years and there would never have been any question who was firmly in charge. I think Pat was extremely proud to be a woman at the head of a successful program FOR young women. Summitt also often advocated for female colleagues — even the ones who’d handed her painful losses — to get the good jobs and the higher pay.

My point is, we’ll never know the reason Pat kept a male assistant on staff. She could have simply hired the best candidates available, regardless of gender. Or she may have secretly wanted to give ALL of her coaching jobs to women but worried about the optics. And yes, she very well COULD have seen it as okay to have a male assistants but never as the REAL person in charge.

We’ll never, ever know!
 
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#415
#415
lvocd said:
Or she may have secretly wanted to give ALL of her coaching jobs to women but worried about the optics. And yes, she very well COULD have seen it as okay to have a male assistants but never as the REAL person in charge.
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You're right we'll never really know. But it would have been really tricky optics for her to have taken this stand while her male son was out being the real person in charge at other programs.
 
#416
#416
Amb3096 said:
I always wonder with someone like Vic, Jeff W. or Dawn how they would feel about leaving a school that they've developed from the gutter to a powerhouse, and are loved by the school and the fans. I watched MSST's Senior Night game, and it seems like the community has really embraced him and adores him. That's gotta be hard to walk away from.
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I know it’s related to the men’s side but Calipari turned Memphis basketball upside down (for the better) and really could have retired from there as a LEGACY. When Kentucky came calling he said it was his “dream job” and left Memphis even though FedEx and the boosters topped Kentucky’s offer...basically offering him the equivalent of a blank check. The fans loved him and the big money people promised him he’d be the highest paid coach in college basketball, telling him to name his price. We all thought he would stay...Kentucky’s heralded history was a little too much for him to pass up apparently, especially when he considered that job to be the “holy grail” of coaching positions. The rest is history....

And as successful as Roy Williams was at Kansas, the lure of coaching at North Carolina was enough to make him leave one blue blood program for another.

The point I’m making is, no one can truly say WHAT a coach would do unless you’re in their head. Logic need not be applied in these situations because the coaches make decisions on leaving vs staying depending upon a myriad of factors pertinent to them.

Just sayin...

P.s...people are underestimating the amount of respect that some of these high profile coaches had for Pat AND the Lady Vol program itself. Many coaches hate to see the program in its current state and would possibly dream of being able to right the ship at Tennessee. Although the “ideal” thing for coaches to do is focus on the rest of the season, their AGENTS don’t have to and typically a coaching search begins WAAAAAAYYYY before any of the fans know it. Lots of whispers and secret talks take place all the time` and I’m sure there have been discussions gauging interest in Holly’s job many seasons before this one, at least between coaches and their agents. Many will want their hats thrown in to be considered....and not just all up and comers either.
 
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#423
#423
glv98 said:
You're right we'll never really know. But it would have been really tricky optics for her to have taken this stand while her male son was out being the real person in charge at other programs.
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If Pat had had control over the gender of her child and had chosen to have a boy, I’d agree with that. lol

Besides, we all know Pat wasn’t stupid. She was a shrewd businesswoman and quite wise. So, even if she HAD secretly wished she could have given ALL available jobs on her staff to women, she sure as heck would never had made that view public. She’d have kept that little nugget to herself.

This is just silly talk, anyway, since noone will ever know.
 
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#425
#425
Tennesseefan2019 said:
Yeah refusing to hire a head coach because he's male is just begging for a lawsuit that Tennessee would lose bigtime
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Again, that is not how things really work. Institutions are required to have an open search. If only 6 white males apply for the job, that would be the set from which a hiring decision would be made. In a more realistic scenario, you will have a set of applicants that are gender and racially diverse. As long as UT shows a good a faith effort to consider all candidates, they are free to hire whom ever they regard as the best one. No institution would ever come out and say "Hey, only women apply"
 
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