All Holly is saying the expectations for women's basketball at Tennessee are comparable to the expectations and standards as the Duke, UNC, and Kentucky men's teams (the best programs in men's basketball). And that while those expectations may mean she's in danger of being bought out by the school, she's glad the program has that sort of scrutiny. That attention shows that women's basketball at Tennessee has value and is valued. I think Holly's trying to be positive about the unrelenting media and fan pressure -- she's saying that she's proud that women's basketball in Knoxville means more. Does she believe that? No way to know, but I would give her the benefit of the doubt.
I think people are letting their frustration with her performance color their opinion of her in other areas. And the more they lose, the more vicious it's getting. Which, they are free to do, but c'mon. She bleeds orange as much as anyone can, even if she's not capable of being a good head coach. She played for Pat, she won championships with Pat, she took over in a really tough spot for Pat. She's a part of the program's history and I would hope we keep the situation classy when a change is made. I'm not saying to tolerate the losing or the lack of leadership; those are different conversations. But at the end of the day, she's a significant name in the program's history. Remember her in the HBO video, on the bus after the title game, talking about how proud she was of the team? There's a lot of good moments like that from the past 40 years. And I hope we can keep that in mind during this transition, however long it runs.
(And I get the whole "she should step down" stuff, too. I'm on board for making changes. I agree that there needs to be accountability. I'm just thinking that how we treat her during this very messy phase will reflect quite a bit on us as a fanbase.)
